By Christina Joerling, American Red Cross

Red Crosser Lori Arnold is no stranger to challenges. She not only served as the executive director of the Red Cross of Greater Arkansas for 8 years, she also deployed to Florida in support of Hurricanes Irma and Ian, led her chapter through the Little Rock tornado (2023) and Level 4 Arkansas spring storms (2024), deployed to North Carolina for Hurricane Helene and most recently served as the deputy job director and long term recovery for the St. Louis May 2025 tornado. And, she would not have it any other way.

“At the end of the day I love the mission [of the Red Cross]. I love that we can make a real tangible difference in people’s lives,” Lori said.

With experience in communications and public affairs, Lori joined the American Red Cross in 2016 as regional communications director. She began serving as executive director for Greater Arkansas in 2017. Lori believes her role allowed her to not only tell the Red Cross story and keep the public informed but also to improve things behind the scenes by allowing her to view things from multiple perspectives.

“What I love the most about it is because I’m so hypersensitive to the brand reputation, I actually not only get to tell the world about all the great work the Red Cross is doing but I also get to help fix those behind-the-scenes things that are not perfect. It gives me an opportunity to problem solve and just create excellence in our work.”

Her passion for problem solving and improvement drives both her work and her personal growth, as well.  Lori continues to learn about public affairs and public speaking, and she serves as a Red Cross instructor for CPR and International Humanitarian Law programs.

 In 2024, Lori accepted her latest challenge: the newly created role of deputy regional disaster officer (DRDO), managing all three of the Red Cross's client-facing disaster programs: Disaster Action Team, Mass Care and Client Care.

“Missouri and Arkansas Region was chosen as a Type 1 Region [which includes the DRDO position] because of our high number of home fires and high-level disasters.”

The new national role is intended to guide Mass Care, DAT and Client Care, helping create the structure for a volunteer-led program.  This approach looks to open leadership opportunities for volunteers and free time for the community disaster team to build deeper relationships in the field and increase resilience in the community.

While individual volunteer leadership may sound scary at first, Lori knows the answer is in having good communication and clear role definitions.

“When you hear someone say, ‘Oh, I’m going to be the chapter coordinator for this whole thing,’ that sounds really terrifying.  But as you start to talk about what the job entails, there’s a lot of people who are interested in doing it.”

Lori recognizes volunteers are in different phases in their lives and their availability may vary but all want to make a difference in their communities.

“My one goal when it comes to volunteers is I want people to feel valued without feeling overburdened."

With the time between disasters shrinking, the need for a healthy volunteer leadership program is critical and Lori is up for the challenge.

 “My call to everybody is this is the time to volunteer. In a world where we have so little control over what happens, there is a place where we can make meaningful change.”

If you would like to get involved and volunteer, visit redcross.org/volunteer to learn about the different available positions.