Anna Cole has lived and worked in Jackson Hole for over 10 years. Born and raised in southwest Virginia, Cole moved to Jackson in 2005 after graduating from Vanderbilt University. The plan was to “ski bum” for one winter but her love of the mountains, ski industry and the community kept her in the valley. She and her husband Eric are passionate trail users, and can be found with their two dogs biking, hiking and camping in the summer, and skiing in the winter.

As the Communications Manager for the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Cole has worked collaboratively with the Jackson Hole community and state of Wyoming to grow awareness around the special place that is Jackson Hole. A passion for outdoor recreation year-round, trails, open lands, and the protection of the valley’s assets drew Cole to join the Land Trust Open Space Council in October 2014. “I am thrilled to be a part of the Open Space Council, and look forward to working in partnership with the Land Trust to help educate and engage our locals and destination visitors about conservation efforts in our valley,” says Anna.

Judy Cox has been coming to Jackson for over 40 years with her husband Billy. She graduated from the University of Georgia with an AB Degree in Journalism, and worked for Pan American World Airlines in Association Sales, as Lead Demonstrator/Trainer for Polaroid, and as Special Events Director for Washington Home & Hospice. An active volunteer for many years, she has held numerous positions and chairmanships at the Children’s National Medical Center, the Washington National Opera Council, the Washington National Opera Women’s Committee, the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, and the Junior League of Washington.

Judy and Billy have been part-time residents of Jackson Hole for the past 13 years, spending the rest of the year in Washington, DC. They have two daughters, a son-in-law, and two wonderful grandchildren. Originally from Georgia, she spent the first 8 years of married life in ski school because it is Billy’s favorite sport, and has gone on to enjoy many other adventures such as climbing the Grand Teton and Mt. Kilimanjaro, biking around the South of Island of New Zealand, and trekking in Patagonia. She and Billy look forward to retiring in Jackson.

Judy joined the Open Space Council in 2013 and has also been actively involved in the Jackson Hole community through the City Kids Wilderness Project, the Art Association of Jackson Hole, and Addie’s Trunk Show.

Judy says, “What I like most about the Jackson Hole Land Trust is that through their diligence, we wake up to birds singing and wildlife drinking from our pond and stream. We also enjoy magnificent, unencumbered views of the valley. I joined the Land Trust’s Open Space Council because I want to help preserve this for future generations.”

Matt Daly grew up in Wilson, WY. Upon graduating from Jackson Hole High School, he took off for Lewis and Clark College in Oregon and swore he would never live in Jackson Hole again. Fortunately, he learned that the dramatic pronouncements of a young man usually end up sounding naive once he has gained a little more experience. It took ten years of school and travel and more school, before Matt made the quieter and better decision to return to the valley in 2000 with his then-girlfriend, now-wife, Cindy. He and Cindy have lived in Rafter J ever since. They like looking for long-eared owls and the other wild inhabitants of their neighborhood. They are less fond of lawn care. For about a decade now, their son Frank has kept them on their toes.

Matt has had many jobs, almost all of them in an educational settings, since returning to the valley. He currently teaches 9th and 10th grade English at the Journeys School of Teton Science Schools, a job he loves. In addition, he is a poet and writer whose work has been published in various print and online journals. He has taught creative writing to folks of all ages and in many places, including Orvieto, Italy, where he works as a faculty member for a Harvard Medical School CME course on reflection and resiliency practices for clinicians. He is a resident faculty member at the 2016 Jackson Hole Writers Conference. Matt collaborates regularly with other artists on creative projects, including both years of FoundSpace programming for the Land Trust. He is also a board member of the Wyoming Arts Alliance.

With forty years of his life connected to the valley, Matt feels deeply honored to serve on the Open Space Council. The landscapes he loves most in Jackson Hole are often those that remind him of the ragged pasturelands he tromped through as a boy. Thanks to the Land Trust, those rough-around-the-edges places still exists and keep the whole valley feeling a little bit wild. He hopes he can contribute something useful to the good work of the Land Trust.

When not writing or teaching or spending time with family, Matt avoids yard work by being an avid fly fisherman. His love of moving water that is cold and clear enough for trout usually keeps him at lower elevation, looking up at the mountains instead of zipping down them.

