Executive Director & CEO
Ken Busby is the Cultural Czar of Northeast Oklahoma. He also serves as Executive Director & CEO of the Route 66 Alliance. Previously, he served as Executive Director & CEO of the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa for twelve years. Prior to that, Busby was the Director of Development for Tulsa Zoo Friends and was with Gilcrease Museum for eight years, serving as Membership Director and Director of Communication. A native of Tulsa, Busby holds a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and French from the University of Tulsa. He has a Master of Arts degree in journalism from Indiana University at Bloomington. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Busby is also a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma Class XVII.
Busby is chair of the Route 66 Commission in Tulsa, and also serves on the executive committees of the Tulsa Symphony, Workforce Tulsa, and the Oklahoma Museums Association. He is a past chairman of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust and currently serves as governance chair. He is the Buildings and Grounds Chair on the Holland Hall Board of Trustees. He is a presenter for the Americans for the Arts Speakers Bureau and serves as a consultant in the areas of fundraising, grant writing, strategic planning, and board development for nonprofits across the state. In 2008, Busby received the Governor’s Arts Award for Community Service and the Global Vision Award from Tulsa Global Alliance. In 2011, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Holland Hall. In 2013, the Association of Fundraising Professionals named him its Outstanding Fundraising Executive, and in 2015, Busby was named the Leadership Oklahoma Distinguished Graduate.