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| Trees Forever Board of DirectorsBoard Executives and Officers
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Dave BlankenshipBoard Chair Transamerica, retired - Cedar Rapids, IA
David was a senior vice president at Transamerica in Cedar Rapids, coordinating business strategies and initiatives across the company’s Global Funds Group. Prior to retiring, he was also a president of the AEGON/Transamerica Foundation. He is active on the executive board of the Boy Scouts and in many non-profits that work with young people, and is a strong believer in teaching mentoring skills. | ||
Chuck SpencerBoard Vice Chair Growmark – Bloomington, IL
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Shannon RamsayFounding President & Chief Executive Officer, Foundation Trustee
Shannon founded Trees Forever as a volunteer in 1989, and continues to lead Trees Forever with passion and dedication. Recognized both nationally and locally for her leadership and accomplishments, Shannon was the 2011 recipient of the Frederick Law Olmsted Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation and a Women of Influence Award from the Corridor Business Journal. She serves on numerous boards and task forces, including the national Forestry Research Advisory Council, and is a member of the Cedar Rapids Downtown Rotary. | ||
Teri GibsonDevelopment Committee Chair True North – Cedar Rapids, IA
Teri Gibson radiates enthusiasm and positive energy, something she vows to bring to the Board of Directors. She grew up in Washington, Iowa and remembers when straight line winds ripped through her community and she watched her dad and granddad shed tears over the loss of trees after the storm. Teri has spent 30+ years as a benefit advisor and is currently a partner with TrueNorth Companies. Teri attended Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy University and has held leadership positions on many nonprofit boards. | ||
Tom HaddenCity Manager - West Des Moines, IA
Tom Hadden has served as the West Des Moines City Manager since 2014. From 1996 until 2014, Tom was the Executive Director of the Metro Waste Authority. Under his leadership, Metro Waste provided environmentally sound and cost-effective services for 16 cities and Polk County. Tom is a believer in regional services and cooperation, which allows limited financial and human resources to be maximized. Tom has advanced solid waste management by developing and implementing the Environmental Management Systems across the state, including central Iowa. He has also served in leadership roles on numerous Boards and committees during his career including: Southeast Polk School Board, Watershed Planning Advisory Committee, Governor’s Water Quality Task Force, Wastewater Reclamation Authority, Iowa Environmental Council and the Altoona Area Campus. Tom received a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering, a BS in Biology, both from Iowa State University, and an MBA from the University of Iowa. He is married to Tina Mowry Hadden and has two sons, Jeffrey and Caleb. | ||
Christine HensleyDes Moines, IA
Probably best known in her role with the Des Moines City Council, Christine Hensley served six terms and was the longest-serving member. She helped lead recent renovations of downtown Des Moines and was co-chair of the Lauridsens Skate Park project. Ms. Hensley has been active on numerous boards, serving as president of the Iowa Student Loan board, the Neighborhood Finance Corporation, Bravo Greater Des Moines, the Des Moines Symphony, the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART), the Iowa League of Cities (inducted into the Iowa League of Cities Hall of Fame), the YWCA and Rebuilding Together. She has also served on the boards of the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, the Greater Des Moines Partnership, the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, Midwest Housing Equity Group, Junior Achievement, the Des Moines Art Center, the Iowa Bankers Association, Lutheran Hospital, the Des Moines Social Club, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Des Moines Civic Center. | ||
Tracy PetersonFinance and Performance Metrics Committee Chair & Treasurer Grimes, IA
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Lori TomasekCedar Rapids Bank and Trust - Cedar Rapids, IA
Lori Tomasek is a First Vice President of Private Banking, for Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust. She has spent over 25 years in banking and financial services in the Cedar Rapids metro area, and values the relationships built with clients. Lori is very involved in the community, most recently serving on the Executive Leadership Team for Go Red for Women, American Heart Association Circle of Red Chair, and a board member for Friends of Czech Village. She graduated from Waldorf and Morningside Colleges. Raised on a farm close to Pilot Knob State Park in Winnebago County, she remembers when her family planted hundreds of trees on the rolling hills of their farms over the years. She and her husband chose their current Cedar Rapids home because of the treescape in their neighborhood. Sadly, most of it was destroyed during the August 10th Derecho. She looks forward to helping Trees Forever fulfill its mission. | ||
Shirley WelteBlack Hills Energy - Grimes, IA
Shirley Welte is Vice-President of Iowa Operations for Black Hills Energy. She has more than 25 years of experience in electric and natural gas utilities. An Illinois native, Shirley relocated back to Iowa in 2019 after five years with Black Hills Energy in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She has served on numerous non-profit boards including education, economic development, and youth activities. Shirley currently resides in Johnston, Iowa, and is part owner in a family farm raising hardwoods, among other agricultural interests. Shirley earned degrees from Highland Community College, Aurora University and Benedictine University. | ||
