Before 1970, the go-to place for the mentally handicapped in Arkansas was the Children's Colony in Conway. Independent Living Services was formed 40 years ago as an alternative residential arrangement for adult men who had outgrown the Children's Colony's program. After 30 years, ILS had about 70 employees. But in the nine years since Jackie Fliss became its second executive director, the payroll has grown to more than 375 employees and last year's budget was $6.4 million. Those numbers alone say much about the leadership Fliss has provided to an organization that now serves 237 people — men, women and children — at any given time. "We've grown, grown, grown," Fliss said. Fliss started her career 32 years ago at Easter Seals of Arkansas. "I was working my way through college, and I had a choice of working for a beer distributorship or Easter Seals. The beer distributorship paid a little more, which was tempting, but Easter Seals seemed like a better fit," she said. After earning a degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Fliss worked as a CPA for a few years but returned to Easter Seals "because I was never able to forget the feeling of doing something that mattered." At Easter Seals, she fell under the influence of board chairman Walter Smiley, whose example she has tried to follow as a chief executive. "I liked the way that he assessed risks. I liked the way he was honest with people, whether it was a positive thing that he was going to tell you or a not-so-positive thing. And I learned from Walter Smiley to be prepared and to be a professional." That management mentoring has been invaluable as ILS has exploded in size, with a work force that is a "mesh of seasoned and young employees, and each one of them brings something good to the job." And they are important as Fliss works to add services for the growing number of Arkansans diagnosed with autism.
