ACA's Board of Directors Biographical Information

Steve Baskin is the owner/director of Camp Champions, which he purchased in 1995, doubling the size of the camp and increasing its reach by founding a Camp Champions Day Camp. He has been actively involved in ACA, New York and New Jersey, serving on the section board and as chairman for the Tri-State Conference. Steve is a graduate of Davidson College, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics, and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he earned an M.B.A. and was named a Baker and Loeb Fellow. He also attended the London School of Economics, participating in a one year general course of studies with a concentration in economics. A frequent conference speaker, Steve was previously an analyst with Goldman Sachs and was the co-founder of iluvcamp, Inc., while establishing Camp Balcones Springs and purchasing Camp Champions. He and his wife Susie have four children.

David Berkey is the Director/General Manager of Camping Ministry and Operations for the California-Pacific Conference – UMC. He has wide experience within the United Methodist Church (UMC) in camping, outreach, and as a local pastor, serving churches and camps in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Florida. An Ohio native, David has an undergraduate degree in religion from the College of Wooster, a master’s in divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and a master’s in pastoral counseling from Iona College. David is an elected member of the UMC National Camp and Retreat Committee and is the chair of the National Council of Churches Committee on Outdoor Ministries. He also serves as director/adjunct professor for the Common Ground training program in camp/retreat ministry for Drew University. In addition to serving on the ACA national board, David is a frequent workshop presenter.

Tisha Bolger is the chief operating officer of Girl Scouts of Minnesota, Wisconsin River Valleys in St. Paul. She was involved in the merger of five Girl Scout councils and oversees the operation of multiple camps. She was honored in 2004 with the Frances Hesselbein National Award for Excellence in Management by Girl Scouts of the USA. Tisha has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Carroll College and a master’s in recreation and outdoor education from the University of Minnesota. She formerly served as program director of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and as C.E.O. of Alpha Youth Care Services in Wisconsin. Tisha is a member of ACA, Northland and served on the section board, in addition to several other nonprofit boards. She has extensive experience in fundraising and training, and she currently serves on ACA’s transition team.

Scott Brody is an active member of ACA, New York and New Jersey. Scott grew up at Camps Kenwood and Evergreen in New Hampshire, holding a variety of positions at camp, from bunk counselor to assistant director. He is living his dream, having purchased the camps in 1996. He is currently establishing a new day camp, Everwood, near his hometown of Sharon, Massachusetts. Scott is a 1987 graduate of the University of California Berkeley and received his J.D. from Boston College Law School. He has been the program chair of the Tri-State Camp Conference and served as a member of the 20/20 Task Force. Scott chaired the interim board development committee and serves on ACA’s Public Policy Committee, actively representing ACA in Washington, D.C. Scott is the proud father of one son, A.J.

Anthony deGuzman is the director of facilities planning and operations reform for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). In his role in the Chancellor’s Office, he oversees the development of a master facility plan, which outlines school building modernization. He has also been responsible for analyzing operational deficiencies and initiating reform efforts that align to the school system’s strategic plan. Previously, Anthony oversaw operations for Jumpstart, a national early childhood education nonprofit program, which he helped grow from 80 members in 1996 to nearly 4,000 when he left in 2007. Anthony’s commitment to excellence in education began in a South Bronx classroom in 1994 as a sixth grade teacher and member of Teach for America. He is proud to chair the District’s Head Start Advisory Board and to be a graduate of Georgetown University.

Tommy Ferguson has been the director of Camp Olympia, a private co-ed camp in East Texas, since 1974. In addition to summer camp, during the school year over 5,000 students from a diverse population come for a four day outdoor education program, one of the largest programs in the nation. A graduate of the University of Houston with a degree in education, Tommy has served on the board of the Association of Independent Camps (AIC) for over eight years and is currently the AIC president. He has served as president of ACA, Texoma and as president of the Camping Association for Mutual Progress, in which he is presently the legislative chairman. He is a member of the Resource Committee for the Davy Crockett National Forest and is a frequent speaker in the camping industry. Tommy and Kathy, his wife, have worked side by side and raised their two children at camp.

