David Axelrod
Board President

David was born in California's San Fernando Valley, which was known for growing walnuts, citrus, and corn. In ten short years, he watched the agricultural valley of his childhood become subdivided into 7,000 lots, thus giving rise to his interest in smarter, more sustainable growth. 

He earned his BA in political science/economics from the University of California Los Angeles, and later earned his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Davis School of Law. He currently works out of Portland, Oregon and Victor, Idaho doing class action and intellectual property litigation. David thinks VARD is the most important non-profit supplementing critical government functions in the Valley, because without a protected environment the Valley's charm will be a thing of the past.

Richard Berg

Richard has a passion for the outdoors and beautiful places, like Teton Valley. He grew up in Southern California where development often ran amok and turned a beautiful place into something much less so. He also witnessed more reasonable development policies in neighboring Ventura County where agriculture still thrives. In his youth Richard was an avid backpacker and an Eagle Scout. He attended the University of Southern California, earning a B.S. in electrical engineering, and, after a stint as a Naval Officer assigned to the Atomic Energy Commission, he attended the University of San Diego School of Law where he received a J.D. degree with honors. After law school, he became a patent lawyer and served as a managing partner of a multinational patent law firm for over twenty years before semi-retiring and moving to the Teton Valley several years ago. He enjoys traveling, hiking, bicycling and skiing and still manages to do some patent work for a research laboratory when not out enjoying the natural beauty of Teton Valley. Richard is also actively involved with the Friends of Teton River.

Richard Danforth

Richard is a graduate of Kenyon College and received a Masters degree from Dartmouth College. In 1996 he founded The Danforth Company, an advisory firm specializing in corporate advocacy, capital acquisition and marketing services. As an avid fly fisherman, Richard has spent many summers in Teton Valley angling the blue ribbon trout streams of the Yellowstone region.

In addition to serving on VARD’s Board of Directors, Richard is the Secretary of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, a conservation group in western Pennsylvania and Treasurer of Junction Dance Theater. He was the Finance Chairman of the Ultimate Walk to Cure Diabetes, a 2003 expedition to the South Pole supported by the Royal Geographic Society in London, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in New York and the Honorable Alexandra Shackleton. He has also been a participant in the Children’s First America Director’s meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Guch Lombardi-Spray
Treasurer

Guch graduated with a degree in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She moved to Jackson, Wyoming in 1980. Guch was employed by the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance as Director of Finance for the ten years prior to moving to Idaho. Guch and her husband, Chuck Spray, moved to Driggs in 2005 where they own and operate Guchiebird’s. Guchiebird’s offers artistic gifts and unique home décor with an emphasis on goods made in the USA.

Sandy Mason

Sandy served for 12 years as an elected member of a planning and zoning board in Massachusetts. During his tenure Sandy faced issues similar to those of Teton County such as preserving agricultural land and open space, grappling with commercial and residential sprawl, and conserving community character in a community with a large second-home-owner population. One of Sandy’s accomplishments, with support from The Nature Conservancy and the State of Massachusetts, was helping to conserve 1,200 acres of land that was slated for a 900 unit residential development. Sandy has been very involved in the Teton Valley community through volunteerism since he and his wife make made it their permanent home in 1997. Sandy and Mary are also conservation easement donors.

Nancy Siverd

Nancy received an BA in biology from Vassar College and an MS in microbiology from the University of Notre Dame.  Professionally, she worked as a Scientific Writer, Editor, and Manager for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.  Though officially retired, Nancy continues to work as a consultant preparing scientific documents and presentations for submission to the FDA.  She and her husband, John, have 2 married sons and 5 grandchildren on the east coast.  In 2001, they built their home in Alta, after enjoying many summer vacations in Wyoming and Montana.  When she is not doing professional or volunteer work, Nancy enjoys hiking and trail riding on her BLM mustang.  Nancy joined the VARD board in the spring of 2008, after participating for a number of years as a volunteer for several non-profits in Teton Valley.  She is eager to promote responsible development in Teton Valley, to assure sustainable use of the valley’s natural resource assets, and to assure maintenance of the valley’s beauty, character, and quality of life.

Kat Smithhammer

Kat's passion for wilderness was initially sparked by her parents and her backyard access to Toronto's Rouge Park - North America's largest urban preserve. Sharing her passion for the land has been her driving force from teaching high school geography and running an outdoor education center to guiding in the Andes and instructing for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Canada, Chile, Australia and the US.

