Our Team

Lisa Brush has been leading collaborative conservation initiatives in the environmental sector for more than twenty years. In her role as CEO and Founder of The Stewardship Network, she has engaged thousands of professionals and volunteers in identifying community and stewardship needs of the 21^st century. She has facilitated the initiation, growth, and ongoing support of networks and collaborations at all scales across the country. Lisa has worked with all volunteer nonprofits to global NGOs; municipal, state, federal and tribal governments; consultants and contractors; students and researchers; private property owners and more. She has facilitated strategic planning sessions, focus groups, citizen task forces, community visioning sessions, and public involvement and feedback meetings with groups ranging in size from four to four hundred. Lisa believes deeply in the power of people to create positive community change and works to support people and institutions in this endeavor.

She has been involved in all aspects of organizational management including: foundation/agency relationships; grant based project funding; budget tracking; contract negotiation, implementation, accountability; staff and board development.

Lisa serves on numerous boards of directors, has a BA in Science in Society from Wesleyan University, an MS from University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, and is a graduate of Michigan State University’s Great Lakes Leadership Academy.

Lizzy Courtois joined The Stewardship Network as the Business Operations Manager in 2022 to work closely with the team on ensuring all things administrative run smoothly. She comes to TSN with a long-standing career as a non-profit administrator in Detroit and the Bay Area. Before that, she earned a BA from Kalamazoo College in Theatre Arts, with a focus on stage management and arts/non-profit administration. She is excited about applying her experience and knowledge of non-profit administration to the environmental sector, which has always been near and dear to her.

Beyond work, Lizzy is a reader, home cook, potter, music enthusiast, and also enjoys spending time outdoors, especially in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Rob joined The Stewardship Network in 2017 after several years of working with Lisa unofficially as a mentee and external TSN supporter. Before that, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science with a concentration in Environmental Psychology from the University of Michigan’s Program in the Environment, where he was awarded outstanding student in his major in 2016. Before working for The Stewardship Network, Rob was a fellow with the OptiMize Social Innovation Challenge in 2016, worked as a research assistant in U of M's Organizational Studies Department, built hoop houses for the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in parts of Detroit, and worked as a floriculturist with the City of Detroit's General Services Division.

As the Community Coordinator at TSN, Rob is the primary point of contact for our member community coordinators. He is in charge of coordinator support, which includes providing technical and strategic guidance, facilitating peer-learning opportunities, and maintaining relationships with member community coordinators and partners, among many other things. He is responsible for overseeing the growth and development strategy of the program, and works closely with Executive Director Lisa Brush to identify and pursue new partnership opportunities. On a day to day basis, you can find Rob doing things like attending member community planning meetings, assisting with tech support for Zoom webinars or email newsletters, providing strategic input on member community programming, and lending a listening ear to coordinators that just need someone to talk to who understands the unique challenges of being a coordinator.

In his free time, Rob is a musician, arts organizer, and journalist in Detroit. He enjoys gardening, skateboarding, and playing hockey, and likes to get up to his family's place on Torch Lake whenever he can. He loves meeting new people and experiencing new things, and if you're looking for him at your local watering hole, he is likely at the pool table or in line for karaoke!

Rachel joined the team in 2016 and manages a number of TSN’s programs and grant projects. She earned a MS from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment in Sustainable Systems and a BS in Environmental Studies and Agriscience from Michigan State University.

Rachel has worked on a diverse set of ecological and conservation projects, including neotropical bee habitat in Nicaragua, endangered mountain gorilla behavior in Uganda, and collaborative group function across North America. When not working on TSN projects, Rachel is probably out exploring northern Minnesota, where she lives with her partner and her dog.

Bob leads TSN’s outbound engagement efforts to activate donors, volunteers, and other key groups across the wider community while constantly refining a holistic communications strategy for the organization. The story of The Stewardship Network needs to be told and through everything from email, web, social media, and paid advertising strategy to copywriting, asset creation, and communications partnerships, this is the person responsible for making sure it’s a story told well.

Fortunately, Bob learned to tell impactful stories from great teachers and comes to us after a long run marketing video games at Xbox (Microsoft) while living in Seattle. Before that, he spent years as a senior advertising agency strategist with Wunderman and earned his MBA from the University of Washington.