Jean was the founding executive director of the Jackson Hole Land Trust, where she oversaw JHLT’s formative years, including protection of about 4,500 acres of land. In 1987, she was lured to Washington-DC to become CEO of the Land Trust Alliance, the national association of all of the nation’s land trusts, where she served until the beginning of 2002. Since then, she has consulted for land trusts and other clients, including Grand Teton National Park. She is a commissioner of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission and a board member of the Wilderness Land Trust. She also serves on the Resource Council of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation and the National Council of the National Parks Conservation Association. Jean and her husband Phil live in Alexandria, Virginia, but in recent years have significantly increased their time in Jackson Hole, which still feels like “home.”

Des’ personal history with Jackson Hole dates back to the mid 1990s on a family vacation which led him to return nearly every year since that time, including five years working at the Teton Valley Ranch Camp in Dubois, WY. Des made the Valley his permanent home following his graduation from Middlebury College in 2008. After receiving his real estate sales license in 2010, Des joined RE/MAX Obsidian Real Estate in January 2011 and has worked primarily in the sale of residential, ranch, and investment properties, in addition to having considerable experience in commercial sales and leasing in the Jackson Hole area.

Des is an active volunteer and committee chair with the Teton Board of Realtors and the National Museum of Wildlife Art, in addition to serving as an active board member of the Jackson Hole Public Art Association, and as a longtime member of Trout Unlimited. Des is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys spending his free time hiking, skiing, and fly fishing in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Caitlin Keys is a Washington DC native and a graduate of Colby College with a BA in Anthropology. Keys found her love of open lands and the Jackson Hole Valley when she migrated west for 6 weeks after graduating. 12 years later, the hiking, biking, skiing, and relationships she has developed have made Jackson her permanent home.

Keys has spent time guiding hiking and horseback riding excursions in the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile & family bike trips in Costa Rica, before firmly planting roots in Jackson. For 9 years, Keys worked as the Director of Property Management for Hotel Terra & Teton Mountain Lodge, and still continues her involvement through the Homeowners Associations. Her current role as the Market Director for Concierge Auctions, a luxury real estate auction firm, creates a synergistic and gratifying fit both personally and professionally with the Land Trust’s Open Space Council. Keys enjoys volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, traveling to remote destinations around the world, and hiking Josie’s with her dog.

Fio Lazarte has been a Jackson resident for almost 10 years. During this time Fio found her love for the mountains and teaching. This part of the journey began when she became a part time preschool teacher, a volunteer tutor, and Spanish language teacher for adults. Following this, she became a lead teacher at a preschool and eventually joined the staff at Teton Literacy Center where she joined a new team to create an early literacy program. In this position, she has had the opportunity to help create a literacy-preschool program that serves children from low income families. Without this program, these children were at greater risk for struggling as they entered kindergarten. After one year of this program, all 30 of the children who participated and entered kindergarten are experiencing great success, which has been rewarding. More importantly, she finds the job very exhilarating and she has become passionate about teaching. In addition to Kindergarten readiness, she also teaches at Jackson Elementary for after-school enrichment pieces.

In addition to her preschool teaching experience, she has also served as a volunteer advocate for the Community Safety Network—an organization committed to providing support, shelter, and advocacy for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Through this work, she has had the opportunity to advocate for victims who need support in their native language. In this respect, she also became a volunteer for the Latino Resource Center assisting at organization events and helping Latinos feel part of the community and supports the Santa’s Fund as another way to show gratitude to this community. Finally, she is also part of the Old Bill’s Fun Run Committee as the Latino Outreach Coordinator, during this time she was in charge to increase the Latino participation at Old Bills during this wonderful fundraising. Through all this work, she seeks to give back to the community of Jackson.

Originally from outside of New York City, Meghan moved north to attend the University of Vermont. She graduated with bachelor’s degrees in Art History and Finance/International Business. A lot of her time was spent on snow skiing in Stowe, Vermont and playing club lacrosse. For her junior year she studied business and art history abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Upon graduation, Meghan began work in commercial real estate in New York City to very soon realize she missed the mountains. And so, like so many before her, she moved to Jackson to ski for one winter and immediately realized Jackson was home. (Her first deep day on Teton Pass was enough to reaffirm that.) Meghan is now working with Snake River Sporting Club as a real estate associate and is involved in the sales and development of the property and coaches for the Jackson Hole Lacrosse Club.

