“The organization has an open, participatory style of management and leadership that includes individuals at all levels of the organization in planning and decision making. The organization’s staff and administration are enthusiastic and highly trained. The diversity of skills and management styles has created a team that works very well together. Each has a role to play and plays it well. The organization’s human resource culture has been that of servant leadership.”

—As stated in the CARF Survey Accreditation Report regarding RVR management.

RVR’s Executive Management Team is led by Don Richardson, President/Executive Director and Margo Olson, Vice President/Deputy Executive Director.

Don Richardson, President/Executive Director, is known in Indiana and beyond for his innovative leadership in Welfare-to-Work and workforce development, impeccable financial management of multi-fund sources, commitment to staff training and development, and his uncanny ability to reach across longstanding institutional and "turf" barriers to meet human and community service needs.

In any endeavor, he works to make "winners" of all players. This collaborative spirit has resulted in leveraging resources; minimizing competition, duplication, and fragmentation; and maximizing efficiencies to provide optimal service to people needing assistance.

Co-founder of River Valley Resources, Don holds a B.S. in Psychology from Eastern Kentucky University and an M.S. in Philosophy and Education, University of Dayton.

He was recruited by then-Governor Bob Orr to develop, from scratch, the statewide Dislocated Worker program, a project which was eventually a regional, then a national model. He was recruited by IUPUI to serve as statewide Director for Family Services, focusing on training rural health officers on effective (best practices) communication to reduce teen pregnancies and improve health of newborns.

Several years ago, then-Governor, now U.S. Senator Evan Bayh, recruited Don to serve as Deputy Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. His specific objective was de-fragmenting job training, the Job Service, Unemployment Insurance and a dozen other programs into a unified, integrated customer-driven system.

He is a member of and frequent speaker/presenter to a number of national organizations/committees, including the National Alliance of Business, American Personnel in Guidance, National Association of Counties, National Job Training and other groups. He is a frequent presenter/panel member to various local/state/regional Welfare-to-Work, Non-Custodial Parent and Youth Advocacy organizations. Don is active as an advocate for women in nontraditional employment and directed the development of the RVR Women’s Bureau.

Margo Olson, Vice President/Deputy Executive Director, is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) as designated by the American Compensation Association. She manages RVR’s personnel program, supervises benefits administration, staff training, and management information. Margo manages the procurement process and negotiated service contracts with professional providers. She has planned and coordinated regional and statewide conferences. She is knowledgeable of federal laws and regulations governing workforce-related programs and consistently, on a daily basis, is a major RVR problem-solver and decision-maker.

Margo holds a B.A. in Marketing and Textiles from Indiana State University and an M.S. in Consumer Economics, also from ISU.

She has been with the organization since 1977.

Merritt Alcorn, Chair, attorney with the Madison law firm Alcorn Goering, & Sage, LLP
Toni Collins, Secretary-Treasurer, former Vice President and Wealth Management Officer, MainSource Bank
Nancy Bear, Educator
Bob Hoffman, Connersville, former State Representative, 55th District
The Rev. Richard Draper, Rector, Christ Episcopal Church, Madison
Don Richardson, President, River Valley Resources.

Merritt Alcorn Chair	Toni Collins Secretary-Treasurer

Nancy Bear	Richard Draper

Bob Hoffman	Don Richardson