Donald F. Lamberti | Co-Founder, Keep Iowa Beautiful

Ankeny
A clean neighborhood, city and State makes a positive statement to the many visitors who come to Iowa on business, vacations or just passing through. The person we impress may be a C.E.O. looking for a new business opportunity. A clean State is more than an environmental statement it is a economical statement. Keep Iowa Clean and growing.

Donald F. Lamberti is chairman emeritus of Casey’s General Store, Inc. a Midwest company that operates more than 2000 convenience stores. The firm’s headquarters is in Ankeny, Iowa.

A native Iowan, Lamberti started the business in 1968. The first Casey’s store opened in Boone, Iowa in 1968 in a remodeled three-bay gasoline station. Since then the company has grown to encompass a 16-state market area with annual sales of more than seven billion dollars. The company employs over 36,000 people.

A past director of Wells Fargo Bank Iowa, N.A., and National By-Products, Inc., Lamberti also is a past director of the Greater Des Moines Foundation. He is past Chair of the Buena Vista University board of trustees.

He is a founding member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Keep Iowa Beautiful, he is a past board member of Mid-Iowa council of the Boy Scouts of America and On With Life, Inc. He is active in the St. Vincent DePaul Society.

Lamberti has been inducted into the Conveniences Store Industry Hall of Fame, and he received the Small Business Administration Iowa’s Entrepreneurial Success Award. In 1998 he was recognized with the Distinguished Iowa Citizen award from the Boy Scouts Council. He is a founding member of Bridges of Iowa, Inc., a faith-based prison release, drug treatment and after care program for non-violent offenders.

Don and Charlene Lamberti reside in Ankeny, Iowa and have been married for 54 years. They have four children, two sons and two daughters, 11 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

Doug Shull | Board Chair and Treasurer

Indianola
Former State Senator, Doug Shull is a CPA and currently serves as chair to the Warren County Board of Supervisors. Now retired, he served as CFO to Casey’s General Stores. Along with Keep Iowa Beautiful, Doug serves on local boards including Bankers Trust.

Mike Richardson | Board Vice-Chair

Pleasant Hill
Michael graduated from Madison Memorial High School in Madison, WI. In 1974. He began his career Swift Premium Meats working there from 1974-1978. In 1978 Mike joined Casey’s General Stores Inc. as a field operations supervisor. He continued with Casey’s serving as a store supervisor, District manager, Advertising Director and Vice President of Marketing and Advertising. Mike retired in 2019.

Mike’s activities outside of work have included working in various capacities with the cities and charities where has lived. From 2008 to 2010 Mike served on the Pleasant Hill Parks and Recreation Committee, was voted Citizen of the Year in 2009 by the Pleasant Hill Iowa Chamber of Commerce and was elected Mayor of Pleasant Hill, IA in 2011 where he served until 2014. Mike and his wife Patty continue to enjoy living in Pleasant Hill and have three wonderful children and five grandchildren and plans to continue to stay involved with the community.

Liesl Seabert | Board Secretary

Ankeny
Liesl Seabert is a Florida native who moved to Iowa in 2016. She is a licensed attorney and has a background in community development, consensus building, and placemaking. Currently Liesl works as a Program Manager with the Institute for Decision Making at University of Northern Iowa. In her role, Liesl assists communities, economic development organizations, and other nonprofits with strategic planning at varying levels of focus, including community, region-wide, and organizational. Liesl has previous work experience with Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity as an economic and community developer; and as a planner for the City of Tallahassee, Florida.

Liesl serves as an executive member of the Iowa Rural Development Council Executive Board, acting as Chair of the Events Committee responsible for the annual Leadership Exchange and Iowa Rural Development Summit; is Communications Chair of the American Planning Association Iowa Chapter; volunteers on the Planning Committee of the Des Moines Walk to End Alzheimer’s; was a member of the Leadership Iowa c/o 21-22; is a member of the Florida Bar, Georgia Bar, and the American Institute of Certified Planners; and obtained a BA from the College of William and Mary, JD from Florida State Law School, and MSP from Florida State University College of Urban and Regional Planning. She lives in Ankeny with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, and too many house plants.

Brittany Morales | Board Member

Altoona
Brittany Morales is a native of Rockwell City, Iowa and graduated from UNI with a bachelor’s in marketing management. She currently serves as Vice President of Business Development at Iowa Communications Alliance, Iowa’s association for over 120 community-based broadband providers. Growing up in rural Iowa, she has dedicated her career to rural vitality and is passionate about helping rural communities position themselves as sustainable and attractive places to live and work. After a career in statewide rural economic development serving as Vice President of Community Initiatives and Ripple Effect Program Director at Iowa Area Development Group, Brittany joined ICA to help Iowa’s local providers and rural communities enhance broadband connectivity across the state. Brittany serves on the Iowa Rural Development Council Board of Directors, recently completed her term as an appointee to Governor Reynold’s Empower Rural Iowa Connect Task Force, is a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional, and is a graduate of Leadership Iowa.

Geri Huser | Board Member

Altoona
Geri D. Huser was appointed to the Iowa Utilities Board on May 1, 2015, for a six-year term ending on April 30, 2021. Governor Terry Branstad also appointed Huser as Chair, where she serves as the administrative head of the Board. In April 2019 Governor Kim Reynolds reappointed Huser as Chair of the Board.

She previously was Director of Iowa Title Guaranty, Iowa’s real estate insurance provider. As an attorney, Geri practices in real estate, business, municipal law and estate planning. She is also a small business owner in Iowa. She served in the Iowa Legislature and on the Altoona City Council for a combined total of 20 years.

