Board Members

Our dedicated board drives forward our Center for Rural Affairs mission and values. Members meet quarterly and regularly provide support to staff.

About the Boards

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors consists of between 12 and 24 members that govern the Center. Members of the board serve staggered three-year terms. The board determines policy and overall direction of the organization at quarterly meetings.

An executive committee consisting of the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and two members elected by the board meets in conjunction with regular board meetings. In addition, the board establishes oversight committees to counsel staff on the implementation of the Center’s various programs.

About one-half of the board is farmers or ranchers. Others are small town business and working people including a small number of urban members with a strong interest in rural improvement. The board is self-selecting, and has made it a policy to provide the organization with a broad leadership base. Accordingly, it has recruited men and women from all regions of the state and people with diverse occupational backgrounds and personal perspectives.

The board has been conscious of the need to provide both continuity and new insight, and thus the bylaws require at least one new director be added annually. Director Emeritus status was established in 1990. We have three Emeritus directors at present.

The board plays an active role in the development of Center programs. Each board member serves on one of three program advisory committees that provide quarterly oversight of program activities and guide the annual planning process. Directors also serve on at least one of the institutional committees that discuss finance, nominations, media and communications, development, engagement, and constituency building.

Advisory Committee

Center for Rural Affairs Advisory Committee members are recruited for their special backgrounds and insight into our program areas. They meet quarterly with the Board of Directors and Center staff. 

Center for Rural Affairs Community Capital

Center for Rural Affairs Community Capital is a subsidiary of the Center for Rural Affairs. Center for Rural Affairs Community Capital is a certified Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, dedicated to serving low-income individuals and communities that lack access to financial services from mainstream financial institutions. CDFIs offer loans for small and micro-sized businesses and provide services such as business planning and one-on-one counseling.

Center for Rural Affairs Community Capital Board of Directors, all volunteers, are chosen by the Center for Rural Affairs Board of Directors. Thus, the Center has full authority over Center for Rural Affairs Community Capital.

Granary Foundation Board

The Granary Foundation was created by the Center for Rural Affairs to serve the financial needs of the Center. It is a "support corporation," with the sole purpose of benefiting the Center for Rural Affairs.

The Granary Board of Directors has fiduciary responsibility for the Granary Endowment Fund. The Board of Directors, all volunteers, are chosen by the Center for Rural Affairs' Board of Directors. Thus, the Center has full authority over the Granary Foundation.