Ellen S. Gannett is director of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College, a national action/research project that for over thirty years has provided research, evaluation, technical assistance, consultation, and specialized training on afterschool programs throughout the United States. Ellen has degrees from the University of Massachusetts and Lesley College, Graduate School of Education. A national speaker and trainer, Ellen has been featured in numerous media stories and co-authored several NIOST publications. In addition to her service on the ACA national board, she is co-chair of the Next Generation Youth Work Coalition and has served as a board member of the National Afterschool Association (NAA, formerly NSACA) and as a member of the Professional Development Task Force with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.

Ed Greene, Ph.D., is beginning his second term on the ACA national board. Ed is a senior consultant and advisor in the field of child development, early learning, and children’s media environments. He serves as a senior advisor to Cito USA, is a professional development consultant with Teachscape, and formerly was director of global outreach with Sesame Workshop. Originally from Inkster, Michigan, he attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music. Ed received his M.A. in child and human development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California, and completed his Ph.D. in elementary and early childhood education at Indiana State University. He currently serves on the board of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation and is a member of the advisory council of The Educational Equity Center at the Academy for Educational Development.

Jennifer Harber is the associate director of Learning Solutions, a Massachusetts-based company specializing in supporting children, families, and communities in social skills/strategy development. She recently was the executive director of the Bridge Center, an agency providing year-round recreation to children and youth with disabilities. She previously directed therapeutic summer and afterschool programs for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and taught in therapeutic afterschool programs. A 2003 graduate of Cornell with a B.A. in psychology and mathematics, she also has an Ed.M. from Harvard and an M.B.A. from Babson College. During college, Jenn worked in Minnesota at a camp for adults and children with developmental disabilities. She is a self proclaimed “camp lifer” and is an active ACA standards visitor in ACA, New England.

Dayna Glasson Hardin is the director of Lake of the Woods Family of Camps and a past member for the ACA, Illinois section board. Dayna has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Iowa and a graduate degree from Loyola University in Chicago. She was the vice president of programming and production for Educational Management Group, creating content for twelve educational satellite channels. When offered the opportunity in 1997 to purchase Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods Camps, she jumped at the chance. Dayna is well-known in ACA, chairing the 2009, 2010, and 2011 national conferences. She is president of the Mid-West Association of Independent Camps, co-founder of SCOPE Midwest, and has worked closely with the Because of Camp . . . ® public service announcement video and promotion in 2010. Dayna has two sons and lives in Chicago. She currently serves as an ACA board vice-president.

Melanie Lockwood Herman is the executive director of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, a nonprofit that provides consulting services, training, technical assistance, and educational resources on topics ranging from effective governance practices to enterprise risk management and managing liability exposures. She has authored and co-authored more than fifteen books covering a wide spectrum of risk management issues. In 2007 and 2008, she was named to the NonProfit Times “Power & Influence Top 50.” An attorney licensed in the District of Columbia, Melanie earned degrees from the American University and George Mason University School of Law. She was recently appointed to the Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). She attended music camp as a child, is a camp parent, and serves on the board of a local youth-serving nonprofit that sponsors summer camps.

Tom Holland is the executive director of the Teton Valley Ranch Camp Education Foundation (TVRCEF) in Wyoming and a member of the Rocky Mountain section. Tom is also a member of ACA’s Funds Development Committee, as well as the Western Association of Independent Camps. A former history and government teacher, Tom has a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and was recognized as Outstanding New Teacher of the Year in Missouri in 2003. He is also a graduate of Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovation Executive Program for Non Profit Leaders and Harvard University’s Non Profit Financial Management for the Executive. He began his career in camping as a trip leader, working his way up through the ranks at TVRCEF. Tom was named executive director at TVRCEF in 2007. He and his wife, Catherine, have two children, Madeleine and Maggie.

Niambi Jaha-Echols is an author, visionary, certified life coach, artist, and inspirational speaker. A native Chicagoan, she wrote and self-published Project Butterfly: Supporting Young Women and Girls of African Descent through the Transitions of Life. In 2004, she founded Camp Butterfly, which serves girls nationally and internationally using the butterfly as a wonderful model of transformation to help break the perpetual cycle of negative self-image and social outcomes. Niambi has degrees in psychology and fine arts from Michigan State University and Columbia College Chicago with graduate hours in Art Therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a co-contributor to the recently released book entitled African Americans and Community Engagement in Higher Education and was recognized in 2005 by Essence Magazine as one of the “Women Who Are Shaping the World.”