When not busy trying to use his corporate marketing powers for good, he is an avid and active musician. 

In addition to his role with Lake St. Clair CISMA, Ian Ableson is the Stewardship Manager for Six Rivers Land Conservancy in Southeast Michigan, and he has carried an enthusiasm for bats with him wherever he goes. Prior to his work for Six Rivers, Ian worked  for the Organization for Bat Conservation as an Education Specialist, where he spent most of his time presenting with live bats at schools, nature centers, and libraries throughout the state (and occasionally beyond). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of Michigan. 

Julia is thrilled to have joined the River Raisin Institute as their new program coordinator. She's excited to serve her local community and environment. 

Julia grew up in nearby Canton MI, before going to school at Albion College and Eastern Michigan University to pursue a biology degree.

In her free time she enjoys hiking, camping, and reading.

In addition to her role within the West Michigan Conservation Network, Natalie Bekins is the West Michigan CISMA Coordinator out of the Ottawa Conservation District. She has been a part of the District since February 2021 and first started as a member of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid crew. She grew up in Whitehall, Michigan on a small pond bordering the Huron-Manistee National Forest. Her upbringing fueled her interest in the natural world, which later led her to pursue a Bachelors in Wildlife Biology from Grand Valley State in 2016. Natalie decided to return to school and received her Masters in Biology from Eastern Kentucky University in 2020. After moving around the USA for various field jobs, Natalie and her husband, Ryan, settled in Grand Haven, Michigan to be closer to their family. 

Lindsey grew up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Through a high school level forestry class, Lindsey realized her passion for working in the outdoors.  She was able to work for 2 summers for a private forester at the age of 18 and later worked for several natural resources education organizations.

In 2002 she moved to Montana to pursue a degree in Forest Resource Management from the University of Montana. Following graduation, she began a 14 year career in invasive species management. Her most recent position was with the Missoula County Weed District as their Weed Management Area Coordinator and Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator. 

Lindsey has two sons and a Michigander husband. They are excited to take in all that Michigan has to offer. She plans on eating her weight in apples this fall, and maybe a cider donut or two. 

In addition to his role as TSN Member Community Coordinator for Oakland County CISMA, Patrick (He/Him/His) is the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Outreach Coordinator for Oakland County Parks and Recreation. He holds a M.S. in Conservation Ecology/Environmental Informatics from University of Michigan, and a B.S. in Environmental Science from Loyola University Chicago. Patrick has come to the CISMA from the Great Lakes Commission supporting their Aquatic Invasive Species program. Previously, Patrick has held positions working for the National Park Service (Sleeping Bear Dunes NL), Chicago Botanic Garden, and working with Bureau of Land Management (Twin Falls-ID field office). In his free time, you will likely find Patrick out on a hike, waist-deep in a vegetable garden, or behind a drum set.

Samuel Cuthell is the Network Coordinator for the Golden Gate Biosphere Network (GGBN) based in the Bay Area of California. Prior to his appointment to his position with GGBN, Sam spent 8 years working for various Federal (NPS & USFS), State, & City governments, building and maintaining trail systems across the West. He received his BS in Parks and Conservation Management from Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks of New York State along with an AS in Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI.

Following a trip to study Biosphere Reserve governance in South Africa and recognizing a lack of meaningful youth engagement and successional planning, Sam founded and chaired the USBN's Youth Board of Directors (YB) to address these gaps. The YB focuses on increasing meaningful youth participation in conservation governance while providing project-based professional development for its members and improving inter-generational communication. Sam sits on the Steering Committee for the USBN as the youth representative and participates in EuroMAB Youth as the American representative.

In his role for the GGBN, Sam focuses on developing and encouraging collaboration between the myriad of land managing agencies that fall within the boundaries of the biosphere. This landscape-level conservation effort is positioned to aggregate the work being done by our partner agencies into projects that combat climate change and improve regional biodiversity while providing socio-economic benefits to our society.

Emily has served on NOHLC's Board of Directors since 2013 and is currently serving as president.  She has been active in the Stewardship and Land Acquisition Committees for twelve years.  She is also Chair of the Oakland County Cooperative Invasive Species management Area *(CISMA). She is a Conservation Steward in Michigan and co-founded the Oakland Phragmites and Invasive Species (OPIS) Task Force.

