Board of Directors

Ben Curtis
Board Vice-Chair
Eocene – Urbandale, IA

Mr. Ben Curtis is a Project Manager with Eocene Environmental Group, Inc., an employee-owned environmental consulting firm based in West Des Moines, Iowa. As part of the environmental due diligence team, Ben works with communities across the Midwest to assess and clean up contaminated properties. He has experience in all phases of the redevelopment planning process, including technical investigations, community visioning, public engagement and outreach, and grant writing and administration. He earned a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Policy from Drake University. 

Pete De Kock
City of Clive – Clive, IA

Pete De Kock joined the City of Clive, Iowa, as Assistant City Manager in April 2018. He collaborates with colleagues, elected officials, business leaders, and residents to promote community vitality and craft inspiring stories about Clive. He also partners with colleagues on management, government affairs, water resources, economic development, AI adoption, and other strategic projects. Pete graduated from Grinnell College and Harvard University, where he studied political and social ethics. After completing his degrees, Pete committed to community building and public service. Before joining the City of Clive, he worked for the U.S. House of Representatives and led civil society and arts nonprofits in Chicago and Des Moines. Pete loves cycling, fishing, tennis, basketball, music, and barbecue, but his true love is family and friends. He and his wife have two sons. 

Alex Gansen
University of Iowa Energy Collaborative – North Liberty, IA

My name is Alex Gansen and I am currently the CFO at the University of Iowa Energy Collaborative (UIEC). UIEC entered into a 50-year partnership with the University of Iowa on March 10, 2020, for the purposes of operating and maintaining the University’s on-campus utility systems with a focus on sustainability goals such as being coal free by 2025. As the CFO at UIEC, I am responsible for all finance and administrative functions of the Company including preparing financial statements and reports, preparing budgets, managing cash flows, maintaining lender relationships, etc. Before stepping into my current role, I was the CFO at Price Electric. Price Electric is an electrical contractor headquartered in Robins Iowa with ~200 employees and annual revenues of $50 million. Prior to the Price Electric role, I was the Controller of CRST Equipment Solutions for 7 years where I was responsible for managing fixed asset accounting, maintenance accounting, corporate purchasing, licensing & overall financial reporting. Before moving back to Cedar Rapids (born and raised) I was Assistant CFO at Dorman Trading in Chicago where I was responsible for month end financial statement preparation and submission to various regulatory bodies, daily reconciliation of prior day trading activity, and ongoing confirmation of compliance regarding capital regulations. Preceding Dorman, I was an Accountant at a law firm in Chicago where I performed month end closing, cash flow analysis, forecasting revenue and expenses, and managed accounts payable and receivable.

Sean McMahon
Farmers Edge – Grimes, IA

Sean McMahon is the Global Sustainability Lead for Farmers Edge, where he helps producers and corporations improve profitability and environmental outcomes. Sean is the former founding Executive Director of the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance (IAWA), an organization dedicated to increasing the pace and scale of farmer-led efforts to improve water quality in Iowa. Prior to leading IAWA, Sean launched and led The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) agriculture strategy as the North America Agriculture Program Director. Sean also served as State Director of the Iowa Chapter of TNC, the Director of National Land Stewardship Campaigns at the National Wildlife Federation, and held various senior positions at the U.S. Department of the Interior in his three-decade career in conservation. Sean has a master’s degree in Natural Resource Science from Virginia Tech, an Executive MBA from Iowa State and lives with his wife Rebecca and four children in Cumming, IA.

Ashley Nolan
GROWMARK – Bloomington, IL

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.

Barry Sackett
Goosemann Law Firm – Sioux Falls, SD

A native of the Iowa Great Lakes region, Sackett is an attorney and Sioux Falls Managing Partner with Goosmann Law Firm. His broad business and legal expertise stems from years as a business owner, chief financial officer, in-house counsel, assistant county attorney and legal consultant. He has served in leadership positions on a variety of nonprofit boards, including the Bedell Family YMCA, Imagine Iowa Great Lakes and the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation. He is an avid runner, having completed multiple marathons and ultradistance races.

Dan Thorpe
Corteva Agriscience – Johnston, IA

Originally from Cedar Rapids, Dan has spent his nearly 20-year career at Corteva (formally Pioneer Hi-Bred) working mostly in biotechnology research to discover and test new traits that farmers can use to protect against diseases and insect pests on soybean, corn and cotton, reducing 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 for a short period, he became a Trees Forever TreeKeeper. For over 8 years, he has been regularly spending his Saturday mornings 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. 

Heather Croskrey
Director of Development

Nancy Lynk
US Bank – Cedar Rapids, IA
Foundation Trustee Chair

Nancy Lynk is the Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking at US Bank. She also serves as the USBank Market Leader & Community Relations. A central Iowa native, Nancy has continued connections to agricultural industry. A graduate of Iowa State University, she has decades of experience in commercial banking and related financial services business. Nancy has two adult daughters. A committed community volunteer, she is a current trustee of the Tanager Place Foundation, and a board member of the Entrepreneurial Development Center. In the past, she has been a board member of the Cedar River Soccer Association, Area Substance Abuse Council, and the American Cancer Society. Nancy is also part of the Cedar Rapids Economic Alliance Economic Development Innovation Council. Since 1998, she has contributed many hours of service to the Trees Forever Board of Directors and Foundation.  Nancy makes gifts to the Trees Forever Foundation to memorialize friends and family members–the contributions are a way to fund tree planting forever and create an ongoing legacy.

Dave Blankenship
Transamerica, retired – Cedar Rapids, IA

David was a senior vice president at Transamerica in Cedar Rapids, coordinating business strategies and initiatives across the company’s Global Funds Group. Prior to retiring, he was also a president of the AEGON/Transamerica Foundation. He is active on the executive board of the Boy Scouts and in many non-profits that work with young people, and is a strong believer in teaching mentoring skills.

Scott Peters
Peters Law Firm, retired – Council Bluffs, IA

Scott joined the Trees Forever Board of Directors in 1998.  He recently became a Trees Forever Foundation Trustee, helping us reach goals for our endowment.  He has provided challenge gifts for annual campaigns and hosted Legacy Society receptions.  Since touring the Bear Creek National Buffer Site north of Ames, Iowa, Scott has been an avid promoter of planting buffers for water quality and wildlife habitat.  A now-retired trial lawyer, Scott’s legal specialty was product liability. He considers serving on nonprofit and college boards his civic duty.