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Kelly Lynch, CFRE
An artful, thoughtful, useful engine.
Kelly Lynch, CFRE, is the Director of Marketing and Strategy at FMW Solutions, where he leads various initiatives including marketing, consulting, strategic planning, and media production. He also provides operations planning and logistical support for both FMW Solutions and its clients in the railroad industry. With over 20 years of experience, Lynch has a diverse background that encompasses railroading, film and video production, digital marketing, advertising, historic rail preservation, development, and fundraising.12
Lynch's career includes roles in short line and tourist railroad operations, where he has served as a trainmaster, conductor, and locomotive fireman. His expertise extends to customer service, digital marketing strategies, grant writing, and community outreach for various institutions. Additionally, he has worked with major companies such as Apple, NBC/Universal, and CBS/Paramount as an award-winning filmmaker.12
He is also actively involved in the railroad community as a board member and Vice President of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society since 2005. In 2017, he was appointed Executive Director of Headwaters Junction, a proposed regional railroad attraction that he designed and developed.1
Highlights
In the last few years, I've helped raise over four million dollars for charitable causes, museums, and non-profit rail preservation organizations. Thanks to a scholarship from the James Foundation stewarded by Kendra Klink and Tanya Young, CFRM, I recently completed my courses for a Fund Raising Management certification at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to enrich these skills and the desire to connect resources with great causes. It was a little wild going back to school, but this effort is very much worth it for any non-profit professional.
Earlier this year, the Indiana Tourism Association named the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, Inc.'s new rail tourism events the “Best New Experience” in Indiana. This award recognized the program’s popularity and economic impact in just a handful of days in 2022 as it welcomed thousands of passengers from over 30 states and three countries. For years, we’ve celebrated the possibility of expanding our popular programs and cultural experiences in Northeast Indiana, and it has been transformational to make good on that potential after 50 years of operating our time machine throughout the country.
This new era for our non-profit organization continues in 2023 with several already sold-out trains, a growing streamlined passenger train collection, and an astounding $600,000 in recent grant awards. We are determined to evolve the region's newest attraction mile-by-mile and create what may be the only rail heritage program to connect three states. We have a lot to be grateful for and excited by, and there is more thrilling news on the way. For our schedule, click here: https://lnkd.in/g79HYpY9 #tourism #experience #inindiana Indiana Destination Development Corporation
