Shantini Munthree is the CEO of BRANDKIND Consulting, specializing in advising private companies on growth and transformation strategies tailored for the middle market. Committed to promoting fiscal sustainability and business impact, she actively engages in nonprofit and mentoring efforts beyond her role at BRANDKIND. Shantini serves as Chair of Grand Canyon Conservancy’s board, is a founding member of the Private Directors Association, and chairs the P&G Alumni Network in the SF Bay Area. Nurturing our next generation of leaders is a passion for Shantini, who guides entrepreneurs at prestigious accelerator programs such as UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck and the University of Santa Clara’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Shantini is also an author known for her thought leadership on buyer behavior in her book, “LOVE+FEAR: Mastering the Primal Motives of Buyers” (Archway, 2019).
Randall Brown brings 35+ years of legal expertise to GCC. He is a partner at Haynes Boone, an international corporate law firm, and served as chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group for 15 years. His dedication to volunteer efforts includes serving as the Dallas Opera’s audit committee chair. A passionate advocate for the canyon, Randy has completed nine backpacking trips and four river trips since his first visit in 2003. He has served on the board since 2020 and continues to champion projects to improve Indigenous affairs within the park as well as the restoration of trails and park facilities to preserve this indescribable and stunning natural Wonder of the World.
Lizabeth Ardisana is CEO of ASG Renaissance, a technical and communications firm, and Performance Driven Workforce (PDW), a scheduling and staffing firm. She is an active business and civic leader in the Michigan and Hispanic Communities, serving on the board of Huntington Bank, Focus: Hope, Kettering University, Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, Michigan Colleges Alliance, Skillman Foundation, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Mott Foundation, and United Way of Southeastern Michigan. Beth has worked on many projects with the national parks, including the restoration of the red buses in Glacier National Park, and she enjoys hiking and rafting in the Grand Canyon.
Ann Becker is Vice President of Sustainability for Arizona Public Service (APS), leading the company’s environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and corporate governance functions. She previously served as Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer and Vice President of Environmental for APS, as well as Associate General Counsel for APS’s parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation. Before joining APS, she practiced environmental law with the law firm of Foley & Lardner. Ann is on the board of Downtown Phoenix Partnership, and in 2017 she received the Most Influential Women in Arizona award from Arizona Business magazine. Ann and her husband, Brett, enjoy hiking in northern Arizona and southern Utah.
Geoff Chatas is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the University of Michigan. He is one of three executive vice presidents reporting to the university president and serves as the president’s chief advisor on financial matters. His portfolio includes U-M’s capital projects and construction, the investment office, finance and accounting, enterprise strategic risk management, facilities and campus operations, human resources, and campus sustainability. His experience as a higher education administrator has afforded him broad exposure on how to help a nonprofit reach its goals and thrive. His love for the Grand Canyon began with a college road trip in 1985, and he has returned annually for more than two decades. Each time he visits, he experiences something new, an aspect of the canyon that he finds extraordinary and hopes to help preserve for others to experience.
Jason Coochwytewa (Isleta Pueblo/Hopi) is the Chief Executive Officer for Urias Communications, a brand management, advertising, and public relations agency. A seasoned professional with more than 25 years of industry experience, with special expertise in multicultural markets (particularly Native American), he has been recognized with distinguished honors by the Phoenix Business Journal, the American Indian Excellence in Leadership Awards, and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. Underlining the significance of the homeland of the Indigenous people whose emergence comes from the Grand Canyon, and elevating Tribal Nations' representation, is a priority for Jason.
Aaron Craft is a Partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP and is based in Arizona. He has more than 25 years of public accounting and industry experience, with a primary focus on serving public and private companies based in the Southwestern U.S. Aaron also currently holds leadership roles within Deloitte’s real estate practice, along with local leadership roles related to marketplace activities, accounting advisory services, recruiting, and university relations. Prior to joining Deloitte, Aaron held accounting leadership roles at Fender Musical Instruments Corp. He has an MBA and a BS in Accounting from Arizona State University. He is also active in the Phoenix community and his most passionate hobby is being an avid hiker of trails across the state of Arizona, including Grand Canyon National Park.
