Tom Betley has worked at the IU School of Medicine for 20 years in Financial and Academic administration. He is currently the Associate Vice Chair for Budget and Finance at the Department of Medicine.

John Bacone received his Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Illinois University with a double major in Botany and Zoology and a Master of Science degree in Forest Ecology from the University of Illinois. He was the first full-time professional naturalist at Turkey Run State Park. He then served as Central Illinois Regional Ecologist on the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory. He retired in 2019 after 40 years as the Director of the Division of Nature Preserves with Indiana DNR. 

Ryan C. Fuhrmann, CFA, is President and founder of Fuhrmann Capital LLC, an Indiana-based investment management firm focused on portfolio management. Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996 and a master’s degree in business from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002. He has taught finance at Butler University and served on the board of the Friends of Hamilton County Parks. He currently volunteers at the Eiteljorg Museum and with the Clark Hulings Foundation. Ryan’s interest in land conservation centers around a desire to help preserve natural habitats for wildlife and the subsequent benefits it brings to people and the environment.

Rima Shahid is executive director of the Indiana Democracy Collective/Indiana Progress. A native Hoosier of Pakistani descent, Rima previously served as executive director of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana, and prior to that, she lived for more than a decade in the Middle East, where she worked as a trade development officer at the Pakistan Embassy in Bahrain. Rima speaks four languages: English, Spanish, Urdu, and Hindi. Along with her husband and three children, she enjoys exploring Central Indiana’s beautiful nature preserves and parks.

Heather Bobich works in environmental consulting and specializes in wetland, stream, and native habitat restoration. A wetland ecologist and landscape architect by education, she manages the Indiana office of Davey Resource Group and has a passion for landscaping with native plants. Heather lives in Carmel and enjoys exploring Indiana's parks and nature preserves with her family in her free time.

Josh Christie is a partner in Ice Miller’s Business Group where he primarily focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions, joint ventures, commercial agreements and general corporate matters. Josh earned his Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, in 2003, with a minor in philosophy, and his law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006. Josh lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Erica, and daughter, Alice, and spends his time away from the office exploring the woods around Central Indiana and watching Alice dance and act.

David Franklin is the Chief Investment Officer at The National Bank of Indianapolis and manager of their investment division, Diamond Capital Management. In this capacity, he coordinates the investment philosophy, strategy, tactics, and implementations employed by the Bank in managing approximately $2 billion in assets. He is a lifelong nature enthusiast who grew up in southern Indiana, with many adventures camping and boating. A father of two boys, he has enjoyed raising them with the same passion for being outdoors and enjoying nature.

Doug Gray is a nationally recognized birdwatcher. He was introduced to the world of birds by his grandfather while growing up on the family farm in near Clarksville, Tennessee. A longtime birding guide at major festivals across the country, Doug has served on the boards of the Amos Butler Audubon Society in Indiana and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Ohio. He previously spent over 10 years in active military service in the United States Army, and he retired in 2017 after almost 30 years working for Eli Lilly and Company, with most of those years in Parenteral Engineering. He is a graduate of Leadership Johnson County, where he led a team that won the Community Project of the Year Award from the Indiana Historical Society in 2021. Doug is also a pastor, a chaplain, President of the Johnson County Ministerial Association, and Lecturer of Religion at Franklin College.

Ellen Jacquart was one of our organization’s founders. She spent her career managing natural areas in Indiana, working for the Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, and The Nature Conservancy of Indiana before retiring in 2016. A major focus of her work was to address the threat of invasive plants to forests, prairies, and wetlands. When the Indiana Invasive Species Council created the Invasive Plant Advisory Committee in 2010, she led it until she retired in 2016. She now chairs Monroe County – Identify and Reduce Invasive Species (MC-IRIS), which works to reduce the impact of invasive plants in Monroe County. She was president of the Indiana Native Plant Society from 2018 to 2022. She is the winner of the 2022 Carl N. Becker Stewardship Award from the Natural Areas Association.

Kevin McKelvey is a place-based writer, poet, designer and social practice artist. His poetry book, Dream Wilderness Poems, was published in 2018, and another book, Indiana Nocturnes, written with Curtis Crisler, will soon be published. He is at work on a novel and regularly completes workshops, art installations, and placemaking projects around Indiana. At University of Indianapolis, he serves as Professor in the English Department and as director of the university's Masters of Art in Social Practice Art program. McKelvey grew up on the edge of a corn field near Lebanon, Indiana, and attended DePauw University and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Kevin believes in land trusts because they protect land forever, and he helped found Long-Term Ecological Reflections with ACRES and NICHES in Indiana. Land trusts can protect pristine natural areas that remain, and they can help return land to its natural state.

