At its third quarter board meeting, the Wyoming Community Foundation welcomed six new board members.

 

The new board members are John Freeman of Laramie, who was also the founding president of the WYCF, Paula Barnett of Denver, Connie Brezik of Casper, Jim Gersack of Jackson, George McIlvaine of Cheyenne, and Kathy Tomassi of Kemmerer.

 

The WYCF serves the entire state of Wyoming and is one of over 700 community foundations nationwide. The organization was founded in 1989. Since then, staff have been working with donors to gather the resources to build endowment, working with investment advisors to grow these funds, and using their expertise in community building to grant the earnings from these funds to nonprofit organizations across Wyoming.

 

The other members of the WYCF Board of Directors are Bill Ankeny of Banner, Budd Betts of Dubois, Serena Cobb of Casper, Tad Daly of Gillette, Diane Harrop of Douglas, Greg Irwin of Cody, Arne Jorgensen of Jackson, Donna Kinskey of Sheridan, Rick Lawton of Jackson, Carol McKinley of Evanston, Baillie Miller of Laramie, Lollie Benz Plank of Banner, Martha Ptasnik of Pinedale, Kent Richins of Worland, Susan Samuelson of Cheyenne, Sandra Wallop of Big Horn, and Russell Zimmer of Torrington.

 

In addition to being the founder and president-emeritus of the WYCF, John Freeman served as a community development volunteer to Gov. Dave Freudenthal. He continues to serve as advisor to several small communities.

 

Paula Barnett oversees BP America’s government and public affairs operation in the Rocky Mountain region, where BP has considerable investment in natural gas development and production.   Paula recently returned to the Rockies after working for BP in London and Los Angeles. Prior to joining BP, Paula worked in Washington, DC, where she lobbied on behalf of the energy industry, managed a foundation for independent producers, and chaired the NEED Project, a national nonprofit organization focusing on energy education.

 

Connie Brezik, CPA, PFS, CFP^® is president of Asset Strategies, Inc. an investment management and financial planning firm with offices in four states.  Connie manages the offices in Casper and Scottsdale, Ariz. Worth Magazine named her as one of the top advisors in the country for three years.

 

Jim Gersack serves as Vice President and Wealth Advisor in First Interstate Bank’s Wealth Management Group’s Jackson Hole office. He has also served as a financial advisor with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in San Francisco as well as Senior Vice President of Bank of America’s Private Bank for their Idaho market.

 

George McIlvaine recently retired from Wachovia Securities after 22 years as an investment advisor. Prior to his investment career, he had served as president of two banks. George has been a member of Rotary International for many years and served as District Governor in 2006 – 2007. He enjoys the “Read to Me” program, in which Rotarians read to elementary school children. George and his wife, Mary, are longtime residents of Cheyenne, as are their children and grandchildren.

 

Kathy Tomassi has been a small business owner in Kemmerer and took part in the real estate business for 20 years. She is service-oriented, serving as a member of the Rotary Club of Kemmerer, treasurer of the Southwest Rotary Foundation, member of the Wyoming Board of Responsibility, and a member of the Buncos. She and her husband, Tony, have two children, Chris and Kiley.



The Wyoming Community Foundation`s mission is to connect people who care with causes that matter to build a better Wyoming.