After 29 years of Army service, veteran Fred Johnson is leading efforts in a different kind of community building. Thanks to the veteran re-integration services of Where Opportunity Knox, Johnson found an exciting position as Director of Workplace Giving for Fund for The Arts. The organization, a United Arts Fund, raises money from the corporate community and elsewhere to support arts organizations in the Louisville area.

Though Johnson had had no formal development experience, “his discipline, collaborative spirit and an ability to think on [his] feet” have made him an ideal candidate for the job. After three combat tours, his continued desire to work for something greater than himself made the fit with this arts nonprofit a no-brainer. He says his experience with disadvantaged populations in Iraq “equipped him with communication skills and a comfort with diversity of all kinds."

The community has taken notice of this successful match; he was recently named among Louisville’s top 20 Veterans in Business by Business First. Johnson’s involvement in Louisville’s local arts programs goes far beyond his day job however. His position at Fund for the Arts, Veteran status and experience with PTSD has led him to work with joint military-civilian initiatives such as Arts and Healing, which aims to help veterans manage PTSD through arts engagement.

To find out more about the support Where Opportunity Knox provides to more than 100,000 veterans, or to read about Fred Johnson’s work at Fund For The Arts, you can click here.