Kurt Podeszwa is the director of Camp For All, a Texas residential camp serving children and adults with special needs and chronic illnesses. He has a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Illinois University and has spent much of his adult life working in outdoor and adventure education. A former Marine, Kurt has more than eighteen years of professional recreation experience. He has been active in three different ACA sections during his career in camping and served on the section boards in both ACA, Illinois and ACA, Texoma. A frequent speaker and trainer on topics ranging from staff training to adaptive programming, Kurt is also an ACA standards visitor and visitor instructor. In addition to serving on the faculty of ACA's e-Institute, he is a faculty member of Expert Online Training and the founder of Journey Consulting, which hosts blogs authored by Kurt and other innovators in outdoor education. He and his wife, Katie, have three children.

Rick Roth is founder and CEO of Roth Partners, a strategic advisory and communications firm. Prior to Roth Partners, Rick spent years with Ogilvy & Mather from account executive to worldwide managing director, member of the worldwide board, president of Ogilvy Los Angeles and global CEO of Ogilvy Action. He sits on the boards of AnchorFree and Vertical Acuity and advises other early-stage digital and media firms. He serves on a number of industry advisory boards, is actively involved in community volunteer programs, and serves on the steering committees of the Ithaca College Business School and Park School of Communication. A camper and counselor himself years ago, and a camper parent more recently, Rick is a longtime resident of New York and lives with his family in the town of Mamaroneck.

Ann Sheets is senior vice president for administration/finance at Camp Fire USA First Texas Council. She has an undergraduate degree in music education from East Texas State University and a master’s in camping administration from George Williams College, where she was named Distinguished Alumna in 2007. Her career with Camp Fire USA has included work in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Fort Worth. She has served on the ACA national board in a variety of capacities, including a term as treasurer, chairing the core services and 20/20 Task Forces, co-chairing Campaign ’07, and serving as a member of the American Camping Foundation board. Ann was the ACA national president from 2005–2008 and currently chairs the ACA Board Development Committee. She and her husband live in Fort Worth and have two children.

Posie Taylor is currently serves as a Senior Consultant for Development at The Aloha Foundation. She also volunteers enthusiastically for ACA and does independent consulting around funds development and other aspects of camp management. She was director for Aloha Hive Camp, as well as executive directors for the The Aloha Foundation, for 18 years. She and her husband, Bill, have three children and one grandchild.

Glynn and Jo-An Turman are serving their second term on ACA’s national board. Glynn, a New York native and Emmy award winning actor, began his acting career at age eleven and has numerous roles and awards to his credit as both an actor and stage director. Glynn credits his experience as a child attending camp with saving him from juvenile delinquency. A cowboy and rodeo competitor, he won the state's Regional Team Roping Finals and placed in the top five in the National Rodeo Finals. Jo-An is the senior director of marketing and communications for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles and a graduate of California State University with a B.A. and M.A. Previously, she was a real estate broker and teacher, working with at-risk youth. In 1992, as a promise to the late Coretta Scott King, Glynn and Jo-An founded the IX Winds Ranch Foundation “Camp Gid D Up,” a nonprofit organization and western-style summer camp for at-risk children.

Edward (Skip) Walton, M.D., is the division director of pediatric emergency medicine at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, and professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at Oakland University. Skip earned his B.A. in biology from Middlebury College and his M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School. He is board certified in pediatrics, emergency medicine, and pediatric emergency medicine. Skip was named "Emergency Physician of the Year" in 2007 by the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians. A camper at heart, Skip grew up in camp and is currently a member of the Healthy Camp Study Advisory Committee. He has been a spokesman for ACA, most recently in regard to camp’s response to the H1N1 flu. Skip also serves as spokesman on camp health for the American Academy of Pediatrics and has published numerous articles on a wide variety of pediatric and emergency medicine topics. 

Peg Smith, CEO of the American Camp Association, is widely recognized for her entrepreneurial work style and organizational capacity — and her ability to move people, organizations, and government agencies through significant change. Born and raised in Indiana, Peg has a B.S. in early childhood and family studies and a master’s degree in management. Her professional career began in Head Start programs in various capacities. She served in the Indiana Office of the Governor as director of the governor’s Step Ahead program, managing a $43 million budget. Prior to joining ACA in 1998, she was the executive director of the Indiana Youth Institute. Peg is a regular presenter at both state and national conferences for varied professional associations and youth-serving groups and serves on the board of the National Collaboration for Youth. She lives in Spencer, Indiana and has two sons.