Board of Directors

OFFICERS

TRUSTEES

OFFICE STAFF

Carla Williams

Sedona was a last minute decision in 2003, when Carla and her husband, Don, decided to drive down from Zion National Park. They bought property two days later. Fondness for the high desert geology and the clean environment was the draw, but they had to finish careers in Alaska before moving in 2015.

Prior to Sedona, Carla grew up in Minnesota and spent forty years in Alaska. She graduated from the University of Alaska with a BA in English. Her career included many years as an accounting controller, ten years as a control systems engineer on Alaska’s North Slope projects, and nine years in senior leadership positions in engineering and oilfield construction quality management and assurance. A book she wrote, entitled Wildcat Women, Narratives of Women Breaking Ground in Alaska’s Oilfields, is about her and fourteen other women working in the early days of oil and gas in Alaska.

Carla spent over twenty years in nonprofit leadership positions, including ten years as president of a 501(c)(4), which frequently took her to Washington D.C. to lobby Congress. When she envisioned living in Sedona, her goal was to be a litter lifter, so others could feel as she did driving highway 179 into the Village of Oak Creek for the first time. When she is not litter lifting, you can find her on the trails. Her part-time job is as a professional hiking guide for Enchantment Resort.

Besides writing and hiking, she entertains friends visiting Sedona. She is honored to be on the board and contribute toward a successful future of KSB.

Lynn Zonakis

Lynn grew up and attended college in the Midwest. After earning her a BA in Psychology at Indiana University, she moved to Atlanta and earned a BSN in Nursing at Emory University. She worked in clinical care for seven years and then moved into the corporate world – first in Occupational Health and later in Employee Benefits management. Lynn moved through a number of leadership positions and served for the last 12 years of her career as Managing Director Health Strategy & Benefits at Delta Air Lines. While at Delta Air Lines, Lynn and her husband Craig Swanson, enjoyed traveling the world in their free time.

Lynn and Craig always had a love of the West, and when they began looking for retirement communities, Sedona felt right. This brought them full circle, since the first destination they traveled to, on their first vacation together in 1984, was Oak Creek Canyon.

In retirement, Lynn has enjoyed learning about Sedona and getting involved in the community.  She is currently a commissioner on the Sedona Planning & Zoning Commission, President of the League of Women Voters of Northern Arizona, serves on the Sedona Fire District PPRS local board and the Benefactors of Red Rock State park board, and is the Secretary of Friends of the Forest.  

Lynn loves the outdoors, enjoys reading and traveling, and believes that she lives in one of the most spectacular places in the world.

Abbie Denton

Abbie Denton was born in Galveston, Texas. She graduated with a BA in Accounting from Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Georgia and with an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. Abbie founded and established Denton Accounting located in the Village of Oak Creek in 1999. She specializes in Quickbooks and most major accounting software and point of sales systems. She is active in several tax and accounting associations and is currently studying to become an Enrolled Agent with the IRS.

Abbie has three children and six grandchildren. Married to husband Jonn since 2003, they live in Sedona with their Golden Retriever and cat. Her hobbies include, cooking and hosting international cuisine dinners for family and friends, camping, watching foreign films (a real movie buff), traveling, and drawing.

Robert Adams

Rob Adams was born and raised on a ranch in south central New Mexico. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University and went on to pursue a career in business. Rob has owned seven different businesses in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona.  

Rob and his wife, Christine, moved to Cornville in 1995 after selling their Arabian horse ranch in Scottsdale. Between 1995 and 2002, Rob served on he Boards of the Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Cottonwood Senior Center, and the Verde Rural Fire Department. He also served as the President of the Cornville Community Association. In 2002, Rob was honored as the Yavapai County Philanthropist of the Year.

The Adams’ moved to Sedona in 2003, and Rob was appointed to the City Council in 2006. He was then elected as Mayor and served three terms.

Rob enjoys world travel, skiing, motorcycle touring, scuba diving, hiking, flying airplanes and investing in real estate. The Adams’ have one son and two grandchildren.

