Board of Directors

Jack Derby, CFP, Board Member:

Jack is a Certified Financial Planner with Derby Financial Group, an independent Financial Planning company based in Denver, CO. Jack has over 15 years of experience and provides advice on all aspects of individual financial planning and business planning. Jack earned a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Georgia. Jack enjoys hunting and recreating outdoors with his son.

James Muchmore, J.D., Board Member:

James is a Partner for Messner & Reeves, a Denver-based firm, and practices in their Corporate Practice Group. Before working for Messner & Reeves, James was an Associate for Patton Boggs LLP in Denver, CO. James advises clients on corporate and securities law matters, providing ongoing legal advice to publicly and privately held corporations, company management and boards of directors regarding federal securities laws, public and private offerings, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and business transactions.  James earned his J.D. from Syracuse University, and his B.A. in Government & Law and English from Lafayette College.

Marley Steele-Inama, M.A.Ed, Board Member

Marley Steele-Inama is Denver Zoo’s Education Research and Evaluation Manager.  She contributes 13 years of informal learning experience through the development, delivery and evaluation of informal science and conservation education programs.  She currently leads the Education Department in developing and evaluate curriculum for the zoo’s Asian Tropics exhibit, slated to open Spring 2012.  She is active in local science education, participating on the Colorado Science Teacher’s Conference Steering Committee, and serving on the Board of Directors for Colorado Association of Science Teachers.  Because she loves the outdoors and motivating others to use outdoor spaces, Marley also serves on the City of Westminster’s Open Space Advisory Board.  She spends summers running rivers and playing Ultimate Frisbee, and snowboards and trains for marathons in the winter. She received her M.A.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Denver in 1999.

Janet Woods, Board Member:

Janet is a vendor manager for Avnet Technology Solutions and graduated from the University of Colorado with a triple major in marketing, finance and international business. Janet has a long history of giving back to the Denver community. She is currently on the Executive Committee of the Avnet Cares Governing Board serving as Vice President, and also chairs the Matching Grants committee. She was a charter member of Young Professionals philanthropic committees for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Volunteers of America, and Hospice of Metro Denver. Most recently, Janet served as the chair for the marketing committee and Families for Families committee on the Kempe Alliance Board of Directors, an organization that serves to prevent child abuse and neglect. Janet has a passion for the outdoors and is committed to making sure every student has the opportunity to explore the outdoors.

Chris Zook, B.S.B.A, Board Member:

Chris Zook currently works for a Denver-based technology company called IP Commerce. Prior to joining IP Commerce, Chris was a Vice President for Q Advisors, a Denver-based Investment Bank focused on advising technology and telecom companies on strategic transactions and capital raising.  Chris has also worked as an Associate in the Technology M&A Group at SG Cowen, now Cowen & Co., in London, Boston and New York.  A Colorado native, Chris holds a B.S.B.A. in Finance from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.

Scott Beckett, M.A., Advisory Board Member:

Scott is a consultant for Insigniam Performance, a global management consulting firm focusing on enterprise performance transformation and catalyzing breakthrough results. Highly sought after for coaching organizational teams to produce breakthrough results, he has spoken to groups as large as 6,500 on leadership and personal effectiveness. Scott’s approach gives executives and managers access to breakthrough results that heretofore were not possible. Scott began his career as a schoolteacher and taught at both the high school and middle school levels. Scott’s personal passion is making a difference in his community. He currently serves on the national committee of the Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America, where he is taking a lead role in planning one of the BSA’s most expansive service projects in the organization’s 97-year history.

Mikal Belicove, Advisory Board Member:

Mikal E. Belicove is an Entrepreneur magazine columnist & contributing writer and a business strategist specializing in market analysis, messaging and positioning, and content development for a select group of high profile businesses and individuals. Previously, Mikal founded and sold a Boulder, Colo.-based Internet start-up and worked in Acquisitions for Alpha Books/Pearson plc (NYSE: PSO) and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JW.A). His latest book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, was published in the summer in 2010 by Penguin Group USA/Alpha Books. When he’s not working, Mikal can be found training for half-marathons and enjoying life with family and friends in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Eric Curry, Advisory Board Member:

Eric is in charge of advertising, marketing and customer communication for CoBiz Financial, a financial services company that helps small- to mid-sized companies find solutions to help them succeed both professionally and personally. Before that he was the chief communications advisor and press secretary for the Governor, where he used his past experience asking the questions as a TV reporter to better answer reporters’ questions and help to communicate very delicate issues. It was a roller coaster of an experience, which was perfect for a transition as the media spokesman for Six Flags Elitch Gardens. The ups and downs of a theme park always presented Eric with opportunities to fix things, communicate more clearly with guests and make experiences for families more memorable. Eric will help advise the Cottonwood Institute with marketing and communications to help take our organization to the next level.

