Board of Trustees - Experience Learning

Mark Wenzler – Board Chair
Director of the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative

Mark is an environmental lawyer and advocate who has worked for 30+ years to protect people and nature from pollution, climate change, and ecological degradation. He is currently the Director of Climate Change Initiative at the Chautauqua Institution. He spent many years as the Senior Vice President for Conservation Programs at the National Parks Conservation Association. Mark lives in Washington DC with his spouse Dare and daughter Nina (a veteran of many wonderful Experience Learning summer programs). He is an avid cyclist, runner, backcountry skier, paddler and backpacker, enjoying all of these activities in and around West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest.

Erin Casto Chrest – Secretary
Director of Major & Planned Giving, Maryland Public Television, Baltimore MD

Erin Chrest is a West Virginia native who is dedicated to helping non-profit organizations secure the philanthropic resources they need to achieve ambitious goals. Erin participated in TMI’s WV Scholars’ Academy as a high school student, sparking a deep love for our mountains and a passion for wilderness-based education and leadership training. An alumna of Wheeling Jesuit University, she earned her Masters in Appalachian Studies from Appalachian State University.

Daniel Taylor – Treasurer
President, Future Generations University, Franklin WV

Daniel Taylor has authored half-a-dozen books sharing his insights from four decades of working for social change and conservation. He developed the eight Future Generations organizations worldwide, including the accredited Future Generations University. More information is available at www.danielctaylor.org

J. King B. E. Seegar III, MD
Medical Director, Pendleton Community Care Clinics (PCC), Franklin WV

King Seegar has spent 31 years as a pediatrician at PCC, a non-profit clinic started and spun off by Woodlands in 1983, carrying on our legacy of community learning and service. Coming full circle, he is returning to work on our board in support of Experience Learning.

Kelly Kibble Griffith

Senior Legal Editor, Thomson Reuters, Charleston WV

Kelly Griffith is a native West Virginian who, thanks in large part to her involvement with TMI’s WV Scholars’ Academy in high school and college, is deeply committed to providing opportunities for people of all ages to spend meaningful time in the mountains. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Conservation and Management from the University of Kentucky, Kelly earned her law degree from Georgetown University.

Dan Tompkins
Akron, OH

Dan was raised in Morgantown, WV and attended TMI’s West Virginia Honor Roll and Scholars Academy in 1994. He returned to work for the program at the Spruce Knob Mountain Center in 1996 and 1999. Those months on Spruce fostered a lifelong understanding of the importance of place and he has returned to Spruce each year since 1994 to refresh the connection. Dan earned a B.A. in History from Connecticut College and a Master’s in Public Administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Dan’s career has included public service at the state and federal levels and government relations & consulting work in both the health care and energy industries in Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, and West Virginia. He currently lives in Akron, OH with his wife and son.

Melody Flowers
Executive Director for Strategic Analysis & Policy at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Originally from Barboursville, West Virginia, Melody fell in love with Spruce Knob in 1994 during her time with the WV Scholars’ Academy and returns to the mountains every chance she gets (including as the camp cook in 2000). With a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Kentucky and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, Melody has engaged in strategic and financial planning, project management, and policy work for over twenty years in fields as varied as transportation, environmental sustainability, community and economic development, emergency preparedness, homeland security, healthcare, and higher education. Committed to place-based development, she serves on the boards of CivicLex, the Downtown Lexington Partnership, Fayette Alliance, and the Gaines Center for the Humanities; regularly lectures on the economics of higher education; and mentors nationally competitive scholarship candidates.

Jennifer Taylor-Ide – Board Member Emeritus
Behavioral Health Counselor, PCC School-based Health Clinics, Franklin WV

Jennifer Taylor-Ide originally developed many of Woodlands/TMI’s beyond-the-classroom programs and philosophies, headed up our professional development projects, and worked for many years with our school programs.