Story by Kym Voorhees Raque Photo by Patti Hartog
VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE
A Louisville Leader John-Robert (JR) Curtin moved to Louisville in 1983 to serve as president and CEO at WKPC-TV Louisville’s Public Broadcasting station for what he thought would be a three-year position. He says he always found one reason or another to stay on in Louisville and now, 37 years later, remains an active part of the community.
Although he claims to be semi-retired, JR is author of On Civility: Restorative Reflections, a book of poetry which came out in August, and The Rocks of Connemara, another book of poetry slated to publish next year. He also teaches undergraduate and graduate students in civility and mediation at Indiana University Southeast, the University of Louisville, and Spalding University, and is CEO of Connected Learning Network and director and senior fellow at 4Civility Institute. Despite these commitments, JR also finds time to volunteer with multiple organizations including Leadership Louisville. How did you become involved with Leadership Louisville?
I was a charter member of Leadership Louisville’s Encore Louisville program started in 2014. We’re a group of experienced seniors from various 36 Fall 2020 / TodaysTransitionsNow.com
organizations and disciplines available to help nonprofits with strategic planning and advice. We offer highlevel consulting free of charge to nonprofits who may not be able to afford it otherwise. I looked at the other folks interested in participating in Encore and saw there were a whole lot of people I really liked and wanted to hang out with. I thought it was a great idea and that we could really help. For our volunteers these are short-term engagements, which gives us flexibility in our schedules. How has Encore been able to assist non-profits during the pandemic?
In response to the pandemic, Encore created a spin-off group, the Middleton Response Team, to help nonprofits who are struggling to cope with issues related to COVID-19. We went to groups like Metro United Way, Gheens Foundation,
Kosair Charities, and others to help us identify organizations that might need our expertise. These organizations can reach out to us, and we will pull a team together to help evaluate what their needs are and how we can help them move forward. What has been your approach to retirement?
I don’t think of myself as retired in the traditional way. I’m transitioning from things I’ve done before to things I want to do. I was told early on that you need to retire to something, not from something. I always thought about that and wanted to move toward something new — new challenges and opportunities. It’s important to at least be satisfied with what you’re doing. It’s what we really need to give us peace.
