Ginger Beebe became Arkansas’s First Lady when her husband Mike Beebe was inaugurated as the 45th Governor of Arkansas on January 9, 2007. Ginger brought with her many years of experience as a wife who supported her husband during twenty-four years of public service, a mother who has raised three children, and a community volunteer who has dedicated her life to helping others.
As First Lady, Ginger currently is serving on the board of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and the Performing Arts Center on the Square in Searcy. A life-time supporter of the arts and culture, Ginger wants to promote Arkansas artists and artisans in the areas of theatre, music, visual art, and other forms of artistic expression. Last year, Ginger and the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association announced the publication of the 2008 Arkansas Artists Engagement Calendar, and Ginger undertook a state-wide, book-signing tour to promote the calendar. With the success of the 2008 Calendar, Ginger and the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association have recently announced the publishing of the 2009 Engagement Calendar. She wants all Arkansans to see that Arkansas is blessed with a multitude of talented artists in every medium.
Ginger’s love for volunteerism has led to her involvement with the CARTI Foundation Board and the Central Arkansas Hospital Auxiliary. She also serves on the board of the Women’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes philanthropy among women. Through the Women’s Foundation, Ginger has been active in the Girls of Promise, a conference introducing eighth-grade girls to professional women role models from an array of non-traditional, math, science, and technology fields.
Ginger believes that elementary students in Arkansas should see and know more about the world they live in. In that spirit, she has partnered with students at the Clinton School of Public Service to send Flat Stanley, the familiar children’s book character, throughout the world to “visit” other countries and report back to Arkansas’s elementary students via the First Lady’s Web site. Ginger uses Flat Stanley’s experiences as a teaching tool when she visits schools and reads to students throughout Arkansas.
By lending her name and volunteering her time, Ginger hopes to increase attention to causes that she has long supported. A committed volunteer, Ginger encourages all Arkansans to take an active role in their communities. Her own volunteer work has taught Ginger about the health needs of the State’s children. She currently serves as Honorary Chair of the Natural Wonders Partnership Council. This organization, convened by Arkansas Children’s Hospital, will construct a state-wide, strategic plan for improving children’s health and quality of life.
Additionally, Ginger wants to serve as an advocate to increase awareness and understanding of mental illness and dispel the stigma that affected individuals and families often must endure. Last year, Ginger traveled the State to hear firsthand the issues faced by families of children with mental illnesses. Her 24-stop listening tour yielded details and accounts from 80 families in 37 Arkansas counties, information that formed the foundation of Arkansas’s new Children’s Behavioral Health Care Commission, which will work to reform the system of mental-health care for children and combat mental illness in the State.
Mike and Ginger Beebe have been married for 28 years. They have three adult children, David, Tammy and Kyle, and five grandchildren, who live in the Searcy area.