DeAnna Bindley

DeAnna Bindley is a real-life Arizona native with a deep love for the people and the land. She spent the last 25 years in home sales and cares deeply for her clients and the property rights that come with home ownership. 

In 2019, DeAnna and her husband Mark bought two acres of land west of Sedona in an amazing rural area called Bear Mountain. Less than six months later, COVID hit, which brought massive amounts of additional OHV traffic to the forest, causing substantial environmental damage and elimination of a good quality of life for local residents. This disruption in everyday living for DeAnna and her neighbors sparked a mission to bring reasonable management to the OHV crisis that has spread throughout Arizona and the entire country. 

DeAnna is passionate about bringing change and solutions to the OHV issues so many are experiencing. She currently works at every level of government … city, county, state and federal … to bring about a management plan that everyone can live with. Such a plan would ensure good quality of life for residents affected by OHVs. That plan would also stop all environmental damage and prevent further damage to a fragile land that deserves our protection … for now and the future.

John Black

John Black would describe himself as just an ordinary guy who has spent more than 65 years hiking and camping in the deserts and forests all over the State of Arizona. This time includes three rim-to-rim hikes and one rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. John retired in 2014 and moved to Sedona, where he spends his time doing his best to ensure that all children and grandchildren will continue to enjoy the spectacular natural wonders that the State of Arizona offers. 

Peggy Chaikin

Peggy Chaikin has lived and worked in the communities of the Verde Valley and Flagstaff since the 1970s, having worked in Cottonwood, Camp Verde and Flagstaff in early childhood education, special education and elementary education. She and her husband retired and settled in West Sedona in 2008.

Peggy is a community activist, hiker, biker, gardener and artisan whose focus is conservation and quality of life issues.

Kevin Cook

Kevin was born and raised in Seattle, WA and enjoyed the natural outdoor beauty of the Northwest, where he spent many years hiking, sailing, climbing and swimming. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Science from Washington State University, with teaching credentials from Western Washington University.  

After working in agriculture, the Alaskan Seafood Industry, as a software code writer and a systems engineer in the technology sector, he retired and moved with his wife Robin to Sedona to enjoy the natural beauty of the area. They enjoy hiking and exploring the Southwest, as well as the people and community of Sedona. They are delighted to be here, but they still do miss the trees, the Puget Sound, and the lakes and mountains in Washington.

Kevin is a member of Friends of the Forest, he volunteers as a docent at the Palatki Heritage site and also volunteers at the Chavez Ranch garden. Both Kevin and Robin are members of the League of Women Voters of Northern Arizona.

With so much to treasure here, Kevin wants to do his part to keep Sedona beautiful!

Hollace Davids

Hollace Davids spent more than 20 years at Universal Pictures as Senior Vice President of Special Projects in the Feature Marketing Department. As such, she was responsible for planning and implementing all domestic Universal motion picture premieres. She also worked on Academy Awards and other awards campaigns. Hollis got her start in the movie business at the Los Angeles International Film Festival and then worked in publicity at Columbia Pictures/TriStar Pictures for 10+ years. Since 2018, Hollis has run her own consultancy, the Hollace Davids Company, where she has worked on numerous awards campaigns, publicity and marketing projects, and she also works with various nonprofit organizations.

Hollis is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America. She served as President of Women in Film from 1999-2002. In 2000, she was honored with the Jim Yeager Award for Public Service from the Publicists Guild.

Since making Sedona her primary residence in 2021, Hollis serves on the Board of The Sedona Women and is also on the Board as Secretary of GreenLight Women, a nonprofit whose mission is to address the needs of women over 40 in media.

Hollis has long been an advocate of stewarding the environment and believes it is everyone’s responsibility, collectively, to leave the planet in the best condition possible to support life for a vibrant future. The work that KSB does and the organization’s mission just resonate with her.

In their spare time, Hollis and her husband Paul have written a series of popular novels and produced a number of independent films on a variety of topics, all of which are available on Amazon Prime.

