The LCF Advisory Board
The Advisory Board consists of volunteer community members who serve 3-year terms
Gil Sparks Board Chair Fundraising Committee Chair Board member since 2021 Gil Sparks moved to Lyons with his wife, Kay in October 2020 so as to be closer to family. He grew up in Prescott, Az, attended the University of Arizona, took a break to join the Army and did a tour in Viet Nam.
In 1978, Gil moved to Butte, Montana where he worked for six years for one of the two magneto-hydrodynamic facilities in the US as a Human Services Manager. In 1985, he moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he went to law school. Upon graduation he moved to Wenatchee,Washington where he practiced employment, labor and municipal law. While in Wenatchee, he served on the Community Foundation of North Central Washington board for 14 years (Board Chair for 2 years). He also served on the boards of the Pybus Market Charitable Foundation, Pybus Public Market, Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, the Performing Arts Center, the Chamber of Commerce (President-2 years), the YMCA, Rotary (President-1 year) and co-founded the Apple Valley Human Resource Association (President-2 years). Gil looks forward to serving on the LCF advisory board for the benefit of the Lyons area non-profit community. 
Kathy Hoyt Co-Treasurer Board member since 2023 Kathy moved to Lyons with her husband Michael in the summer of 2018 to be with 3 of her 4 children and her beloved granddaughter. She grew up in southern California and moved to Seattle in 1978, where she worked for a plumbing contractor doing books by hand until the computers made life a lot easier. In 1991, she started working with her husband for a marine engine company in downtown Seattle, serving the Alaska commercial fishing industry with standby generator sets to refrigerate their catch. She retired in 2009 with her husband to start traveling. Her oldest son and daughter in law would bring her traveling back and forth from Seattle to Lyons in 2014, where she would spend winters, until 2018 when she would move to Lyons full time. She decided to start doing the books for the family business “Green Goo,” here in Lyons until 2019, when she retired again to spend more time with her granddaughters. After volunteering for Planet Bluegrass for several years and meeting so many wonderful people in this beautiful community, she decided she would love to help the community by serving on the advisory board of LCF. 
Sara Erickson Secretary Board member since 2021 Sara Erickson has lived in Lyons for 11 years, moving here from Boulder in 2010. Sara was born in Welton, Iowa, but moved to Southern California at age 9 and holds a degree in history from UCLA. Sara taught elementary school and then worked as a paralegal for the Boulder County Attorney's Office for 22 years until retiring in 2019. Sara and her husband Keith (a retired teacher) feel privileged to live in wonderful and unique Lyons. Sara now considers herself a true Coloradan and enjoys exploring all this great state has to offer. In her free time, you can find her hiking with her husband, spoiling her two dogs, gardening, making art, reading, cooking, shopping, traveling, watching movies, hanging with family and friends and sleeping. Sara has served as a member of the Lyons Prepared Board. She currently serves on the board of the Friends of Lyons Regional Library and is president of the Lyons Garden Club. Sara is excited to serve on the LCF Board and looks forward to helping LCF in its mission to work for the greater good of the Lyons community. 
Ravi Gandh Board member since 2020 Ravi Gandh is a technology consultant working with clients on solving their business process needs through system solutions for the past 17 years. Outside of work, Ravi is a hobbyist photographer and videographer. Ravi was born and brought up in India. He moved to the USA in 2011. His family moved to Lyons in 2018. His family includes his wife Nadia and 2 two children: Pia, who is 5 years old and Arian, who is 1 year old. They also have a furry kid named Orca, a Newfoundland dog. 
David Hatchimonji Board member since 2022 As a resident of Lyons, Dave is thrilled to contribute to the community as a member of the Lyons Community Foundation. A member and former chair of Lyons Sustainable Futures Commission, and Lyons Flood Recovery Housing Taskforce, Dave and his wife Kim feel blessed to live in Lyons surrounded by good friends, the sandstone ridgeline, and the waters of the St. Vrain. In his “day job” Dave works in Boulder County’s Office of Sustainability, Climate Action and Resilience supporting the residents and businesses of Lyons and throughout the county to address the changing climate in a manner that is equitable for all. He has an undergraduate degree (Environmental Studies) from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a graduate degree (Business Administration) from the University of Colorado, Denver. Prior to moving to Lyons, among other jobs Dave has washed dishes, worked in a soda pop canning facility, cleaned hotel rooms, built concrete foundations and framed houses, taught for the Colorado Outward Bound School and was a professional ski patroller in Steamboat Springs. 