Lee Bissmeyer | Board Member

Des Moines
Lee Bissmeyer is the Sr Managing Director in the Central Iowa region and leads the Principal Financial Network’s Business Market Specialist program. Lee has over 34 years of experience at Principal in various capacities as an employee, financial professional and manager. Lee’s designations include Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®); Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI). During his time with Principal, Lee has applied his expertise in IT programming, corporate auditing, compensation design, sales operations, new advisor development and national market growth.

Mark Wiskus | Board Member

Pella
Mark Wiskus is the President and Founder of the Wiskus Group, which offers estate and retirement income planning. His primary focus includes charitable and financial planning. Mark is a member of the Des Moines Estate Planners Forum and speaks frequently to non-profit organization donors on charitable giving strategies.

Mark serves on several boards including the Unity Point Des Moines Foundation, the Pella Community Foundation, the Garden Chapel Funeral Charitable Endowment Fund, and Pella Kiwanis Club. As President of Wonder Spelen, Mark has been instrumental in building an inclusive playground in Pella. He also serves as Chairman of The Pella Opera House Board. Mark and his wife, Christine, live in Pella and have two daughters.

Megan Jones | Board Member

Sioux Rapids
Megan Jones is a Republican State Representative of District 2. She received degrees in LPS and business from Drake University and her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law. She is a member of the Spencer Daybreakers Kiwanis. She said she hopes her work with the Keep Iowa Beautiful board will preserve Iowa’s beauty, bring more of the state’s treasures to the forefront and help market those hometown qualities in a way that attracts people and businesses to this state, keeping it beautiful for generations to come.

Nate Westre | Board Member

Stuart
Nate Westre grew up just west of Des Moines in the community of Stuart. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in Business Administration and living in the Kansas City area for 10 years he moved back to Stuart and purchased Ruby’s Pub and Grill, a local landmark since 1947. Back in Stuart, Nate became active in the local business and economic development community partnering with local organizations and serving a term as the Stuart Chamber of Commerce president.

Robin Bostrom | Board Member

Des Moines
Robin Bostrom currently serves as the Director for Empower Rural Iowa. Before joining Empower Rural Iowa she was a Small Business Specialist with the Iowa Economic Development Authority, working with the Downtown Resource Center and the Main Street Iowa team. Prior to joining IEDA, she served as a local program director for West Union, Iowa, a nationally accredited Main Street program in Northeast Iowa. She has extensive experience working with non-profit organizations, served as Executive Director for Fayette County Economic Development and the Turkey River Recreational Corridor, and is a small business owner. She has presented hundreds of trainings on small business development and market analysis, including serving as a speaker/trainer for Main Street America. She earned a BA from the University of Northern Iowa and is a graduate of the Heartland Economic Development Course. She has earned the Development Finance Professional Certification from the National Development Council. She enjoys working with Iowa communities and small business owners to help them develop their full potential.

Ethan Pitt | Board Member

Bondurant
Ethan Pitt has a diverse background in advising small businesses, economics, and marketing, and has been working in the field of economic development for 10 years. Before joining Iowa Area Development Group, Pitt served as the Tech and Innovation Start-up Director for the ISU Small Business Development Center. At IADG, Pitt spearheads the strategic partnership with Aureon as the VP of Community Initiatives. This collaboration supports the economic and community development initiatives of Aureon’s shareholder network of independent broadband companies across Iowa.

Pat Logan | Board Member

Pleasant Hill
Pat Logan is a seasoned sales professional with over 40 years of experience at Copy Systems Inc., where he has excelled in driving business growth and building strong client relationships. A University of Iowa graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Botany/Plant Biology (Class of 1983), Pat has developed a robust skill set that includes operations management, account management, sales process optimization, and solution selling.

Chad Hickcox | Board Member

Ankeny
Chad Hickcox has worked for Fareway for 34 years. He graduated from Iowa Central Community College in 1995 with a degree in Food Marketing Management. He spent 7 years as an assistant from 2000- 2007 at Altoona, Spencer, and Oskaloosa. He became a manager in 2007 in Omaha Nebraska. He managed Omaha for 9 years before being promoted to Supervisor in 2015. He then was promoted to Regional Vice President in 2023. He currently has 32 stores in 4 states with a team of 2 supervisors and 1 meat coordinator. He has completed IGIA leadership classes, been involved in CISS giving Tuesday breakfast, leading with power lunch series as well as representing Fareway at multiple function and gatherings.

Hickcox has been married to his wife Gina for 26 years. They have 2 amazing children, Avery and Olivia. Avery is finishing up at Drake with a degree in Biochemistry and is looking to move on to graduate school in the fall. Olivia is graduating in spring with a degree in Radiology Technologies. Hickcox enjoys hunting, fishing, and golf.

Cheri Monahan | Board Member

Hiawatha
As the Director of Customer and Business Solutions at ITC Midwest, the largest independent electric transmission operator in North America, Cheri brings over 18 years of utility economic and business development experience. The vast majority of Monahan’s career has been dedicated to fostering economic growth and development in the great state of Iowa. She has had the honor of serving as the past Chair of the Marion Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO), where she completed a 13-year commitment as a Board member, including a 6-year tenure as Chair of their development arm. Currently, she serves as the Chair of the Hiawatha Planning and Zoning Commission, where she resides. Additionally, she recently joined the board of the Utility Economic Development Association, a nationwide association of investor-owned utility economic development professionals.