Ann Figueredo is a Principal and co-Founder of Momentem Consulting Group LLC. Ann has over 35 years of experience in senior roles in the higher education, financial services, and pharmaceutical industries. Ann has functional expertise in nonprofit board governance, strategic planning, and a proven track record in securing resources for mission driven organizations, including most recently as the Vice President Institutional Advancement at Haverford College where she successfully led the largest capital campaign in the history of the College. Ann is passionate about the culture, history, environmental challenges, and geography of the desert Southwest, where she and her husband raised their three daughters. She has enthusiastically hiked on four continents. Ann has hiked above and below both rims of Grand Canyon and considers the river raft trip she took through Grand Canyon as her trip of a lifetime. Ann earned a bachelor’s degree with high honors from Haverford College and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. She lives with her husband and a menagerie of critters outside Philadelphia.
Nigel Finney spent most of his professional career in airport management, retiring as Deputy Executive Director of the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission. The last years of his career were spent overseeing the planning and implementation of a $3 billion airport development and expansion program. Nigel is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has two master's degrees from Georgia Tech. Nigel and his wife Jeanne currently divide their time between Tonto Verde, Arizona and Flagstaff, Arizona. His exposure to Grand Canyon began in the late 1970s and, over the past 40 years, has included numerous backpacking and hiking trips below the rim. He continues to hike Grand Canyon several times a year and is passionate about the preservation of this magnificent landscape.
Deb has 20+ years of experience as CEO at health-tech companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100. She has been a member of 10+ corporate boards alongside private equity, venture, and strategic investors. Deb has served on Corporate and Advisory Boards, Public University Boards, and non-profit Boards. Her functional expertise as a CEO and Board Director includes board governance, finance, and fund-raising. Deb is currently providing advisory services to senior executives. She’s serving on three Boards and is active as a limited partner of HC9. She is an advisor to several private equity and venture firms. In her most recent CEO role, Deb was President and Chief Executive of Medecision, where she led the turn-around and profitable growth of the Company to over $100M. Deb enjoys sharing the outdoors with her friends and family. She is an avid traveler and is often found rafting, boating, and hiking in wilderness places like the Grand Canyon where she hikes several times per year, National Parks around the US, the State Parks of Texas and Michigan, where she has homes, and most recently as part of an expedition to Antarctica with colleagues.
Charlie Galbraith (Navajo) is a partner at Jenner & Block LLP in Washington D.C. where he serves as co-chair of the Native American Law Practice and represents Native American tribes across the country. Previously, he spent a decade working for the federal government as a staff member to a U.S. Senator and an Assistant United States Attorney in Arizona, and as the White House tribal liaison for President Barack Obama. He is passionate about ensuring people of color are represented in the outdoors community and ensuring visitors can learn about the Native people of North America. He is an avid hiker and climber who is determined to continue to explore every corner of the Grand Canyon on foot or by raft.
Scott Key has founded and/or scaled three businesses to over $1B in net sales while building teams with a strong shared culture and a deep sense of purpose. At David's Bridal, Scott led a dual effort to transform a mature business while diversifying business lines to reinforce their market leadership position. At Gap Inc., he was recognized as one of the most influential people in company history for founding industry-leading direct-to-consumer (DTC) divisions and building ATHLETA into a leading athleisure brand. Scott's notable commercial achievements are paralleled by his commitment to social good, having raised over $20M for non-profit organizations. Scott’s career journey began in the nonprofit sector (American Cancer Society), where he witnessed firsthand the profound impact skilled professionals have on advancing a non-profit’s mission. His decision to join the Board of Directors at GCC is driven by a desire to connect people with the natural world while supporting educational and conservation goals.
