Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of 1000 Friends of Iowa is comprised of citizens representing a wide array of backgrounds.  The size of the Board varies from nine to twenty-one members. Board members serve three-year terms, and may be re-appointed.  During our Annual meeting we will elect several new members. If you would like to be considered, or know someone who might be, see our "Featured Opportunities" page for more information, and thank you for your interest!

Mary Ellen Miller, President (Mason City)

Mary Ellen Warren, Vice President (Waterloo)

Mary Ellen has been involved in downtown revitalization in Waterloo for the past twenty years. She and her husband George have remodeled a building that was home to an upscale dining establishment and rehabbed a five story 99 room hotel into one with 68 business and whirlpool suites. She has been active in establishing the Silos and Smokestacks Heritage Area and the Main Street program in downtown Waterloo. Mary Ellen is currently serving on the board of the Grout Museum, the Public Art Committee, and serving on several councils for Main Street Waterloo.

LaVon Griffieon, Secretary (Ankeny)

LaVon is active with rural education for urban youth and adults, has authored and illustrated two children’s books on agriculture, and worked as an Ag-in-the-classroom project volunteer for 15 years. LaVon has hosted over 13,000 visitors on field trips to her family farm, which lies contiguous to the city of Ankeny. She is a member of the social justice committee for her church, a 4-H leader, and has served as secretary of the board of the Wallace House Foundation, and as an assistant soil and water commissioner for Polk County. LaVon was instrumental in the formation of 1000 Friends of Iowa, holding the initial meeting in her century farm home, out of concern for the world-class soil, which was being bulldozed to create subdivisions nearby. In 1990, she won the grand prize at the National County Farm Bureau program exchange for Ag-in-the-classroom. LaVon won the Iowa Farm-City Award in 1993, and in 1995 was runner-up for the Farm Journal Spokesperson of the year Award. In 2000, LaVon and her husband, Craig, won the Wallace’s Farmer Master Farmer Award, and she was the recipient of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation’s Hagie Heritage Award. She was also named a Food and Society Policy Fellow in 2002, and has traveled to Cuba and several countries in Europe researching sustainable agriculture and has presented at several national conventions.

Laura Belin, Immediate Past-president (Windsor Heights)

Laura grew up in Windsor Heights and moved back to her family home in 2002, after living out of state for 15 years. "Buy Local" was the 1000 Friends of Iowa program that first caught her attention, even before she moved back to Iowa. Both of her grandfathers owned small businesses, and she strongly supports locally owned "main street" businesses. Another area of interest for her is balanced transportation policy that makes room for alternatives to the car-dependent lifestyle. Laura joined the 1000 Friends of Iowa board in 2002 and became board president in 2005 because the organization sees the big picture, the relationship between preserving working farms and natural areas and creating vibrant cities and towns. She feels strongly about the need to educate citizens on the impact of current economic, transportation and tax policies, as well as advocate for changes that would better serve our communities and protect our natural resources. Laura Belin also serves as the representative of 1000 Friends of Iowa on the Board of Directors for the Iowa Environmental Council.

Erwin Klaas, Treasurer (Ames)

Erv retired in December 1999 after 30 years service with the U.S. Department of Interior's, Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey as a Wildlife Research Biologist.  He served the last 25 years as Assistant Leader (1975-92) and Leader (1992-1999) of the Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Iowa State University. He is now Professor Emeritus of Animal Ecology in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology Management. He is serving his second 4-year term as an elected Commissioner of the Story County Soil and Water Conservation District and was appointed to the Ames Parks and Recreation Commission in March 2006. Erv is a volunteer with the IOWATER program and is active in the Squaw Creek Watershed Coalition and Urban Stewards of central Iowa. He has a strong interest in the sustainability of cities, reduction in greenhouse gases, and stormwater management. Erv helped organize the Ames Smart Growth Alliance to promote the principles of smart growth through education and involvement of citizens in building consensus, mutual understanding, and a sense of community. He serves on the Executive Board of Ames Smart Growth Alliance, the Squaw Creek Watershed Coalition and the Board of Directors of the Prairie Rivers of Iowa RC&D. He is a member of The Nature Conservancy, American Ornithologists' Union, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Pheasants Forever, Iowa Prairie Network, and The Wildlife Society. He was led to 1000 Friends of Iowa through his life long interest in land use as it affects biodiversity and environmental health.