Donna Hadland

Donna grew up in the northwest Chicago suburbs and graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in Health Sciences. Part of her early coursework at WIU included Environmental Health, a topic that has always been of interest to Donna. Today, Donna is still focused on the environment and passionate about protecting the earth from human impact on nature.

For most of her career, Donna worked in Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Brand Strategy, and Digital for some of the biggest global medical device companies. She retired early from Medtronic two years ago. Donna also ran her own consultancy, Medical Marketing Communications, for 15+ years.

Prior to relocating to Sedona in 2018, Donna spent many years in the Twin Cities and lived for six years in northern California, in the Sonoma Valley. During this stint in Wine Country, Donna found a camera and a passion for photography. She loves taking pictures of nature and thinks there’s no better place to live than in Sedona.

When Donna is not working on communications-related projects for KSB, you’ll find her taking pictures or hiking or road-tripping to explore new areas … you guessed it … to appreciate the beauty that’s all around us.

Mark Lawler

Mark started his interest in the dark skies as an amateur astronomer at the age of twelve, while using a telescope with his father to explore the light-polluted sky near Washington, D.C. After obtaining a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Washington, he went on to work on satellites and rockets at Boeing and software at Microsoft while living in Seattle.

Mark’s other major life interest has been public lands and wildlife conservation. For over two decades, he chaired the National Forests Committee of the Sierra Club’s Washington State Chapter and is proud of its successes in designating new wilderness areas and protecting ancient forests, roadless areas, and wild rivers. Mark gained a wealth of experience working productively with volunteers and non-profit staff to reach their goals with agencies and elected officials.

When Mark and his wife Rita moved to the Village of Oak Creek in 2015, they explored the fabulous trails and wild places in the area and found that taking in our amazing dark sky was a highlight for them. This led to a growing interest in getting personally involved to ensure that the night sky in the Sedona area remains spectacular. Mark is now the KSB Dark Sky Committee Chair and notes that, “I’ve been privileged to be mentored by longtime KSB dark sky committee chair Joanne Kendrick. I’m excited to continue her legacy and to continually improve the quality of our night sky. I also hope that my conservation background will prove useful to KSB’s other programs.”

Alicia Peck

Alicia is currently the Verde Valley Sustainability Program Manager for Local First Arizona, where she leverages her experience in the sustainability and resiliency fields to support locally-owned businesses as they design and finance sustainable projects. Prior to this role, Alicia served as Sustainability Manager for the City of Sedona, where she interacted regularly with Keep Sedona Beautiful.

Alicia is a self-proclaimed “experience collector” who enjoys hiking, kayaking, scuba diving and traveling!

Norris Peterson

Norris grew up in the Upper Midwest but spent significant time in the Silicon Valley and the Seattle area. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Norris and his wife, Carolyn, bought a lot in Sedona in 2000 and officially moved here in 2004. They have been Keep Sedona Beautiful members since 2004.

Over the years, Norris and Carolyn have been financially supportive of KSB. Norris has also been generous with his time. He is a past Board member, Executive Vice President and President of KSB. During this time, he was very active in the National Monument Initiative, contributed to KSB’s Annual Native Plant Workshops and chaired the Annual Awards Committee for several years. In 2013, Norris was honored to be selected as the recipient of KSB’s Norman McGee Award.

Bob Rothrock

Bob and Kristen arrived in the Verde Valley in 1979, glad to have escaped the Phoenix behemoth. Bob has tried to have fun and improve the lives of others. He is happiest when he can do these simultaneously. Some would say he has been moderately successful in these efforts.

After a thirty-year teaching career, mostly in middle school social studies, he began his unpaid career in volunteer work. He served a term on the Cottonwood City Council from 2002-6 promoting responsible development. Bob was also a founding board member of Verde Valley Land Preservation, a group dedicated to preserving and enhancing open space. He was also active with Friends of the Verde River organizing river experiences for the public.

Bob and Kristen enjoy many outdoor activities. Boating and biking, birding and hiking are all on the itinerary. We hope to meet you on the river or trail someday.