Emily earned her bachelor's degree in geology from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and her master's degree in environmental science from Duke University.  She worked for 18 years in environmental consulting, investigating and remediating contaminated soil and groundwater at industrial sites throughout the mid Atlantic states, Ohio, and Michigan. 

Emily is an adjunct professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio.  She has extensive experience in preschool and K-12 education, particularly educating students with special needs, and was a founding school board member of the M.O.D.E.L. Community School, a charter school for students with autism in Toledo.  Contact Emily at eduthinh@gmail.com.

Alex studied biology at GVSU, focusing on ecology and evolution. He has spent summers studying invasive fish like round goby and silver carp, as well as wonderful native fish like lake sturgeon. Alex spent the winter of 2021 surveying for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid with the the SWxSW Corner CISMA, before becoming the CISMA coordinator in August of the same year.

As CISMA Coordinator, Alex provides information to the public about invasive species, and organizes events to raise awareness. He also works to build local partnerships and support for managing, surveying, and preventing invasive species. Having seen firsthand the impacts of invasive species, he is dedicated to protecting Southwest Michigan from the threat they pose.

Alex enjoys long walks on the beach, in the winter, looking at hemlocks. He can be reached at invasivesed@vanburencd.org

Jason facilitates current and potential watershed stewards. Previously, he worked with the City of Ann Arbor’s Natural Area Preservation program for 10 years as its Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator.

Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University in “facilitating tree hugging.” He joined HRWC in 2011 and lives in the Traver Creekshed.

Heather's passion for nature led her to do graphic design work primarily for local environmental non-profits. She couldn't bring herself to design for clients that she wasn't passionate about, or groups that were actively polluting the environment, and was thrilled to find there was a need for her skills in the environmental arena. Now serving as a Member Community Coordinator, she combines these talents to keep information flowing between groups in an easily digestible way, and to get volunteers interested and motivated. She loves informing people about the plants and animals around them, and helping people to identify and deal with invasive species. If you bump into Heather in the field you will probably find her studying a plant or insect, or with her eyes straining skyward to identify a bird overhead.

After finishing studies at Ohio State Universities’ School for Film, Peter attended Boston University where he received his degree in broadcasting and film from the School of Public Communication (SPC’81). As director and senior producer Peter has continued to produce programming for PBS, Hallmark, Odyssey, Home & Garden, and has co-produced a feature film and continues to do scores of corporate and educational projects.

Peter was honored as Put-in-Bay Islander of the Year, is the past President of the Put-in-Bay Arts Council, past Chairman of the Planning Board, and director of the bicentennial celebration for The Perry Group (Friends of Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial). 

He is on the board of directors at the Lake Erie Island Historical Society, Past-president of the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau, board member of Lake Erie Shores and Island, Director of the Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce, and is now the Project Manager for Great Lakes Islands Alliance. To learn more go to www.GLIAlliance.org

Devin Landry serves as coordinator of the California Landscape Stewardship Network. In this role, he supports the CLSN's mission of advancing cross-boundary, landscape-scale stewardship through tracking various initiatives, drafting network-wide communications, and event planning. Devin also provides facilitative support to the Network for Landscape Conservation’s Catalyst Fund Peer Learning Cohort, as well as to the Center for Natural Resources & Environmental Policy at the University of Montana. 

Prior to working in landscape conservation and stewardship, Devin conducted wildlife research across the U.S. Northern Rockies. Whether it’s his background in research, policy, or connecting the two through practice, he maintains a passion for understanding how people connect with nature and place to care for the land and their communities.

Devin holds a B.A. in English and Religious Studies from Skidmore College and a M.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana, where he also gained certification in the Natural Resources Conflict Resolution Program.

Marianna has made a career of putting words, images, and ideas together in unconventional ways. A self-proclaimed environmentalist while also being the daughter of a lumberman, she learned early on that natural resources have different ecological, cultural, personal and economic value to different people and that it is possible to find enough common ground among those differences to work toward the good of the whole.

She has been a witness to and, in part, a catalyst for significant change: in the Passive Solar movement of the ‘70s and ‘80s, which changed the way we design buildings and communities for energy conservation; in the New Urbanist movement in the ‘90s which changed the paradigm of city, town and regional planning; in the 2000’s, bringing sustainability to the center of our cultural conversation in the built environment, land conservation and the business practices of corporate America; and today in the fight against climate change.

