As a result of the COVID-19 and in an abundance of caution, Desert Botanical Garden will not hold an in-person Annual Members’ Meeting. The Garden will conduct its regular business through a members’ vote for the 2020 Trustee Election and the amended and restated articles of incorporation approval.
Responses from 100 members are needed to meet quorum requirements. Member ballots (electronic or mailed) must be submitted by Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, 11:59 p.m. to be counted. Vote selections are considered as: “For”, “Against” or “Abstain.”
Trustee Election
Full Bios Below
Jason Barlow
Jason Barlow is president/CEO of Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona. He assumed this position in November 2015 after working as a nonprofit consultant. Prior to that, Jason was an executive with St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers in Poughkeepsie, NY, for nine years. Jason is a retired lieutenant colonel from the United States Air Force. He served on elite military staffs at the Pentagon, was a squadron commander and piloted the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. Jason also held leadership positions in a for-profit telecommunications company and in the federal government working for the Department of Homeland Security, shortly after its formation.
Harold C. Dorenbecher
Harold Dorenbecher is a recently retired managing executive from Northern Trust Company, having served more than 45 years working with families and individuals to determine their financial, estate planning and philanthropic goals. He has served two terms on the Desert Botanical Board from 2011-2019. During that time he served on the Executive Committee, CFO Search, Finance, Marketing, Planned Giving committees as well as serving as a co-Chair of the Strategic Planning committee.
Christopher Gately
Christopher Gately is chief revenue officer and a principle for Paradigm Technology, where he is responsible for the combined sales, marketing and operations efforts. He brings more than 20 years of leadership expertise to Paradigm. Prior to joining Paradigm, Christopher has held leadership positions at industry leading companies: Informatica, EMC, opTier and Capco. His entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with passion for technology, sales, building world class teams and leading business transformation, has driven this success.
Barbara Hoffnagle
Barbara Hoffnagle retired from the Salt River Project (SRP) in 2011 after more than 27 years of service. As an associate general manager, she had responsibility for enterprise-wide information technology and major operations support functions. An industrial engineer by education, Barbara’s career with SRP spanned a wide cross section of business functions and disciplines. Barbara is active on the Beatitudes Campus board serving on the finance and redevelopment committees. Barbara previously served as a Garden trustee from 2009 to 2016 and as board president from 2013 to 2015.
Kim Larkin
Kim Larkin is a consultant, facilitator, and strategist for nonprofits and social enterprises. She is known for implementing highly effective best practice tools with organizations ranging from global Fortune 100 and 500 companies to local nonprofit startups. In her business, MXD Arts, she utilizes creative, disruptive, and inventive approaches to integrate laughter into serious work, design mission-driven strategies, and create lasting impact. Kim earned her MAM from Carnegie Mellon and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). In her free time, you’ll find her in the mountains, adventuring, or volunteering on the boards of DBG and Arizona Food Bank Network.
Tammy McLeod, Ph.D.
Tammy McLeod is president and CEO of the Flinn Foundation, a privately endowed philanthropic organization. Prior to Flinn, she worked in various executive roles in companies ranging from Fortune 1000 to start ups. McLeod earned her MBA from the Wharton School and her bachelor of science degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, recently completed her PhD in sustainability studies at Prescott College. Her community involvement includes board service for Arizona Community Foundation and Expect More Arizona. She is currently president of the Garden’s Board of Trustees.
Paul Morell
Paul Morell is a retired captain and vice president of safety, security, regulatory compliance and environmental at American Airlines. He has 50 years in commercial and military aviation with extensive safety, security and training experience. Morell was a US Navy fighter pilot and aviation safety officer. Morell is a Desert Botanical Garden trustee serving on the Operations Committee and from 2010 to 2016 was a member of the Executive Committee, Personnel Committee and chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee. Additionally, he is Vice Board Chair of the Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona Board of Directors.
Paul J. Mountain
Paul Mountain, CFA, is the Vice President, Finance & Planning at Arizona Public Service / Pinnacle West. He has 20 years of finance experience. Paul is responsible for finance activities including finance planning, capital and expense planning and analysis and Investor Relations. Paul is also part of the Investment Management Committee for Pinnacle West, which oversees the pension and related investments. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Business from Bowling Green State University. Paul is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society of Phoenix. He currently serves as the Treasurer on the Board of Native American Connections and is an active supporter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Paul, a Michigan native, has lived in Arizona for 7 years and currently lives in Scottsdale. He has two young daughters, Madilyn and Mabel, who are active gymnasts. Paul enjoys golf, tennis and travel.
