Members Meeting
Thursday, May 20, 2021
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Opening remarks will be made by Ken Schutz, The Dr. William Huizingh Executive Director, followed by a chat with the artists behind Wind, Water, Earth—Natasha Lisitsa and Daniel Schultz of Waterlily Pond Studios.
Livestream link will be available Thursday, May 20 at 5:30 p.m.
For questions related to the ballot or accessing the virtual meeting, please contact Alana Turner, Executive Assistant, aturner@dbg.org. For questions related to your membership, please contact the Garden’s Membership Helpline at 480.941.3517 or email: membership@dbg.org.
2024 Board of Trustees
Full Bios Below
Rebecca Ailes-Fine
Community Volunteer
Rebecca and her husband Peter are very active in the community. She serves on the board of Desert Botanical Garden, Arizona Science Center and Fresh Start. She is a founding member of Women Inspiring Scientific Process and Women Against Alzheimer’s. She has previously served on the board at Ballet Arizona, Florence Crittenton of Arizona and Chrysalis. Rebecca has chaired many fundraising Galas. She is a strong supporter of the Garden’s commitment to educate the community about the beauty and sustainability of the Sonoran Desert.
Salvador Avila Bretts
Vice President and Fiduciary Advisor at MidFirst Private Wealth Management
Salvador began his career as a banking analyst in New York at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. He earned a bachelor of science in foreign service in international history with certificates in European and Latin American Studies from Georgetown University. He is fluent in English and Spanish and proficient in Portuguese and French. Originally, from Southern California and Baja California, he now lives in Phoenix with his two Great Danes.
Scott Burdick
Managing Partner at Wiseman & Gale
Scott received his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Arizona and MBA from Thunderbird. He began his career in New York, working for Saks Fifth Avenue’s corporate headquarters. This was followed by Mercer Management Consulting—a division of Marsh & McLennan. After living in New York for 10 years, he moved with Mercer to London and then Munich where he worked in a senior financial position for their European companies. In 2002, Scott to Arizona and Wiseman & Gale. Additionally, he has served on local nonprofit boards and for four years as chair of the Dinner on the Desert Auction Committee. As a current trustee, completing his first term, Scott has served as treasurer of the board of trustees for the past two years.
Amanda Burke, Ph.D.
Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives & Impact at the Center for the Future of Arizona
Amanda leads the Center’s work in education, workforce and civic engagement, with a focus on improving lives and the long-term success of the state through innovation and systemic change. Previously, she was the Director of Education Innovation and Policy at Arizona State University. She has enjoyed being a member of Desert Botanical Garden and serves on the Garden’s Community and Audience Engagement and Education committees. Amanda lives in Phoenix with her husband and their two sons.
Barry K. Fingerhut
Chief Executive Officer and Owner of Certification Partners, LLC.
In 2017, Barry co-founded Covenant Learning Solutions, a Hub-Zone Company, He holds a bachelors degree with distinction from the University of Maryland), and a masters in finance/investments with distinction from New York University. He has written and self-published four novels and one play. He has served on a number of public and private Boards of Directors and currently at the Arizona Opera and ASU BioDesign Institute. While living in NYC, he served as an Overseer at the Stern School at New York University, and on the Board of Achievement First, an outstanding Private Charter School in New Haven and Brooklyn, NY.
Lori A. Higuera
Assistant General Counsel – Employment for Freeport-McMoRan, a Premier U.S.-Based Natural Resource Company
Before joining Freeport-McMoRan, Lori was a partner at Fennemore Craig, PC, where she chaired the Hiring Committee and the Summer Internship Program, co-founded the Diversity Council, and co-chaired the Labor and Employment Practice Group. In addition to her service on the Garden’s Board of Trustees, she serves on the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Arizona, on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and on the House of Delegates for the American Bar Association.
Mark Landy
Retired Certified Public Accountant
Kathy Munson
Recently Retired Founder and CEO of Media Buying Services, Inc.
This 35-year media planning and buying agency specialized in advertising target audience research, strategic media planning and buying of local, regional and national television, radio, print, outdoor and digital display media time and space. She was active with the Phoenix Ad Club, Women in Radio and Television (AZ chapter) and served as an annual judge of ASU’s student media sales presentations. Her past volunteer activities include the AZ Science Center, Desert Botanical Garden, Florence Crittenton of AZ and Phoenix Heart Ball. She is an active member of the Women’s Board of the Barrow Neurological Institute. Kathy has chaired and is currently a member of the Garden’s Marketing Branding and Communications, Patrons Circle, Community and Audience Engagement and Fund the Farm committees. She co-chaired Dinner on the Desert 2012 and served on the board’s Executive Committee and as board secretary.
