Staff

Trusting others with the safety of your children is not an easy thing to do, so I wanted to take a brief moment to tell you about myself, our Instructors, Board Members, and Advisory Committee Members that play a vital role in making this amazing organization thrive:

Ford Church, M. A., Founder and Executive Director:

I graduated from the University of Denver in 1998 with a B.S.B.A. in Marketing and I completed my Master's Degree in Adventure Education Program Management through Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona in 2004. I have worked in the outdoor industry for the past five years and have worked for such organizations as the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, the Colorado Mountain Club, the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, The Outdoor Network, and the Institute for Creative Education. I maintain a Wilderness First Responder medical certification and have a background in teaching wilderness and camping skills, outdoor survival skills, avalanche and snow science, and winter camping. In addition to serving as the Executive Director of the Cottonwood Institute, I am a Graduate Advisor for the Master of Arts Program at Prescott College. I am also an adjunct teacher at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado where I teach a variety of winter and summer survival courses. I am a former Steering Committee member with the Inner City Outings, which is a branch of the Sierra Club in Denver that provides opportunities for urban youth and adults to explore, enjoy and protect the natural world.

Paul Dreyer, M. A., Cottonwood Institute Vice-President and Secretary:

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., Board Member:

Adam Fiedor is an Associate with 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., 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 new 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.

Emily Stewart, M. A., Board Member:

Emily has worked with several youth services nonprofit organizations on the fundraising side as well as programming and field work. She currently works with 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, of Denver.

Mikal Belicove, Advisory Board Member:

Mikal is a corporate communication specialist who helps his clients with the most effective ways to establish authentic 'thought leader' and 'sense of community' status via micro-branded blogs, business blogs, and online communities of practice. Mikal is also the Director of Community & Education at Doba.com, a product sourcing marketplace that connects online retail merchants with wholesale suppliers and manufacturers. Mikal serves as our Content Advisor, helping us with our messaging and utilizing technology to achieve our marketing and fundraising goals.

Kate Cumbo, Ph. D., Advisory Board Member:

Kate has extensive experience with service learning and non-profit management and is currently the Program Director of PeaceJam in Arvada, Colorado. Kate is the former Director of the Colorado Department of Education's Service Learning Colorado and served on Governor Owen's Commission on Community Service.

Ethan Decker, Advisory Board Member:

Ethan Decker is Insights Director at 72 & Sunny, a full-service advertising, design, and brand identity agency in Los Angeles. Prior, he was Insights Manger at Radar Communications, and Editor-in-Chief of the Outdoor Network. Ethan has a PhD in urban ecology and is a member of the Ecological Society of America. Ethan brings many years of marketing and media relations experience to the Cottonwood Institute.

Byrne Reese, Advisory Board Member:

Byrne is currently the Product Manager for Six Apart, a provider of web publishing solutions in San Francisco, CA. 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 in Claremont, CA and is pursuing a M.A. in Social Ethics at the University of Southern California. Kalpana has been involved with non-profit youth education and outreach since she co-founded the Youth Volunteer Association as a high school student. Since then she co-founded the American Voter Coalition in college, with the aim of energizing 18 to 24 year old voters. She has been active on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union, La Jolla Methodist Church Nursery School, Francis W. Parker School Alumni Board, and the Postpartum Health Alliance. She is currently busy managing her family, complete with three school-aged boys.

Fran Villere, Advisory Board Member:

Fran Villere has made a life out of giving back to her community. Fran has deep roots in the New Orleans community and has served in a variety of capacities for such organizations as The Greater New Orleans Foundation, the New Orleans Children's Hospital, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Fran advises the Cottonwood Institute about strategic planning, fundraising, and capacity building and we welcome her wisdom and experience.

Andrea Jensen, New Vista High School Community Adventure Program Teacher:

Andrea came to Boulder about four years ago and student taught through the Boulder Valley School District and received her teaching certificate in Art Education. She taught art for a few years at an elementary school in Longmont. Andrea is also a climbing instructor at the Boulder Rock Club. Although she continues to feed her creative drive through art, she is an outdoor enthusiast at heart and enjoy climbing, biking, running and hiking. Andrea has completed a NOLS mountaineering course in Patagonia, Chile and was an Americorps crew leader for the San Francisco Conservation Corps.

Steve McCue, P.S.1 Community Adventure Program Teacher and Head Instructor:

Steve earned a Master's degree in Environmental Education from Northern Illinois University in 2005, and has spent the last 8 years of his life learning and practicing native skills and philosophy, spending time at Tom Brown, Jr.'s Tracker School, and running around in the woods in his native Illinois forests.  He spent 4 years teaching at a therapuetic day school in Illinois, creating and implementing curriculum for students with exceptional needs and providing adaptations necessary for the success of the most marginalized of students. Steve maintains an EMT-Basic certification with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, and plans to pursue a Wilderness EMT certification in the very near future.

Lucy Parham, Cottonwood Institute Nonprofit Intern:

Lucy graduated from The University of the South in Sewanee, TN in 2005 with a B.S. in Natural Resources. She has volunteered with several youth service programs such as Big People for Little People, Girl Scouts of America, the Sewanee Youth Soccer Association and schools in both Jamaica and Costa Rica. Lucy was also an instructor for the Sea Education Association, a program that focused on assisting students with sailing techniques, oceanography research, and life at sea. She is an avid outdoorswoman that enjoys skiing, hiking, and fly fishing.

Eric Ellison, Cottonwood Institute Instructor:

Eric Ellison is a graduate of 5 Cottonwood Institute programs and now serves as an Instructor for our Summer Courses. Eric recently received a 4-year $100,000 Environmental Stewardship scholarship to Sterling College in Vermont. Eric is an excellent example of the community leaders we have inspired through the Cottonwood Institute. Eric maintains a Wilderness First Responder medical certification.