Doug Adamson (Des Moines)

Doug is a landscape architect with a broad base of experience in sustainable, natural resource-based landscape architecture, planning, and urban design projects. In his work he focuses on concepts of sustainability and ecological regeneration. He integrates sensitive site design with the values of sustainable and regenerative landscapes. Doug is an expert in Eco-sensitive Site Specific Design, Sustainable Urban Design, Conservation Land Planning and Design (Low Impact Development), Corridor Planning and Streetscape Design, and Community and Neo-Traditional Development Master Planning. He is the Past President of the Iowa Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Mary Brubaker (Des Moines)

Mary is a life-long resident of Des Moines, and has been a familiar face on Iowa televisions for 40 years. From 1967-1995 she worked as Producer, News Reporter, and Talk Show Host at KCCI-TV (CBS affiliate) in Des Moines. Her work included the shows MIDDAY, TIMECAPSULE, and STRAIGHT TALK, as well as 25 years with the MDA TELETHONS. A life-long community activist, she has served on more than two dozen civic boards and commissions. Her work has garnered her numerous civic awards, including the YWCA Woman of Achievement (1988), Muscular Dystrophy Assoc. Hall of Fame, Drake University Community Service Award and the Very Special Arts Iowa Volunteer Award.

Elizabeth I. Holland, J.D. (Chicago)

Elizabeth is the Chief Executive Officer of Abbell Credit Corporation, whose properties include Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines. Abbell Credit Corporation is a sixty-year old private real estate investment, development and management company with an approximately 2 million/sf portfolio, comprised of shopping center, office, and enclosed mall properties. She is responsible for overseeing all business and legal matters, including development, management, financing, leasing, capital improvements, and investor and tenant relations. Ms. Holland is active in the International Council of Shopping Centers, currently serving as a Member of the Board of Trustees, Chair of the Economic Sub-Committee, and the Central States Government Relations Chair. In addition, Ms. Holland represents the ICSC on the Campaign for Sensible Growth Steering Committee and has served on the Board of Directors of the Uptown Redevelopment Corporation for the past five years.

Dale McKinney (Sioux City)

Dale is a principal in the firm of M Plus Architects in Sioux City. M+ is a practice with diverse project experience with an emphasis on historic preservation. Dale was the project architect on three projects recognized as a Best Development by 1000 Friends. The three projects are the preservation of the Van Allen Department store in Clinton, the preservation of the Central High School/Castle on the Hill in Sioux City and the Casket Company in Dubuque. Dale serves locally on the boards of the Siouxland YMCA, Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, Downtown Partners and the Historic Preservation Commission. He is also service his third term on the Iowa Board on Architectural Examiners. He is active in committee work for the National Council of Architectural Examiners.

Karen Howard (Iowa City)

Karen grew up on a farm in Northeast Iowa. She earned her B.S. degree in Economics from the University of Iowa and her Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University. Karen has worked for the City of Iowa City as an urban planner for the last eight years. During that time she coordinated the City’s efforts to rewrite the zoning and subdivision ordinances bringing them up to date with smart growth principles and the comprehensive planning goals for compact pedestrian-oriented development, historic preservation, street connectivity, and creation of affordable housing. Karen says she moved back to Iowa so “her children would grow up with family and enjoy and appreciate the special place that is Iowa.”

Ed Cox (Columbia, MO)

Ed is a staff attorney with the Drake Agricultural Law Center in Des Moines. Ed graduated from Drake University Law School in 2009 with a Certificate in Food and Agricultural Law. He has published a number of articles on the interplay between public policy, land use, agriculture, and sustainability. In addition, he has developed a “Sustainable Farm Lease” website and edited a series of mini-documentaries on the role of public policy in sustainable farmland management. During law school Ed was an intern with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation where he analyzed reform of tax increment financing as a potential source of funding for natural resource protection and worked as a law clerk on the Iowa NRCS Easement Programs Team. Ed grew up in the rural Missouri Ozarks and enjoys canoeing and wildlife photography. Prior to his legal and academic career Ed was enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. He now lives in Columbia, Missouri with his wife and their daughter.

Drake Larsen (Ames)

Drake is a recent graduate of ISU with a MS in Sustainable Agriculture. He is currently working as a research associate in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management at ISU examining Iowa farmers’ perspectives on strategic placement of perennial conservation practices. A native of central Iowa, Drake was active in FFA and has a deep interest in waterfowl biology and wetlands conservation. He operated a successful guide business resulting in thousands of hours spent on Iowa’s landscape where he witnessed the impact of our vast corn monoculture on wildlife and the consequences of “irresponsible” agricultural practices. Drake and his wife, Sarah, currently live in Ames.

Lynn Laws (Des Moines)