AMA gets new leader

Kyle Frias has been inducted as the new president of the board of directors of Awakening Minds Art. Frias joined the board in 2021 and has been passionate about the growth and development of the organization. He first became involved with AMA when his two sons became students in the program in 2018. Frias is a county veterans service officer of the Hancock County Veterans Service Office. Since he joined the county team in 2013, he has been instrumental in helping the office more than triple the number of veterans served locally, and the amount of VA expenditures for county veterans has increased by $8 million. During his four years in the U.S. Air Force, Frias maintained cyber security systems for 13 bases globally and was responsible for a $5 billion computer network. In 2010, after his discharge from the military, Frias returned to Northwest Ohio where he is an active member of the community. He joined the Flag City Honor Flight board in 2015. In 2017, he graduated from the Hancock Leadership program. He has served on multiple veterans organization boards and previously served as a Findlay-Hancock County Chamber Ambassador. He earned his associates degree in applied science for architectural design and drafting. "I'm honored to take this position and I'm excited to be a part of an already powerful and experienced leadership team. Our first order of action as we move into our 15th year, will be to recruit new board members," said Frias in a news release. Frias follows Dr. Tony Morman, who joined the board in 2015 and held the position of president for the last four years. Morman led the organization through challenging times and helped create a solid foundation that Frias can continue to build during the two-year president term. Along with Frias, the executive team consists of founder and former executive director Sarah Crisp-Ricker as vice president, Chris Scherley as treasurer, and Tamera Rooney as secretary. Awakening Minds Art provides therapeutic and educational visual art programs to all ages and abilities. The studio is located at 1640 Tiffin Ave. Findlay. To learn more about AMA, visit Awakeningmindsart.org. Interested board members can apply online at awakeningmindsart.org/boardapplication