Real change takes time, but it can happen. Given the urgency and scale of the challenges we face in the world today, she feels a renewed purpose and new agency to accelerate change for good.   

(bio coming soon)

Emily has experience in aquatic ecology in Michigan and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. She is also working on her Master’s degree in Biology/Aquatic Ecology from Oakland University. Her thesis project focuses on the utilization of cotton fabric as a means of measuring organic-matter decomposition in streams in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. With experience in aquatic fieldwork, she spends her time with CISMA surveying for aquatic invasive species, like the newly invasive European Frogbit. In her spare time, Emily likes to travel to Michigan’s parks for camping, hiking, kayaking, biking, and some occasional bird-watching.

Since its beginning in 2017, Lori has led the Duluth Area Collaborative Invasive Species Management Area (DCISMA) in South St. Louis County, Minnesota.  She coordinates efforts for landscape-scale conservation to advance common goals of diverse partners who help citizens and communities protect lands from the damages caused by invasive species. Her main duties include: fostering multi-jurisdictional partnerships, organizing field work, educating, administrative tasks, and facilitating meetings.

Dylan Skybrook is the Manager of the Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network. Previously, Skybrook was a systems leadership consultant who has worked with United Way, Arts Midwest, Impact Hub Minneapolis/Saint Paul, the Minnesota Social Innovation Lab and many others.

Skybrook designed online learning modules on systems thinking and complexity at the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota as well as guest lecturing on the topic at Kaos Pilots in Aarhus, Denmark and the Masters in Strategic Leadership toward Sustainability program at Blekinge Tekniska Hogskola in Karlskrona, Sweden.

Skybrook’s recent article, Navigating Purpose and Collaboration in Social Impact Networks for Stanford Social Innovation Review can be viewed here.

Lisa Brush has been leading collaborative conservation initiatives in the environmental sector for more than twenty years. In her role as CEO and Founder of The Stewardship Network, she has engaged thousands of professionals and volunteers in identifying community and stewardship needs of the 21^st century. She has facilitated the initiation, growth, and ongoing support of networks and collaborations at all scales across the country. Lisa has worked with all volunteer nonprofits to global NGOs; municipal, state, federal and tribal governments; consultants and contractors; students and researchers; private property owners and more. She has facilitated strategic planning sessions, focus groups, citizen task forces, community visioning sessions, and public involvement and feedback meetings with groups ranging in size from four to four hundred. Lisa believes deeply in the power of people to create positive community change and works to support people and institutions in this endeavor.

She has been involved in all aspects of organizational management including: foundation/agency relationships; grant based project funding; budget tracking; contract negotiation, implementation, accountability; staff and board development.

Lisa serves on numerous boards of directors, has a BA in Science in Society from Wesleyan University, an MS from University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, and is a graduate of Michigan State University’s Great Lakes Leadership Academy.

Rick is a senior consultant with 5 Lakes Energy, where he serves as Executive Director and President of the Michigan Municipal Association for Utility Issues. MI-MAUI provides technical support and a collective voice to local governments to improve utility services, reduce costs and influence utility regulatory processes. Rick has 20 years’ experience in energy and sustainable enterprise research and education, and served as managing director of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan from 2008 to 2013. He has held senior executive and program leadership positions at The Aspen Institute, Bainbridge Graduate Institute and World Resources Institute.

Rick serves as Board Secretary of Soulardarity in Highland Park, Michigan, and on the Board of Directors of The Stewardship Network. He is past executive director and currently an officer and Board member of Seattle-based Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) and the WashPIRG Foundation, grassroots organizations advocating consumer protections and government reform. He holds an MBA with Environmental Management certificate from the University of Washington and BS in Political Science from Yale University. He and his family live in Ann Arbor Township, Michigan.

Annie serves as the executive director of TOGETHER Bay Area, a regional coalition of nonprofits, Tribes/Indigenous-led groups, and public agencies all collaborating for climate resilience and equity. She led the reimagination of the Bay Area Open Space Council in 2018-2019 which resulted in the focused and inclusive coalition that TOGETHER Bay Area is today.

Previously she worked for large and small nonprofits in various fundraising, strategy, and organizational development capacities. She has produced films about partnerships between Indigenous Tribes and conservation organizations, the most recent being Umunhum.