Jane Yule headshot
Jane Yule
Creighton, Nebraska
Jane is the President of our Board of Directors. "I first encountered the Center for Rural Affairs in the 1970s, when the organization was in its infancy. The expertise at the Center is extraordinary, and the organization's work reminds us of the value of rural communities."
headshot of Audrey Lutz Musilek in black and white
Audrey Lutz Musilek
Grand Island, Nebraska
Audrey is the Vice President of our Board of Directors. "Being a Center Board of Directors member means I have the opportunity to engage in conversation with other diverse rural Nebraskans with similar interests."
Krista Dittman
Krista Peeks Dittman
Valparaiso, Nebraska
Krista is the Secretary of the Board of Directors and is a member of the Center's Community Capital Board. "Becoming involved was an easy decision to make because the values of the Center and their amount of success turning ideas into practice is exciting to support."
Chuck Karpf
Chuck Karpf
Omaha, Nebraska
Chuck serves as treasurer to the Center's Board of Directors, vice president of the Granary Board and vice president of the Center's Community Capital Board. "The Center’s work is more important than society realizes. It is the kind of organization that would not be missed until it is gone; then people would say, 'I didn’t know they did all of that.'"
Vern Barrett headshot
Leverne Barrett
Ceresco, Nebraska
Vern serves on the Board of Directors and on the Center's Community Capital Board. "The Center is at the forefront of helping rural America. It envelopes a niche in rural community development that no other organization addresses to date."
Dennis Demmel
Dennis Demmel
Ogallala, Nebraska
Dennis is a member of the Board of Directors. "Being with everyone on the Board and discussing the various issues is invigorating. My wife always says I come home from meetings with enthusiasm. Collaboration with staff is also rewarding, as the Center has some fantastic staff who are doing wonderful things in our rural communities."
Melissa Florell
Melissa Florell
Kearney, Nebraska
Melissa serves on the Board of Directors. "The Center is helping small family farms be competitive and rural communities be a viable part of the conversation. Their work has always maintained focus on rural economic development and small business entrepreneurship. That’s why I continue giving my time to the Center."
Jay Hall
Jay Hall
Red Cloud, Nebraska
Jay serves as President to the Center for Rural Affairs Community Capital and as a member of the Board of Directors. "I am especially passionate about the Center’s lending program and what it has done for small businesses across rural America. It could perhaps be characterized as a bank with a heart, a rural soul, with a loan and educational staff that will assist entrepreneurs every step of the way."
Ross Larson headshot
Ross Larson
Wahoo, Nebraska
Ross is a member of the Center's Board of Directors, is a member of the Granary Board, and serves as secretary/treasurer to the Center's Community Capital Board. "I have a particular fondness for the impact of the Center’s ability to offer business and residential loans to underserved rural, immigrant, and Native American people. Our target market is different from a typical bank, but our goal is the same."
Karina Perez
Karina Perez
Columbus, Nebraska
Karina is a member of the Board of Directors. "To me, the mission of the Center means that our rural communities are moving forward—taking the lead, with guidance from the Center, on the values that mean most to them."
Paul Swanson
Paul Swanson
Hastings, Nebraska
Paul is on the Center's Board of Directors. "My relationship with the Center started when I attended a Center-sponsored event in Hastings, Nebraska, where I live. That chance meeting led to joining the Board in 1995, and proudly serving since."
Lee Tesdell
Lee Tesdell
Slater, Iowa
Lee serves on the Board of Directors. "The Center's programs align with my own values and practices, so once I had the time and opportunity, I wanted to get involved."
headshot of Nancy Williams in black and white
Nancy Williams
Omaha, Nebraska
Nancy serves on the Board of Directors. "I am a fan of rural communities and believe in the inherent potential to improve connection and our economy."
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Gary Peterson
Pacific Grove, California
Gary Peterson is president of the Granary Board.
Mark Gustafson
Mark Gustafson
Mead, Nebraska
Mark Gustafson is secretary/treasurer of the Granary Board. "The Center for Rural Affairs has been serving rural Nebraska and beyond for more than fifty years. We have been supporting the Center for over forty years because we share their underlying values and commitment to strengthening rural communities and small rural and minority businesses, especially small farms."
Becky Gould
Becky Gould
Lincoln, Nebraska
Becky Gould is a member of the Granary Board. "The Center for Rural Affairs is full of smart, dedicated, and compassionate people who carry a positive vision of what's possible in rural communities. Their broad approach to supporting vitality in all aspects of rural communities is impressive and what has kept me involved with the organization over the years."
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Don Reeves
Oberlin, Ohio
Don, a farmer from Central City, returned to Nebraska after working for Bread for the World in Washington D.C.
Rachel Liester
Rachel Liester
Stanton, Nebraska
Rachel is a member of the Center's Community Capital Board. "The availability of low interest loans saved my business and my home. After 22 years of renting, when we purchased our acreage, the landlord would not accept the appraisal amount offered by the bank. He wanted $15,000 more or we were going to lose everything. A simple call to the Center eased my mind, stopped my tears and saved our home."
Steele Valenzuela
Steele Valenzuela
Omaha, Nebraska
Steele is a member of the Center's Community Capital Board. "I’m interested in seeing how the Center can work with the Latino and Native American communities, and any other communities beyond what folks envision as what is 'rural' and 'Nebraskan,' which I imagine is typically white folks. For the Center to engage these communities is crucial to inclusivity, and I imagine rural communities will thrive."
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Teri Bierman
Wisner, Nebraska
Teri is a member of the Center's Advisory Committee.
Barbara Dilly
Barbara Dilly
Shell Rock, Iowa
Barbara is a member of the Center's Advisory Committee. "The time I have lived and worked in rural communities convinces me that these people are well worth the effort and talent the Center devotes to their lives. They are precious because they care about each other and keep the home fires of America burning."
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Sara Gomez
Grand Island, Nebraska
Sarah is a member of the Center's Advisory Committee.
Sandro Lopes
Sandro Lopes
David City, Nebraska
Sandro is a member of the Center’s Advisory Committee. “I see that our Latino community has a connection to an institution that cares; cares for the soil, cares for the environment, cares for people, and cares for life.”
Nancy Meyer
Nancy Meyer
Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska
Nancy is a member of the Center's Advisory Committee. "Rural America has been my home for most of my life. I hope to help conserve the rural American landscape and lifestyle for the present and future."
Headshot of Amy Thelander
Amy Thelander
Grant, Nebraska
Amy is a member of the Center's Advisory Committee. "Nebraska is my home. I grew up in Cozad, went to Kearney State College, and then settled in the southwestern part of the state. I raised my three boys there, my career is there, and my husband farms there."