Currently, she divides her time between NOLS Professional Training (NOLS PRO) and Leadership at Play, supporting individual and organizational change. For both she designs, facilitates and teaches leadership development programs. Her NOLS PRO clients include: NASA, the Wharton School, Kellogg, Google and Four Seasons to name a few. Her Leadership at Play clients include: Teton Science Schools, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, TVTAP and Slow Foods. Kat has a M.A. in Leadership and Training (Royal Roads University), B.Ed. (Queen's University) and a B.A. (Trent University).

Since the fall of 2006, Kat and her husband Bruce happily reside in Victor's Mountainside community. 

Julie Stomper

When Julie Stomper and her husband Derek came to the Tetons, “to ski for a winter,” over 15 years ago, they had no idea that they would wind up building a home, careers and raising a family here. As a parent of two young girls, Julie has a vested interest in helping her community develop in a way that balances the needs of a growing community with the preservation of its historic and natural beauty.  When Julie is not enjoying outdoor adventures with her family she practices real estate and land use law in the Driggs office of the firm of Thatcher, Beard, St. Clair, Gaffney PA. Julie earned her B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University.  She graduated from Gonzaga University School of Law with honors where she was the managing editor of the Gonzaga Journal of International Law.

Molly Tyson

Molly grew up moving between the U.S's East and West Coasts until landing in Colorado for college where she received a B.A. in political science and journalism. Shortly after graduation she moved north to Teton Valley, drawn to the area by the mountains and unique community. Since moving here she has worked as a mountain guide, outdoor educator and park ranger often traveling to mountain ranges around the western United States, South American and Antarctica for companies such as NOLS, Alpine Ascents International and Exum Mountain Guides. But she has always relished the chance to ski, climb, bike and hike in the local mountains. These days Molly spends the majority of her time working as a freelance writer for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, websites and companies. She and her husband live in Victor.

Dave Work
Secretary

A year before Dave retired as a Geologist and the U.S. Regional President of BP Amoco Corporation, he and his wife, Susie, purchased a home in the Teton Valley. When Dave isn’t traveling he is skiing or out on a river somewhere. As an avid fly fisherman, you can often see him fishing on the Teton, South Fork, Henry’s Fork, and occasionally on the Rio Grande River in Argentina. David and Susie live on the Teton River where they conserved approximately 40 acres of riverfront and have been busy with riverbank restoration work. Dave is a board member of the Teton Regional Land Trust and in the past has served on the board of the Friends of the Teton River. As a board member of VARD, Dave hopes to ensure that the Teton Valley grows in a way that sustains the quality of life and natural beauty of the valley that we all experience today.

Susie Work
Trustee Emeritus

Susie is the mother of 3 grown children whom she raised while traveling around the world following her husband’s career. In her free time she has been a stalwart volunteer for numerous organizations both in the United States and abroad. While living in Egypt, Susie co-founded the Friends of Children with Cancer Foundation, which provides funds to cover health care expenses for children with cancer. When Susie returned to the United States, she founded a U.S. based foundation to help support the Friends of Children with Cancer. Both foundations now provide nearly all the medications required for Egyptian children with cancer. Susie and her husband, David, moved to Teton Valley in 1999. They were attracted to the valley by its natural beauty and quality of life, which they are both committed to conserving. When Susie is not volunteering for one of the many organizations in Teton Valley that treasure her dedication, she enjoys fly fishing, skiing, birding, hiking, and just being out in nature.

Jeff Carter
Advisory Committee

Jeff has been involved with VARD since its inception in December 2001 as one of VARD’s founding board members. Until July of 2006 he served as VARD's volunteer Executive Director. Jeff’s colorful background has provided him an array of experiences ranging from buying, renovating, and managing residential real estate in Manhattan to instructing courses in Alaska for the National Outdoor Leadership School.

Since moving to Teton Valley in 1995, Jeff has served as a chaplain at Teton Valley Hospital and Surgicenter, a hospital board member, the Scoutmaster for local Troop 185, a board member for the Alta Retreat Center, and Board President for VARD. He has also taught yoga at Yoga Tejas in Driggs. Jeff served on the Land Use Subcommittee during the last revision of Teton County’s Comprehensive Plan: 2005-2010. He ran for Teton County Commissioner in 2004. He currently sits on the county planning & zoning commission. Jeff has two joy-filled sons, Nathan and Mitchell.

Georgie Stanley
Advisory Committee

Georgie earned a BA in anthropology from Brown University and then moved to Lander, Wyoming to work as an outdoor educator for NOLS. She later became a mountain guide.  After years of traveling, climbing and guiding, she has settled down in Victor.  She looks forward to raising her two beautiful children and tending her organic market garden.  She lives in her unique, family-built strawbale/timberframe house off the grid.  Georgie hopes our county can incorporate innovative tools so that as our community grows, the integrity of our landscape, our community and our economy will be not be sacrificed.