Annie has a masters in Organization Development from University of San Francisco and a B.A. in psychology from Denison University. She completed two National Outdoor Leadership School courses, and she volunteers on the East Bay Regional Park District's park advisory committee.

Scott Dierks, PE is a civil engineer, hydrologist and ecological engineer. He has spent the last twenty plus years trying to apply the lessons of natural systems to urban and landscape design. This work includes hydrologic, water quality and sediment transport monitoring and modeling on the East Coast and Midwest. The monitoring and modeling has been used to inform, test and refine stormwater, wastewater and stream planning/design projects. His design work has included treatment wetlands for sanitary and leachate wastewaters; urban and rural BMPs, and stream, wetland and shoreline restoration. Scott has facilitated and written watershed management plans and is known, locally at least, as an avid collaborator with public agencies, non-profits and other design firms. Scott has undergraduate degrees from Colgate University (BA – psychology) and the University of Rhode Island (BS – Civil Engineering) and a ME in Ecological Engineering from the University of Florida.

Melanie has a record of assisting vulnerable communities in various occupations throughout her 20-year career in Administration. In the early 2000’s, Melanie worked with Safehouse/the Domestic Violence Project Team, creating a survivor toolkit to better assist Washtenaw County domestic abuse survivors. At the University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), Melanie assisted the Business Office in collaborating with SNRE faculty to manage their non-sponsored grant awards, also assisting students in managing small student grants. Melanie played a key role at Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) as the Office Administrator and assisted in researching metrics for waste recovery solutions, organics management and corporate sustainability throughout the U.S. Melanie also played a key role in public sector proposal creation and management at RRS. 

Melanie’s current role as Office Manager with Fair Food Network, allows her the opportunity to assist the Double Up Food Buck (DUFB) program, which matches EBT/Bridge Card or food stamp dollars spent on fruits and vegetables. The DUFB program ensures families in vulnerable communities have access to healthy foods, which means more business for local farmers and a boost for local economies. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in Literature from Eastern Michigan University, and you can often find her at the local library, perusing the non-fiction shelves. Melanie enjoys vacations with her family, playing tennis, practicing yoga, swimming laps, and bird watching.  Melanie is also an avid cook, who feels most comfortable in the kitchen preparing meals.

Shawn Johnson is Managing Director of the Center for Natural Resources & Environmental Policy at the University of Montana and co-director of the Center’s graduate certificate program in Natural Resources Conflict Resolution.  Shawn organizes and leads strategic planning and capacity building workshops for a wide variety of organizations focused on natural resource policy and management and has served as a facilitator and mediator on issues ranging from land use planning and forest management to conservation priority setting and regional collaboration. For the past ten years, he has helped advance a joint effort between the Center and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy on regional collaboration and large landscape conservation. The joint effort explores questions of policy, leadership, and governance at regional or landscape scales, where there is often a mismatch between the scale of an existing challenge or opportunity and that of existing organizations and jurisdictions. In May 2011, Shawn helped organize and convene a group of large landscape conservation practitioners that led to a new network of practitioners throughout North America who are working to improve community and conservation outcomes at the large landscape scale — the Practitioners’ Network for Large Landscape Conservation. Shawn is co-author, with Matthew McKinney, of Working Across Boundaries: People, Nature, and Regions (Lincoln Institute, 2009). He also contributed to Large Landscape Conservation, A Strategic Framework for Policy and Action (Lincoln Institute, 2010) and Remarkable Beyond Borders: People and Landscapes in the Crown of the Continent (Sonoran Institute, 2010). Prior to his work at the Center, Shawn earned a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School and spent three years as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Max Baucus.

Francisco “Paco” Ollervides, PhD has worked directly with individual leaders and organizations in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives in the environmental sector for over 20 years. He assists strategic planning as well as conceptualizing, innovating, and driving forward initiatives that allow individuals to learn and act equitably and as stewards to our planet. His focus is on building the power of the environmental movement by facilitating opportunities for People of Color to excel in the sector through client and sponsor relationship management, customer satisfaction and retention, and staff management. 