Sarah Willie-LeBreton is the 12th president of Smith College. She earned a B.A. from Haverford College, on whose board she has also served, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University, all in sociology. After having taught at Colby College (1991–1995) and Bard College (1995–1997), she was tenured at Swarthmore, where she chaired both the Black Studies Program and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She was appointed provost and dean of the faculty at Swarthmore in 2018 and served until 2023. An accomplished administrator, scholar, and sociologist who studies social inequality, race, and ethnicity, Willie-Sarah is known for her commitment to the liberal arts, strengthening community, and energizing the work of equity and inclusion. She is a member of and has been active in the Eastern Sociological Society, Sociologists for Women in Society, the Association of Black Sociologists, and the American Sociological Association.
Carissa Rollins is the Chief Information Officer at Illumina, the leading developer and manufacturer of sequencing and array technologies. Prior to Illumina, Carissa held positions of executive and senior roles at United Healthcare, Gander Mountain, Kohl’s Corporation, Manpower Global, and Miller-Coors. Carissa holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA in Management Information Systems from Marquette University. She and her husband have been traveling to and enjoying our national parks for over 30 years. Their first trip to Grand Canyon was in 1993, and for their 10th wedding anniversary, they traversed the canyon on a raft down the river for a week. They have exposed their two sons to Grand Canyon and other parks many times, traveling the country in their RV almost every summer since the boys were young. In addition to Grand Canyon Conservancy, Carissa serves on the Board of Directors for the YWCA, Minneapolis, and is currently the Board Chair.
Rich Rudow began his career as an engineer in the defense industry. He became an entrepreneur in the early 90s, leading two successful technology startups before selling the last one to Trimble in 2001. During his 13-year tenure with Trimble, Rich ran several businesses, acquired multiple companies, sat on the board of a strategic investment company, and spearheaded Trimble’s smartphone technology transition. Rich retired from Trimble in 2014 and has since dedicated his time to his 30-year passion for Grand Canyon. He has explored 190 limestone slot canyons, floated down the Grand Canyon Colorado River fifteen times, and has spent more than 1,200 days below the rim, including a 57-day continuous through-hike in 2015. Rich has acquired a unique perspective of the Canyon's majesty and threats. He often shares his Canyon knowledge at public events and has appeared in three Grand Canyon films. His photographs bring a unique view to one of the most photographed places on the planet.
Michael J. (Mick) Rusing graduated from Stanford Law School and is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers, practicing law for 40 years. Mick currently practices in Tucson, Arizona, as a Managing Partner of Rusing Lopez & Lizardi. In addition to being a trial lawyer, Mick is a Charter Member of the Arizona Antelope Foundation and a Life Member of the Desert Bighorn Sheep Society. In 2006, Mick was named Environmentalist of the Year by the Arizona Game & Fish Commission. Mick is a Trustee of the Pima Air & Space Museum and an Advisory Board Member of the Steele Children's Research Center. Mick's love of the Canyon began during his formative years when he visited the Havasupai reservation with his boy scout troop. Over the years, Mick hiked to the Canyon numerous times, including, most recently, a rim-to-rim trek with his three brothers. He has also enjoyed multiple river trips down the Colorado River and has fished Lee's Ferry innumerable times.
Stephanie Sklar retired in August 2020 after a 35-year career in environmental conservation and philanthropy, most recently as CEO of the Sonoran Institute from 2013–2020, leading its natural resource conservation work in the Colorado River Basin. Before joining the Sonoran Institute, she was the founding Director of Development for the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona, which initiated climate research and action across disciplines and departments. She serves on the Imago Dei Middle School board and advises Friends of Aphasia in Tucson and private donors. Stephanie's passion for the Grand Canyon began with rafting and hiking adventures and continued through her work on water sustainability in the Colorado River Basin.
Stan Sutherland spent four years as a high school physics teacher before going to law school. He then became an attorney in the Solicitor’s Office at the U.S. Department of the Interior, followed by a position in the law department of S.C. Johnson & Son, where he retired as Deputy General Counsel in 2004. Stan has served on several nonprofit boards in Flagstaff, including Theatrikos Theatre Company, where he has also acted and directed. He holds a B.S. in physics from the University of Illinois and M.S. in physics from Purdue University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Stan has backpacked rim-to-rim and to Clear Creek, and he and his artist wife Dawn have completed two 10-day river trips through the canyon.