Trees Forever Staff Representatives to the Board of Directors (elected by the staff to serve annual terms) | ||
Debbie FluegelField Coordinator, Illinois
Debbie has a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Maine. She manages Trees Forever’s Illinois Buffer Partnership and it Pollinator Habitat Conservation programs for both Iowa and Illinois. Debbie’s favorite part of her job? “Meeting new people and visiting a lot of unique areas in Illinois that most people don’t have the opportunity to visit.” Debbie is a member of the Environmental Education Association of Illinois, the Illinois Forestry Association, the Soil & Water Conservation Society and the Association for Temperate Agroforestry. | ||
Lisa WilliamsDirector of Development
Hailing from the longleaf pines of north Louisiana, Lisa has a diverse background in fundraising, nonprofit administration and environmental protection. She earned an M.S. from The Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources and a B.S. in business administration from Northwestern State University. Lisa loves local foods, spring migration and fig trees. She and her husband live in Cedar Rapids. | ||
Board Members At Large
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Doug BoeUS Bank - Marion
Doug Boe hopes to bring his love of the outdoors and financial experience to Trees Forever. As a Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending at US Bank in Cedar Rapids, he travels across Northeast and North Central Iowa as a banking relationship manager responsible for all aspects of his client’s lending, depository, treasury management and international banking needs. A Minnesota native, Doug attended St. Thomas College in St. Paul. | ||
Abram CarlsSimmons Perrine Moyer Bergman PLC – Cedar Rapids, IA
Abram Carls is a practicing attorney and has earned recognition for his multidisciplinary scholarship in innovation, business, and law, and Dean’s Awards for outstanding academic achievement. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Iowa in civil engineering and business management. He comes from a strong background in agriculture and continues to be involved in his family farming operations | ||
Lynn ManternachMindFire Communications - Le Claire, IA
Dr. Lynn Manternach‘s passion is figuring out how to make connections between consumers and brands. She first discovered her love for branding nearly 20 years ago while conducting brand research with consumers for Magid, an international research and consulting company. She’s a communicator at heart, with a background in journalism that includes serving as news director at WOI-TV in Ames/Des Moines and news program producer at KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids. Lynn is co-founder, president and brand arsonist at MindFire Communications, a branding agency with offices in Le Claire (IA) and Cedar Rapids. She is also the president of the Professional Advisory Board for the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Outside of work, Lynn and her husband are working on seeing as many 80s and 90s bands as possible, and have seen more than 400 bands since 1981. | ||
Robin SempfAlliant Energy - Cedar Rapids, IA
Robin Sempf is the Director of Marketing and Creative Strategy at Alliant Energy. She is responsible for managing the company’s brand and leads the marketing, creative, digital and social media efforts for the organization. In addition, she is the producer of the company’s educational PowerHouse television show. Where she has worked closely with Trees Forever to educate homeowners on planting with safety and energy efficiency in mind. Robin has worked in marketing and communications field for over 20 years with experience in a variety of areas including corporate communications, media relations, social media and creative strategy. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Northwest Missouri State University and completed her MBA at the University of Dubuque in 2019. | ||
Mike SimonsonSimonson & Associates – Des Moines, IA
Mike leads an architecture firm with many years of experience focusing on planning, architecture and landscape architecture, both locally and regionally. He currently chairs the Board of the Brenton Arboretum and is a member of the City of Des Moines Planning and Zoning Commission, the American Institute of Architects. He is active in various other civic and philanthropic causes, including the Des Moines Art Center, Salisbury House Foundation, and Hoyt Sherman Place. | ||
Margo UnderwoodUnderwood Consulting – Clear Lake, IA
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Foundation Trustees
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Nancy LowenbergChair US Bank – Cedar Rapids, IA
Nancy is the vice president of commercial banking at US Bank. She is also the president of the Area Substance Abuse Council Board. Since 1998, she has contributed many hours of service to the Trees Forever Board of Directors and Foundation. Nancy and her husband Randy always make gifts to the Trees Forever Foundation in lieu of sending flowers as a way to memorialize friends and family members--they see their contributions as a fund that will literally grow forever. | ||
Elizabeth DalyBankers Trust, retired – Cedar Rapids, IA
A native of Beverly Farm, Massachusetts, Elizabeth has lived in Cedar Rapids for more than 25 years. Elizabeth began her career in the field of social and economic development, both in the U.S. and overseas, and moved into benefit planning when she moved to Cedar Rapids in 1988. She retired in 2011 as the Private Banking Manager at Bankers Trust. An active Rotarian, she is a member of the Day Break Rotary Club in Cedar Rapids where she has served on the International Committee for the past 18 years. She currently serves as the director of the Iowa Rotary Youth Exchange and as an Advisor to the Iowa Women’s Foundation.