He leads the Green Leadership Trust as Executive Director. He leverages the knowledge, networks, and resources of People of Color and Indigenous people serving Boards of environmental organizations to build and diversify the environmental movement’s power. Prior (2013-2019) he acted as Leadership Development Manager and consultant in the Great Lakes region for River Network. Here he coordinated and provided organizational development services to dozens of Partner non profit organizations. From August 2006 – December 2010 he served as Senior Field Coordinator for Latin American programs within Waterkeeper Alliance. He connected, supported, and enhanced the activities of several dozens of non-profit member organizations. 

He has trainings from the Watershed Coordinator Course from Ohio State University and served as lecturer to the Michigan Water Stewards program from Michigan State University. He was part of the Leading from Within Leadership course from Institute for Conservation Leaders and is a certified coach in Open Standards of Conservation from Conservation International. He is a Great Lakes Network Weaver and a National Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leaders Program. He received Racial Justice training from Race Forward; Civic Discourse training from Knoll Farm; Community Organizing and Family Issues Facilitation Training from the COFI Institute; Story telling for Social Change from Environmental Leaders Program; internal inclusivity training from Raben Group; completed the Arm in Arm 4 Climate Campaign and the BIPOC Climate Leadership Program. 

He is a biochemical engineer and a bio-acoustician. His field work included assessing the impacts of boat noise on gray whale behavior. He holds both M.S and PhD degrees from the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department at Texas A&M University.

Mark Shepard heads Restoration Agriculture Development andForest Agriculture Nursery, but is most widely known as the author of the award-winning book, Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers. Restoration Agriculture is based off his experiences at New Forest Farm and represents his belief in the ability of sustainably grown perennial food crops to feed us into “our resource-compromised future”. Trained in mechanical engineering and ecology, Mark has combined these two passions to develop equipment and processes for the cultivation, harvesting and processing of forest-derived agricultural products. He is a certified permaculture designer and teaches agroforestry, permaculture, and his innovative systems of water management around the world.

Chris Theriot has more than 15 years working at the intersection of business, policy, and natural resources. He currently works with Resource Recycling Systems to advance corporate sustainability around materials management.

Previously, he worked at Ducks Unlimited and as a consultant to the United Nations Development Program. Theriot earned a MS from the School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan and a MPP from the University of Chicago. He enjoys running, bicycling, fishing, and grouse hunting in the great state of Michigan.

Reneé has the privilege of leading three entrepreneurial entities, Doers Edge LLC (CEO), FoodPLUS Detroit (Executive Director) and ReMark Composting Solutions (Co-Founder & President). She has been a facilitative leader, business consultant and coach for three decades, specializing in development of strategic engagement and execution systems for industry and community-based organizations.

Reneé interprets visionary concepts, translates them into actionable solutions, and facilitates execution through strategic initiatives and special projects.  She helps accelerate results with disciplined orderly execution through policies, processes, people, collaborative work systems, and technologies.  Reneé facilitates strategic and operational planning processes for diverse types of organizations, as well as designs and develops programs.  Her work includes facilitating engagement of leaders, stakeholders, from public, private, academic and community spheres, with diverse roles, experiences, and perspectives.  The project she is most proud of will come to life in 2022. 

Reneé designed and facilitated engagement of university leaders, staff and students in a scenario-based approach to applying WMU’s Institutional Diversity and Multiculturalism practices in the design process for the new student center/dining facility.  She is also a leader in service to the Detroit Community through roles as Project Portfolio Manager of FoodPLUS Detroit, participant in the Detroit City Council Green Taskforce community, and lead for the Michigan Organics Council Infrastructure Action Team.  Her aim through these engagements is to build the capacity of policymakers, citizens, food waste and compost practitioners, to cultivate a culture of resourcefulness, and to catalyze an enabling environment for development of a decentralized compost ecosystem and infrastructure in Detroit. 

Reneé is a Certified Change Manager, Certified Business Process Consultant, Visual Consultant-Facilitator, Participatory Modeling community practitioner, and Strategic Doing Consultant, with a business administration degree in Marketing from Western Michigan University.

Jon W. Allan is President and Founder of the Jon W. Allan Group, a private consultancy specializing in strategic insight for freshwater and the Great Lakes, energy and environmental policy and natural resource governance. The Group supports research, analytical insight, regulatory and legislative guidance, and environmental and natural resource management strategies. They focus on the intersection of ecological, economic, social and cultural value(s) of water and natural resources.