Linda Norquist, MBA
President and Founder of 2640 Media, a Multicultural Marketing Strategy Agency
A native of Colombia, Linda moved to the United States where she earned an masters in marketing from the University of Phoenix. She understands the importance of creating respectful, relevant and culturally inspired campaigns to connect organizations to the Latino audience. Linda has worked in various areas including finance, healthcare, environment and the arts. She was selected as a business mentor for the U.S Bank HSN American Dreams in 2017, a project designed to help Latino entrepreneurs launch new products. She has a passion for the DBG, arts and cultural causes. Linda believes that giving back is imperative for the health of any society, and as a result, She currently serves on the board of directors for Xico Inc, and a member of the Monarch Council at Desert Botanical Garden and serves on various committees such as diversity committee and marketing and branding committees. Arizona.
Dan Perez
Founder and CEO of Subrosa Investigations
During the 90s and 00s, Dan served as a Commissioner of the Grayslake Illinois Police Department and North Suburban Regional Task Force. He is a past president and lifetime member of the Special Agents Association and a member of the Arizona Association of Licensed Private Investigators, where he served as co-chair of the Legislative Committee. Since moving to Arizona, he has served as a member of the Arizona Small Business Administration and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) where he served as a board member of the Hispanic Business Leadership Council and Small Business Leadership Council. He is the former President of the Phoenix Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association and now focuses his efforts on Upward for Children and Families. Dan has been married for 42 years and has four children.
Rick Robinson
President of Wealth Management, Great Western Bank
Rick is the President of Wealth Management for Great Western Bank providing investment services to high net worth clients. Previously, Rick was the Investment Sales Manager for East West Bank, Regional Manager of Investment and Fiduciary Services for the Southwest Region of Wells Fargo Private Bank and prior to Wells Fargo, he worked at various major financial firms, providing investment services to institutional and high-net-worth clients. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst® and Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Columbia University and an MBA from UCLA-Anderson School of Management. His professional affiliations include the Phoenix CFA® Society and the Rotary Club of Scottsdale. Since 2015, he has been president of Desert Botanical Garden’s Foundation, which oversees the Garden’s endowment fund.
Ann Stanton
Professor Emerita at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and a Fellow of Stanford’s Distinguished Career Institute
Stanton chaired Dinner on the Desert 2020 and serves on the Arts Advisory and Planned Giving Committees. She has served on boards at Literary Society of the Southwest, Childsplay and the Phoenix Chamber Music Society. She is an active member of the Columbine Garden Club and the Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society. She is a graduate of the Desert Botanical Garden’s Landscape School, where she took inspiration for the desert landscape at her residence. She has lived in Phoenix for more than 40 years and is a longstanding Desert Botanical Garden member.
Kathleen Taddie
Community Volunteer
Kathleen and her husband Steve co-chaired Dinner on the Desert 2018. She formerly served as president of her own consulting firm, which concentrated on expansion management for the professional services industry. Previously, she served as Director of Practice Group Administration and Director of Client Services for Snell & Wilmer. She was Director of the Institute for Excellence for the State of Arizona and Pursuit of Excellence Director at Milliken. She has served as a board at National Kidney Foundation of AZ, Charter 100, Florence Crittenton, Turnaround Management Association, Community Health Charities and the Arizona Quality Alliance. She holds a masters of arts in organizational management. A resident of Arizona for more than 35 years, she has a passion for native plants and preserving the desert for future generations.
Jamey Wetmore
Associate Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation at Arizona State University
Wetmore runs the school’s academic programs and is co-director of the Center for Engagement and Training in Science and Society. Jamey’s academic work centers on understanding how science and technology affects people and how people shape science and technology. Jamey became a member of the Garden the week he decided to move to Phoenix and whenever possible he slips out of his office and finds a shady spot in the Garden to grade papers. He is currently the chair of the Community and Audience Engagement Committee.
The fiscal year 2020 Audit was completed by Mayer Hoffman McCann, P.C. The auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the consolidated financial statements of Desert Botanical Garden, Inc. and Affiliates as of and for the year ended Sept. 30, 2020 and reported no material weaknesses in internal control. Desert Botanical Garden’s Audit Committee accepted and approved the audit as presented by the auditors. The audit was issued on Jan. 22, 2021, and is available to view: dbg.org/financials.
For questions, please contact:
MARGIE BURKE
Desert Botanical Garden, CFO
mburke@dbg.org
RICK ROBINSON
Desert Botanical Garden, Audit Committee Chair & Trustee
Rar62@yahoo.com
DAVID MILLER
Shareholder, Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C.
DgMiller@CBIZ.com
