Elaine Lienhart spent 31 years in the telecommunications industry before starting her career in state government. She joined the Heritage Division in 2014 and in 2019 joined the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. Lienhart is the Executive Assistant to the Cabinet Secretary and also supports the staff of the Office of the Secretary. She has an associate’s degree in general business from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Marty Ryall is the Director of Legislative Affairs. He was appointed to the position by Secretary Mike Mills in January of 2023. In this role, he takes the lead in representing the department with the legislature and other government related activities.  Prior to joining the department Marty was the Director of Governmental Affairs at Arkansas PBS for 7 years, where in 2020 he was named Public Television’s National Advocate of the Year for his work. He has extensive government and political experience of over thirty years having worked in multiple states and in Africa. He has worked for many high-profile political leaders across the country including U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina, Governor Ernie Fletcher in Kentucky, U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell in Georgia and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia. He is also a former State Chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas.  He has been involved in political work overseas assisting with developing democracies. He served as the in-country program director for Liberia, and later for Nigeria, both with the International Republican Institute.  He has returned multiple times on their behalf for political party training and as an international election observer.   Marty also serves as a commissioner on the War Memorial Stadium Commission. He previously served on the Martin Luther King Commission. He is a native of Star City, Arkansas and is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in International Relations.

David Flake is an Arkansas native, raised in North Little Rock. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hendrix College. David has more than 35 years’ experience in counseling and human resources, including career planning and placement, recruiting, interviewing and selection, personnel management, policy development, and supervisory training.  David, who now serves as the Human Resources Director, has been with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism (ADPHT) for more than 28 years. During that time, he was the Human Resources Director for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism (ADPT) and then the ADPHT Administration Manager for Legal Services. His areas of expertise are strategic workforce planning, recruiting, policy development and employment law. 

Scott Blankenship joined the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism as its Chief Information Officer in June 2022. In his role, he oversees the department’s Information Technology Shared Services team, ensuring uptime and prompt delivery of IT Services to all internal and external customers. With over 20 years of IT experience, Blankenship has broad knowledge in network design, WIFI deployments, system implementation, management of support services, start-ups and IT Leadership in a global market. Scott is very passionate about growth and driving results that ensure the success of the team.