Zach Tucker Board member since 2023 Zach Tucker was born in Lyons and grew up attending both Lyons Elementary and Lyons Middle Senior High School. He headed north to Fort Collins to attend Colorado State University, obtaining a degree in Business Management and Computer Information Systems. Zach has spent most of his life working in events, working at Planet Bluegrass in the summer growing up, and as the Production Manager for the Lory Student Center at Colorado State University after graduating. He was drawn back to Lyons, however, and when the opportunity for a full time position at Planet Bluegrass came available, he couldn’t pass it up. Zach has been the Director of Operations at Planet Bluegrass since 2019 and now lives in Longmont with his wife Emily and his cats, Cat Stevens and Cat Benatar. When Zach isn’t working, he enjoys mountain biking, skiing, running, camping, or pretty much anything outdoors. He is excited to be a part of the Lyons Community Foundation and give back to the community that gave him so much! 
Sarah Lorang Board member since 2023 Sarah Lorang has lived in Boulder County for about 12 years, but just moved to the Lyons area in the summer of 2021 when she and her husband bought a 20-acre ranch to give their two young children a little more space to roam. Sarah was born and raised in Phoenix, but lived in Las Vegas, Washington, DC, Denver, and Boulder before moving to Lyons. When in Denver, Sarah co-founded the Colorado Fragile X non-profit with a graduate school classmate, and served on the board for 8 years. More recently, Sarah joined the Town of Lyons Historic Preservation Commission in 2021 and was appointed Chair in 2022. Sarah has also been active in the community with various climate and environmental causes. Professionally, Sarah’s background is in luxury hotel management, and has worked as a self-employed client experience consultant for the past 10 years, refining the customer journey for clients in any industry. Sarah is excited for the opportunity to further support and give back to this amazing community she is so proud to be a part of. 
Kate Schnepel Communications Associate Former Board Member Kate Schnepel and family moved from Park City, Utah, to Lyons in 2019. Since her husband, Brett is a pilot for Southwest Airlines, they wanted to be reasonably close to Denver International Airport, a Southwest base. While they explored many towns along the Front Range, Lyons was the one that immediately felt like it could be home. They were drawn to the small-town vibe, the town pride that practically exuded from every local they met, and the gorgeous rivers and mountains. They settled into a historic home, right downtown, and have felt embraced by the community from the start. Kate has worked in communications and marketing in the non-profit realm for nearly 20 years, primarily with animal welfare organizations like Best Friends Animal Society and Wildlife SOS. For the last few years, instead of working full-time, she has been taking on part-time freelance work to allow herself time to focus on their 6 year old daughter, Vivien. Kate is excited to be able to use some of the skills and knowledge she has acquired in her career to help LCF and the people of this incredible town they have come to love. |
Cory Pierce Vice Chair Board member since 2023 Bio coming soon! 
Gail Frankfort Co-Treasurer Board member since 2018 Gail Frankfort has lived in the Lyons area since 2003. She retired from Keebler Company, located in a suburb of Chicago, as the Director of Finance for the Foodservice Division. She lived in the Chicago area most of my life but when her husband Rick and her decided to retire, they looked for a place that had natural beauty, better weather (lots of sunshine), and less congestion. They found these qualities in Lyons along with many wonderful people they now count as good friends. Gail volunteers as a member of the Board of the Longmont Humane Society (2012-2018) and as a recreational activities assistant at Life Care Center of Longmont (on-going). She frequently take courses at CU through the Senior Auditors program, focusing on the social sciences which was her undergraduate major. She loves to travel internationally and spend lots of time outdoors playing golf, biking and hiking. To her, Lyons is like no other town she has ever known. It has an extraordinary sense of community that she hopes to get to know even better through LCF and to make a contribution to its on-going success. 