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Kimm HarrisLecturer, John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, University of Iowa
Kimm Harris is a Lecturer at the University of Iowa, John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center where she teaches Entrepreneurship and Business Consulting. In addition, she organizes weekend and week long pitch events for students. Kimm was CEO of IPC of iowa inc., providing software to accountants, CPAs and attorneys for over 25 years. She has been a Rotarian for over 20 years and is a member of Downtown Rotary in Cedar Rapids. Kimm has supported Trees Forever since it began and was the second Board Chair for the organization. | ||
Janis McFarlandSyngenta Crop Protection – Greensboro, NC
Janis is the director of regulatory affairs for North America for Syngenta Crop Protection. She is responsible for product registrations and the stewardship of Syngenta’s Crop Protection products in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. She has lent her expertise to many boards including the Weed Science Society of America and several U. S. Department of Agriculture committees and panels. Janis has co-authored many publications and worked on research, stewardship and education programs involving university scientists, and agricultural and commodity groups. She lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. | ||
Scott PetersPeters Law Firm, retired - Council Bluffs, IA
Scott joined the Trees Forever Board of Directors in 1998. He recently became a Trees Forever Foundation Trustee, helping us reach goals for our endowment. He has provided challenge gifts for annual campaigns and hosted Legacy Society receptions. Since touring the Bear Creek National Buffer Site north of Ames, Iowa, Scott has been an avid promoter of planting buffers for water quality and wildlife habitat. A now-retired trial lawyer, Scott’s legal specialty was product liability. He considers serving on nonprofit and college boards his civic duty. | ||
Trustees Emeritus
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Robert J. “Bob” LathamLatham & Associates – Cedar Rapids, IA Founding Member and Former Chair, Board of Directors
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Harry StineStine Seed Company - Adel, IA
Harry is president of Stine Seed Company and a renowned plant geneticist, and has been a longtime friend to Trees Forever. For more than 20 years, Harry has served as a board member and/or foundation trustee. In 2016, Harry was recognized as a Trees Forever President’s Award Winner.
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Board Members/Trustees In Memoriam | ||
Marty AndreasFormer Marketing/Development Chair
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Robert StevensonFormer Finance Committee Chair
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Trees Forever Board of Advisors | ||
Julia Badenhope, FASLA, Professor, Landscape Architecture and Director of Community Visioning, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa J.C. “Buz” Brenton, Founder, Brenton Arboretum, Des Moines, Iowa Dr. Richard Deming, Oncologist and Founder, Above and Beyond Cancer, Des Moines, Iowa Kathy Engelken, Service learning and civic engagement consultant, New Vienna, Iowa Beth Hicks, Urban Community Concepts, Des Moines, Iowa Mark Hirsch, Publisher and Author, That Tree, Platteville, Wisconsin Andy Lennette, CFA and Forestry Consultant, Marion, Iowa Brent Oleson, Linn County Board of Supervisors, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Dr. William Sullivan, Professor and Head of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana, Illinois Dr. Jan Thompson, Morrill Professor of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (Urban Forestry), Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Karmen Wilhelm, Vice President of Marketing, Van Meter Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa Dr. Kathy Wolf, Research Social Scientist University of Washington, College of the Environment and Associate, Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Seattle, Washington | ||