Paul Dreyer, M.A., Advisory Board Member:

Paul has been working with teenagers in alternative educational settings for nine years.  A self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades, Paul has had the opportunity to work at a variety of organizations and to support a diverse spectrum of students.  He worked as an educator at the Shackleton School, an expeditionary boarding school in Massachusetts, and as a residential and personal advisor at Brush Ranch School, a boarding program for high school students with learning disabilities.  For the past two years, Paul has been working as an educational consultant, creating academic and life-learning plans for teenagers and their families.  Throughout his past, Paul has also devoted considerable time to organizing and leading extended wilderness, outdoor education, and service expeditions to areas around the western United States.  Currently, in addition to working at Watershed, Paul teaches wilderness first aid courses through the Wilderness Medicine Institute and serves on the board of directors for Teens, Inc., a teen center and alternative high school in Nederland, CO.  Constantly searching for more creative and effective educational methods, Paul loves using the outdoors and experiential environments to promote learning and growth in his students and himself.

Adam Fiedor, M.B.A., Advisory Board Member:

Adam Fiedor is a Vice President for St. Charles Capital, LLC, a Denver-based Investment Bank focused on advising middle-market companies.  Prior to joining St. Charles Capital, he worked as an Associate Director in the Financial Sponsors and Leverage Finance Group at UBS Investment Bank.  Adam earned an MBA at Harvard Business School and a B.S.B.A. in Economics and Finance from the University of Denver.

Rick Medrick, Ed. D., Advisory Board Member:

Rick Medrick has been a Graduate Advisor for the Master of Arts Program (MAP) at Prescott College since 1995, core faculty member for MAP in Adventure Education since 1999, and is a member of the steering committee for the Prescott Ph.D. program. He has a B.A. in philosophy and literature from Dartmouth (1963) and a self-designed doctorate (Ed.D., 1985) in humanistic psychology and experiential education from the University of Northern Colorado. Rick is a long-time veteran in the outdoor industry and is the Executive Director and Founder of Outdoor Leadership Training Seminars/Breakthrough Adventures, Inc. in Denver, Colorado.

Byrne Reese, Advisory Board Member:

Byrne is currently the Head of Customer Development for ToyTalk, Inc. Prior to working for ToyTalk, Byrne was a Principal for Endevver Consulting where they design and develop products and web sites for companies that create and engage online communities. Byrne serves as a Technology Advisor to the Cottonwood Institute to help us implement appropriate tools for marketing and fundraising purposes. Our goal is to use technology to help increase an awareness of the Cottonwood Institute and strengthen our presence on the Web.

Kalpana Rhodes, Advisory Board Member:

Kalpana graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies from Scripps College inClaremont, CA and is pursuing a M.A. in Social Ethics at the University of Southern California. Kalpana has beeninvolved with non-profit youth education and outreach since she co-foundedthe Youth Volunteer Association as a high school student. Since then sheco-founded the American Voter Coalition in college, with the aim of energizing18 to 24 year old voters. She has been active on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union, LaJolla Methodist Church Nursery School, Francis W. Parker School AlumniBoard, and the Postpartum Health Alliance. She is currently busy managingher family, complete with three school-aged boys.

Emily Stewart, M. A., Advisory Board Member:

Emily has worked with several youth services nonprofit organizations on the fund raising side as well as programming and field work. She currently works with Earth Force. Prior to joining Earth Force, she worked for Alchemy a consulting firm based in Denver, as a researcher and facilitator. She is a facilitator with the Institute for Cultural Affairs and works to promote positive change throughout diverse communities in the metro area. She is a member of CORE Colorado and the local chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. Emily enjoys cycling, skiing, and playing in the backcountry of the Rocky Mountains.  Emily holds a BA from Sewanee, in Tennessee, and an MNM from Regis University in Denver.