Meet the Newest Trees Forever Board Members!

Larry focuses on transactional real estate and corporate law, including platting, sales and leasing transactions, entitlements, and entity documents. He works closely with developers on land development, historic tax credit and LIHTC projects, as well as large market-rate multifamily and mixed-use developments.

In addition to his law practice, Larry is president of Laneways Development, LLC, a development company based in Des Moines, Iowa. He is excited to bring his professional expertise to assist Trees Forever in our planting mission.

Originally from Cedar Rapids, Dan has spent his nearly 20-year career at Corteva (formally Pioneer Hi-Bred) working mostly in biotechnology research to protect against diseases and insect pests on soybean, corn, and cotton and to reduce the need for pesticides. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in horticulture and plant pathology, respectively, from Iowa State University. After serving on the city of Johnston tree board, he became a Trees Forever TreeKeeper. For over eight years, he has been regularly spending his Saturdays planting and caring for trees in Des Moines, even bringing out his two sons. He was awarded the 2024 Outstanding Volunteer Award for Central Iowa. 

In her role, she oversees excise tax compliance for GROWMARK and its retail and subsidiary business units. Ashley has been with GROWMARK for over 12 years. Prior to her current position, she served as the Accounting and Reporting Systems Manager, where she managed the General Ledger System for GROWMARK and select retail and subsidiary business units, as well as the reporting of GROWMARK’s consolidated financial results. Before that, Ashley was a Senior Tax Analyst within GROWMARK’s tax department, where she assisted in income tax preparation for retail and subsidiary business units, as well as for the consolidated GROWMARK returns. 

Ashley is actively involved in the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives (NSAC) and serves on the local Mississippi Valley chapter board. She is also a member of the Illinois CPA Society and the AICPA. 

Ashley lives in Bloomington, IL, with her husband and two children. She enjoys spending time with family, camping, and attending her children’s sports activities. In her free time, she also enjoys baking and crafting.

Gale Mote started living her dream job in November, 1990, when she launched her own training and organizational development consulting business. Her consulting practice included non-profit and for-profit clients. In 1994, she received her M.B.A. at the University of Iowa – Tippie College of Business. In 2000, she joined the faculty of the Management and Organization Department.  In 2014, she received one of four President and Provost Awards for Teaching Excellence at the University. 

She is a member of the Association for Talent Development (ATD) – Hawkeye Chapter and also served as a National Advisor to Chapters and was Chairperson of the National Chapter Recognition Committee in 2013. She received her CPTD (Certified Professional in Talent Development) from ATD in 2014. Today, she serves on the Advisory Council for Hawkeye ATD. 

Gale and her husband have been married for 42 years and live next to Palisades Kepler State Park with their four cats (Chase, Chance, Sandi and Hunter) along with all of nature’s critters who frequent their backyard. They love walking nature trails, Hawkeye Women’s Basketball and trout fishing.