With nearly four decades of experience he has professionally applied his understanding of ecological systems to a variety of pressing Great Lakes issues.

Jon’s research on wetlands, stream ecology, and water policy has been published in Canada and the U.S. Organizations and individuals rely on his expertise to lead or advise on strategy, environmental planning and policy across the region.

Keith Cooley is a seasoned, results-oriented executive and a proven leader in highly competitive
business, nonprofit, and public sector settings. For the past 20 years his work has focused primarily on
clean energy, sustainability, and environmental justice for underserved communities.

While classically trained as an engineer at the University of Michigan, Keith is known as a first-class
relationship manager whom many have described as thoughtful, balanced, and inclusive … but with a
bias for action.

He is a sought-after speaker for audiences of all kinds; urging urban youth to stay in school; linking clean energy to issues of U.S. national security and promoting foreign investment in U.S. clean tech programs.

Prior to researching and writing novels (including North Coast Almanac 2012, The Belle of Two Arbors 2017, Succession at the White House forthcoming, and Widower’s Song in progress), Paul Dimond served as the Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, tried several major race cases that challenged a divided Supreme Court, became a Professor Law, and served as Special Assistant to President Clinton for Economic Policy.  

Paul has also practiced law, chaired a national real estate firm, and continues to spend his time between his two Arbors. Currently, he works on behalf of several non-profits in Michigan so the heart of the Great Lakes can once again become a thriving home for fresh water and fresh ideas.

Dimond is the author of numerous articles and three books on policy, law and history, including Beyond Busing 1985, recipient of the Ralph J. Bunche Book of the Year in 1986, with a 20th anniversary edition 2005 (including a new Retrospect and Prospect. He is an alumnus of Amherst College (B.A. ’66) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D. ’69).

Sharon Farrell was most recently Executive Vice President of Projects, Stewardship & Science at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Sharon and her team lead the organization’s project design and delivery, conservation initiatives, community science, restoration, and stewardship programs. She also worked closely with agency partners to oversee the One Tam Initiative, a community initiative to help ensure a healthy future for Mt. Tamalpais.

Prior to joining the Parks Conservancy in 2004, Sharon was the Executive Director of the Watershed Project. Her work included capacity building for “Friends” groups, with a focus on partnership and fund development with municipalities and local governments. Sharon developed training and grants programs to support this work, and forged regional partnerships with other Bay Area non-profit organizations to support community-based stakeholder groups.

Sharon holds a MS in Park Management with emphasis on Ecological Restoration and Community Stewardship, and a BS in Chemistry. Originally from the United Kingdom, she now lives in the East Bay with her wife Sue, their two children, and their dog, Marco.

With more than seventeen years’ experience as a professional facilitator, Dr. Dino Signore has worked with both for-profit and non-profit organizations and specializes in creating productive learning environments, through a unique strategic planning model, peer-to-peer roundtable protocols and a process consultation approach. He has facilitated several hundred sessions with community development leaders across multiple disciplines, non-profit strategic sessions, board development sessions, and peer-to-peer roundtable sessions for business owners and executive directors as well as numerous small business strategy and executive performance sessions.

With over 18 years of graphic design experience, Sarah takes our pen and paper concepts and turns them into the final print pieces you may have seen in person. Her love for nature and the outdoors makes us one of her favorite clients to work for. Sarah graduated in 2002 from Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, with a BA in Graphic Design. Her favorite projects to work on are magazines and brochures. When she’s not working on her graphic design skills, she enjoys traveling with her husband and dogs, going for hikes, and taking photos.

Alok is a consultant and a full stack software engineer for a variety of web, interactive, and mobile projects. He is skilled in several development languages and tools, and experienced in designing and building interactive user experiences for internet, mobile and rich media systems. His specialties include Web Applications, eLearning Implementation, Rich Internet Applications, Mobile Web Applications, User Experience, Media, Collaboration, and Migration.

Steppe Solutions is a full-service event management agency.  Since 2001 they have been providing the direction, focus, creativity, structure, and momentum needed to translate their client’s vision into reality. They produce multi-day conferences, academic symposia, high-profile galas, annual dinners, donor events, and large-scale meetings and celebrations. “We have had the pleasure of producing hundreds of exceptional events over the years, and welcome the opportunity to partner with you on your next event.“