Wichita Festivals Inc. fills president/CEO position, vacant since September 2020
Wichita Festivals Inc. has another new president/CEO.
Nancy Duling, who worked as the festival’s director of events from 1990 to 1996 and as director of development from 2000 to 2001, will take over the head job on Feb. 14.
The organization, which puts on the annual Wichita Riverfest and Autumn & Art, has been without a president/CEO since September 2020, when newly hired Ty Tabing was cut as part of the organization’s “office retrenchment” plan that eliminated three of its 9.5 positions amid COVID-19 losses. Tabing had just started in November 2019.
Duling will help rebuild the staff, according to a news release. The staff now sits at four, five once Duling starts, after the departure of Ann Keefer, the festival’s longtime vice president of programming who served as interim president and CEO and left the organization in December.
Duling has had a four-decade career in not-for-profit and for-profit work in Wichita. In addition to her stints at Wichita Festivals Inc., she worked in fundraising and human resources for organizations including GraceMed Health Clinic, American Heart Association, St. Francis Community Services, Kansas Children’s Service League and Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The 2022 Wichita Riverfest is scheduled for June 3-11.