Ella Levy Grants Committee Chair Board member since 2021 Ella Levy has been a Boulder County resident for nearly 20 years, and is a native of Texas. She recently moved to Lyons at the beginning of 2020 in search of a tight-knit community, access to the outdoors and music. A month-long, leadership Outward Bound mountaineering course originally brought her to Colorado. Being outside daily and connected to nature is core to her value-set, and she shares in this love with her husband. Though Ella specializes now as a sales professional in the start-up Technology sector, she is equally interested in serving her community and is a former non-profit fundraising professional. She supervised a $2 million Grant Program which supported engineering projects in developing countries globally and served as Development Manager & Grants Writer for a local, Contemporary art museum. Ella is also a working artist, focusing on painting, photography and multimedia methods. She excitedly looks forward to affecting change within Lyons, and garnering support for the many vibrant non-profits that we are lucky to have in our backyard. 
Gwydion Winkelmeyer Scholarship Committee Chair Board member since 2022 Gwydion Winkelmeyer retired from a long Healthcare Career as an Administrator, ending his career as Director of a large Pediatric Practice several years ago. Gwydion has worked with FEMA and the CDC with the State of Texas on Disaster Preparedness and Response. He has been heavily involved with teens at risk as a member of Boys To Men Northern Arizona conducting men's circles and weekend adventures providing options to teens in crisis. Gwydion moved to Lyons recently and has two teenaged stepsons at Lyons Middle/Senior High School. Gwydion is very much in love with the area and the community. He is looking forward to interacting with people and serving the community on the LCF Board. 
David Mencin Board member since 2021 Dr. David Mencin is the Director of Data Services at UNAVCO (www.unavco.org) and a Research Scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder (https://cires.colorado.edu). UNAVCO is a National Science Foundation funded university-governed non-profit that facilitates geoscience research and education using geodesy. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and discovered his interest in Geophysics and Geology early in life reading National Geographic magazines at his grandparents’ house. Dave earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics and his Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Missouri. Dave then conducted his PhD studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder studying plate tectonics, earthquakes and the Yellowstone volcanic system. His work has taken him to over 60 countries, including the re-measurement of the height of Mt. Everest with the National Geographic and Boston Museum of Science as part of the Everest Millennium Expedition (1996,1998,1999) and the identification of earthquake hazards in Colombia and Turkey. Dave moved from Boulder to Lyons in 2005 and discovered paradise. There is no better town and community than Lyons, especially evident in how the community responded to the floods in 2013. Dave is an avid soaring pilot, flight instructor, mountain biker and SCUBA diver. He currently lives in Lyons, CO with his two sons, two dogs and two goats. 
Jesse Garland Board member since 2022 Jesse Garland has lived in Lyons since 2013 with her now husband Brian McRae and her awesome fur child "Miles". Though she originally hails from South Texas, Jesse does consider herself a Coloradan as she's been here since 2003 - longest place she has lived to date! You have probably seen Jesse around town bringing jazz to the musical sounds at a Sandstone concert or other local musical stomping grounds. When Jesse is not singing she works in corporate America as a Lead Product Owner, consulting with Fortune 100 and 500 companies across the country in Product Development and building custom applications/ platforms through World Wide Technologies based out of St. Louis, MO. Over the years, Jesse's corporate career has taken her from working with Vail Resorts managing all resort e-commerce websites to working for creative advertising agencies to even a health and wellness company in Denver. Prior to technology Jesse worked in television and film on documentaries (Associate Producer on the award winning "Paper Clips") and live broadcast shows including the Lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington DC with President Clinton and President GW Bush. All of these experiences have given Jesse the ability to gather unique skills she is excited about sharing with LCF and working with the board to take the Foundation to great things ahead in the future. If you are interested in becoming an advisory board member of the Lyons Community Foundation, please fill out the form below and we will contact you. |