Joanna Nixon is the owner of Nixon Consulting, an Indianapolis-based strategy and project management firm focused on the nonprofit sector. She currently serves as the Philanthropic Advisor for the Efroymson Family Fund. Prior to opening her consulting practice in 2000, Joanna was vice-president for grantmaking at Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF). Joanna has more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit and arts and culture sector. She is passionate about the environment and loves bringing big ideas to life and creating high-quality arts and culture programs and experiences. Joanna enjoys outdoor adventures, including competing in fitness obstacle course races and hiking with her high energy Australian Cattle Dog, Jackson.

Daniel Pulliam is a partner at Faegre Drinker. He is a dad, basketball coach and journalist whose pursuits range from legal writing to blogging to investigative reporting.

Steve Simon is the founder of Simon Equity Partners, LLC and has been a managing member since January 2007. From February 1997 to December 2006, he served as president and chief executive officer of Melvin Simon & Associates, Inc., a privately-held real estate and investment company. Steve serves on the board of directors of the Pacers Basketball Corporation, Yes To, Inc. and Coalision, Inc. He is a director for the Herbert Simon Family Foundation and serves on the boards of two other nonprofits besides CILTI: Conscious Alliance and HeadCount. 

Andrew Stokely is a partner at Barrett & Stokely where he focuses on the maintenance, renovation and construction of multi-family communities. From a young age, the outdoors and nature have been a priority. Andrew is always looking for an excuse to explore nature and get in to the woods. He enjoys hiking, camping, riding his dirt bike as well as creating and maintaining trails. Equally enjoyable is the special time in early June when he is able to witness Cliff Chapman calling in warblers and other song birds in Central Indiana. Andrew resides in Indianapolis with his wife and three children.

Indianapolis native Mary Beth Tuohy spent nearly 20 years with the US Environmental Protection Agency at the national, regional and state level in various municipalities, leading multiple programs. Currently she is owner/president of At Home Preferred, a boutique home health care company serving seniors on the northside of Indianapolis. Her volunteer work encompasses stints on several boards, a highlight being her nine years with CICOA, including serving as board chair. Mary Beth enjoys time outdoors hiking, cycling and walking her dogs, as well as planning family vacations with her husband and two teen daughters.

Before retiring in 2017, Karen Wade worked for Eli Lilly & Co. where she provided information systems quality assurance and computer systems validation for global manufacturing systems. Previously she was a configuration manager with Raytheon, Cummins, Gates Aerospace and Computer Sciences Corporation where she was awarded the Astronauts' Silver Snoopy Award for professional excellence. In retirement she volunteers for a number of organizations, including the Indiana Master Naturalist program, Johnson County Native Plant Partnership CISMA, Meadowstone Therapeutic Riding Center, and Leadership Johnson County. Karen earned an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and an applied computer science certificate from Purdue University.

Dan Willis was born in Southeast Texas, near the Louisiana border, and his entire childhood was surrounded by the incredibly diverse natural world that exists there. Wild places shaped his worldview and gave him so much, and he sees serving the Central Indiana Land Trust mission as one way to repay that. He is an entrepreneur who has owned or run businesses in the restaurant, manufacturing, service, and technology industries. In 2006, he and his wife moved to Indianapolis. They plan to call it home for the rest of their lives.

An award-winning communicator and recognized leader in Central Indiana’s public relations community, Jen helps us tell our story in the media. She is the founder of JTPR, which she and her husband John Thomas own together. She is accredited in public relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America, and loves to camp and hike in perfect weather conditions.

Shawndra’s earliest writing projects centered around the natural world, starting when a bird inspired her to write her first “book” in elementary school. Now she is in charge of sharing our story and connecting you to our work. Through our print and online materials, she hopes to inspire your participation in protecting special places for future generations. She previously wrote for Farm Indiana, Acres USA, Edible Indy, and other media, focusing on sustainable agriculture and community resilience. An Indiana Master Naturalist, she serves as secretary of the board for Indiana Native Plant Society's central chapter. She considers her position at CILTI to be a dream job, allowing her to use her skills in service of a mission that’s dear to her heart. Outside of work she can often be found with her nose in a book and a cat on her lap, unless she’s at the yoga studio trying to twist herself into unusual shapes.