Adriana Murrietta
Adriana Murrietta, executive director of the Pharos Foundation, has spent more than a decade working to improve education for Arizona students. As the former director of multicultural community engagement at Expect More Arizona, Murrietta led the organization’s statewide outreach and mobilization efforts within the Hispanic and Native American communities. Murrietta began her career in education as a member of the board of the Unitarian Universalist Early Education Cooperative Preschool in Paradise Valley. She later led the preschool as interim director. Adriana expanded her role in education advocacy and policy as the operations and development manager at Stand for Children Arizona.
Linda “Mac” Perlich
Mac Perlich, who was raised in Phoenix, currently serves as CEO and Publisher of ON Media. ON Media, started in the mid-1970s, creates the programs for all the major performing and visual arts groups in the Phoenix valley and in Tucson. In the nearly fifteen years Mac and her husband, Russ, have owned the company, they have expanded the number of arts groups for which they publish, expanded in to the visual arts world as publisher for the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and the Desert Botanical Garden, and expanded in to the sports arena, publishing for several golf tournaments. ON Media publishes over 2.5 million programs annually at no charge to the arts groups or the patrons. ON Media accomplishes this by partnering with premier companies who recognize the value of brand marketing through this medium.
Robert S. Reder
Robert S. Reder was raised in New York City before becoming a permanent resident of Phoenix in 2005. After completing his Juris Doctorate at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts and Master of Laws at University College London in London, England, Robert practiced law for ten years in Arizona with two of the largest law firms in the country before forming Blythe Grace.
Edgardo Rivera, M.D., FACP
Dr. Edgardo Rivera is the Medical Director of the Cancer Center and former Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC) Cancer Center where he specializes in medical oncology. His prior experience includes positions at University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, Bristol Myers Squibb and Banner M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Arizona. Philanthropy is at the heart of who Dr. Rivera is and he has a history of actively engaging in the communities in which he lives. He has served on several nonprofit boards to include Susan G. Komen – Phoenix chapter and the Phoenix Art Museum.
Joette Schmidt
Joette Schmidt joined JPMorgan’s Private Bank in 2006 after a successful twenty-five year career in the commercial airline business, retiring from senior management in 2005. She also believes in giving back to her community and has been involved with several nonprofits personally, including the Arizona Humane Society, Women Inspiring Scientific Progress (WISP), the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute, The Heard Museum, the Arizona Women’s Forum and several other noteworthy organizations. Joette has lived in Scottsdale since 1996, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area where she visits family regularly and travels internationally with her husband, a shared passion for both.
Lorena Van Assche
Lorena Chávez Van Assche is an attorney who practices in the areas of business and probate litigation. She has spent most of her life living in and admiring the beautiful Sonoran Desert from different vantage points. Lorena grew up in Yuma, Arizona and Ciudad Morelos, Baja California. Both sides of the border share the extraordinary Algodones Sand Dunes, a unique part of the Sonoran Desert.
Edward A. Villanueva
Edward A. Villanueva became a certified public accountant in 1969, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Arizona State Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA). Ed has actively served the ASCPA and the community in a number of positions. He was Chairman of the Arizona Tax Liaison Committee for the Arizona State Society; President of the Arizona Educational Foundation; President of the Phoenix Day Nursery; Treasurer of the Arizona Zoological Society and a member of the Board for nine years; President of the Arizona State University Accounting Circle; and Treasurer of the Friends of the Phoenix Library. In 1993, Ed formed Villanueva & Company, P.C., a CPA firm specializing in providing accounting, tax, and consulting services to closely-held businesses and to high net worth individuals. Ed was raised in Nogales, Arizona and given scholarships to leave town.
Amended & Restated Articles of Incorporation Approval
Full Documents Below
A draft of the recommended changes for the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation were endorsed by both the Desert Botanical Garden Executive Committee (February 2020) and Board of Trustees (March 2020) for approval by Garden Members through a physical mail and electronic ballot.
The Desert Botanical Garden Board of Trustees has recommended approval by the full membership as follows:
1. Streamline all of the Articles of Incorporation Amendments into one document as drafted and reviewed by the committee.
2. Amend the streamlined Restated Articles of Incorporation with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
The Articles of Incorporation were originally filed on Feb. 3, 1937. The Garden has subsequently filed a number of amendments to the Articles of Incorporation over the past (80) eighty years. The most recent filing of the Restated Articles of Incorporation with the Arizona Corporation Commission was a streamlined version of all the amendments to provide a cleaner document to update/revise going forward.
The latest version of the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation for your review reflects the most current language/standards for 501(c)(3) public charities in Arizona and also simplifies the Member approval process for any future changes to the Articles of Incorporation.
The Garden’s Board of Directors request your vote to approve the amended and restated articles of incorporation.
For questions regarding the amended and restated articles of incorporation, please contact Margie Burke at mburke@dbg.org or 480.481.8155. For questions related to your membership, please contact the Garden’s Membership Helpline at 480.941. 3517 or membership@dbg.org.
