Ron Thompson, Founding Executive Director

Ron Thompson leads the Duncanville Arts Foundation, where he is establishing the governance architecture, capitalization strategy, and institutional partnerships required to build permanent cultural infrastructure for the city's arts ecosystem. His approach reflects a conviction that sustainable creative communities depend on durable systems rather than episodic programming.

This work extends from his tenure as founding Chair of the Duncanville Arts Commission, where he helped shape local cultural policy, create the Duncanville Arts Fund grants program, and secure municipal recognition of National Arts and Humanities Month and the Armstrong Park Cultural District. Through that leadership, arts and culture became embedded in the city's long-range planning framework, laying the institutional foundation the Foundation now advances.

Ron's career in arts leadership began in 1999 with the founding of Dallas Area Designers for the Arts, which evolved into Texas's first nonprofit advertising and branding program dedicated to social purpose organizations and institutional funders. In 2003, the Sammons Center for the Arts named him Volunteer of the Year following his role in the launch of Sammons Cabaret, one of the organization's most enduring programs. That initiative led to Chef & Song, a musical dining club, and an early-stage investment in Pink Magnolia, the breakout restaurant founded by Chef Blythe Beck.

He brings to the Foundation deep experience in portfolio development, philanthropic strategy, and cross-sector partnership formation. He has supported early-stage ventures across disciplines and advised organizations on institutional positioning, long-term capitalization, and sustainable operating models. Modern Luxury magazine recognized this distinctive approach, calling him a "creative capitalist" for his work at the intersection of investment thinking and arts support.

Ron currently serves on the City of Duncanville Community Engagement Advisory Board, a two-year appointment beginning October 2025, where his work addresses structural communication barriers and equitable access to municipal services across differences in ability, income, age, and language. He is a member of Texans for the Arts and participated in advocacy during the 89th Texas Legislative Session, contributing to statewide efforts that secured a $7.9 million funding increase for the Texas Commission on the Arts for the 2026–2027 biennium.

From 2021 to 2024, he served as Founding Secretary and Board Member of the Duncanville Nature Conservancy, filing the organization's incorporating documents and establishing its initial governance framework.

Across his work in arts leadership, nonprofit formation, venture development, and civic engagement, Ron designs cultural and civic systems built to endure.