Micheline Welch

Originally from New Jersey, Micheline Welch made Florida her home for many years, interspersed with a three-year residence in Southport, North Carolina. For most of her professional career, Micheline worked in the vacation ownership industry, where she specialized in membership acquisition, retention, and innovative marketing strategies that included building value-added membership packages and benefits.

A transformative visit to Sedona and the Grand Canyon in 2006 ignited a deep-seated passion for the state’s vibrant landscapes and rich cultural tapestry. Micheline’s affinity for Arizona’s diverse ecology and its potential for sustainable innovation drives her vision and desire to develop environmentally conscious business practices. She has diverse interests that range from reading to gardening, food sovereignty, and culinary arts—all of which contribute to her dynamic approach to leading change that is environmentally sound.

Marshall Whitmire

Born in St. Louis, Marshall has been an Arizona resident since 1958 when he and his family moved to Phoenix after living in Eugene, Oregon. After purchasing a home in Camp Verde in 1987, Marshall and his wife, Jane became, and continue to be, active volunteers in many Verde Valley and northern Arizona organizations and projects.

Marshall has broad experience in research, planning, organization development and administration in a wide variety of educational, governmental and for- and not-for-profit settings. He has designed, executed and collaborated on complex projects in the U.S. and internationally. His special expertise includes opinion research, organization assessment and design, strategic planning and program evaluation.

Internationally, he has served client organizations in more than 50 countries and managed employee opinion survey research projects in more than 30 languages. From 1987 to 1991, he designed, implemented and evaluated management development programs for the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources in Cairo, Egypt.

Marshall received his doctorate in higher and adult education from ASU in 1985. Jane holds a Ph.D. from NAU in political science, with an emphasis in environmental policy and public administration. Their non-volunteer priorities primarily focus on their 10 grandchildren, travel and documenting the history of their families.

Jan Wind

Growing up in Orlando, Florida during the age before Disney, Jan earned her degrees from the University of Central Florida in Limnology and Accounting. After graduating, she worked for 18 years for the US Postal Service in various positions. Her focus, however, was to experience what nature offered and to help protect the environment throughout the state and beyond. Jan and her husband became wildlife rehabilitators caring for many different species of wildlife who were either orphaned or injured due to the rapid development of the state.

After decades spent enjoying the lakes, rivers, springs and the ocean waters of the sunshine state, Jan, her husband, three dogs and a paraplegic cat relocated to the beautiful front range city of Boulder, Colorado. The next breathtakingly beautiful place to live would be Sedona, Arizona.

New to Sedona, Jan enjoyed hiking, exploring, and volunteering with the Friends of Forest, the US Forest Service and for Paw Prints thrift shop. Volunteering at the small Sedona visitor center located at the historic Forest Service buildings on Brewer Road was a special experience, one where she met seasoned individuals who knew the land and cared for its well-being. Eighteen years ago, she became the KSB office manager and feels fortunate each day for having been selected.

Jan loves to be in nature whenever possible and loves to travel, to be surrounded by beauty in many different forms, to create, and to play.

Wendy Heald

Originally from the New England states, Wendy moved to Sedona in 1988, coincidentally the same year that the City of Sedona was incorporated. Prior to joining KSB as a volunteer coordinator in 2014, she worked as a corporate paralegal, and thus greatly appreciates working in the nonprofit world of protecting and sustaining the high desert environment of our surrounding lands. This beautiful place … this unique habitat …

Wendy became aware of environmentalism in the late 1970s while living in a state that created a Bottle Bill. Once that passed, there were no more beer cans littering the sides of the roads. She served as secretary on the board of Sedona Recycles, Inc. for 7 years.

She has always loved plants, and since living here she has become a certified herbalist and master gardener. For the past several years, she has focused on the cultivation of native plants to support the pollinators and birds in her home garden, as well as planting many milkweed seeds for the Monarch Butterfly.

Wendy has two grown sons, and two Tuxedo cats, and loves being out in nature, hiking, camping, bird watching, gardening, as well as listening to music and doing crossword puzzles.