In her spare time she is likely skiing in the backcountry, floating the Teton River with her dog, or chasing the sunset out to the Tetons. All of the open space and land in and around Jackson is big, wild and wonderful. Meghan looks forward to engaging with the Jackson Hole Land Trust to protect and conserve the open space in and around Jackson for the future.

Originally from Minnesota with fourth-generation ranching roots in Montana, Ben graduated from Colby College in Maine with a BA in Environmental Policy. After college, Ben pursued a non-traditional route. He built a mahogany sea kayak and paddled the coast of Maine, worked on a vineyard in Burgundy, France and worked ski patrol at Park City Mountain Resort before and during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Ben then moved to Sun Valley where he ran environmental education programs for the Environmental Resource Center and became an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) teaching sea kayaking in Alaska and back country skiing / winter camping in the Tetons. In his search for a way to live long-term in the mountains, Ben left the west in his mid-20’s to pursue his MBA at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and was hired by a private equity firm in Dallas where he worked for 6 years. During the winter of 2011/12, Ben worked remotely from Jackson and has since bought a home and relocated to Jackson full-time. Ben currently runs a private equity firm, Long Trail Holdings, which focuses on majority purchases of closely held businesses across the U.S.

Open space preservation and fostering a human connection to nature have always been important to Ben. “Spending months at a time in the wilderness while working for NOLS and then returning to modern day US culture helped me to appreciate the little things, value inter-personal relationships and recognize the value of a slower-paced, more deliberate approach to life. A connection to nature can help provide perspective on our lives and our place in the world which is very valuable when contrasted with the human-created, marketing-driven US economy and fast-paced financial markets. The incredible work of the Jackson Hole Land Trust has helped preserve the opportunity for residents and visitors to our valley to develop that connection to nature. That is why I am committed to volunteering my time through the Open Space Council.”

Mary McCarthy joined the Council in 2018.

When Mary visited Jackson Hole on vacation in the early 2000s, she fell in love with the landscape one early morning as the sun rose. In time, she decided to “do her dream,” commuting from San Francisco to Jackson as she chose architects, found a site, hired a contractor, and worked with her team to build a house in East Jackson.

While trained and having worked as an architect, Mary spent most of her career in real estate finance and fund-raising. After getting her MBA at Wharton, she joined Morgan Stanley’s real estate group and subsequently worked for several investment firms. Mary concluded her finance career at Hines and transitioned to executive recruiting where she focuses on the institutional real estate industry.

For six years, Mary served on the board of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture Foundation. She has also served as a trustee of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Mary is a member of the Urban Land Institute and participates in its Building Healthy Places Interest Forum.

Mary enjoys cross country skiing, hiking, the visual arts, and indulging her curiosity. She shares her love of the mountains with her son, Peter, who is a skier and mountaineer. Mary reflects, “I am thrilled to be part of the Open Space Council and the Jackson Hole Land Trust as it cares for the open space that captivated me on that first vacation visit.”

Originally from North Carolina, Mack graduated from NCSU with honors. Mack became intimately connected with Jackson Hole as a river guide, photographer and working at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Introducing thousands of visitors to the unique world of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem came second nature to him. Being raised in the family brokerage, Mack quickly found his calling and became a third generation Realtor with Jackson Hole Real Estate Associates.

Mack’s crowning achievement was being named the first and only real estate agent ever to be voted the Best in Jackson Hole from 2009-Present. As an active member of the community, Mack is a Board Member for the Teton Board of Realtors, Open Space Councilman with the JHLT, Town Creek Condominium HOA Board member and volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, the Teton Raptor Center, and Old Bill’s annual fun run.

Mack met his wife Katie in Jackson Hole and they now raise their daughter Grace in East Jackson.

Originally from Boston, Carolyn Ripps arrived in Jackson Hole via Washington, DC in 2004 for “just one” post-collegiate summer and has remained ever since. A graduate of the Groton School and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Carolyn has worked as a ski instructor at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, in fundraising at the Grand Teton Music Festival, and is currently in sales and marketing at the Tayloe Piggott Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Jackson. She lives in town with her husband and young daughter Gwenith (and their two troublesome dogs). Carolyn is inspired by the local community and serves on the board of GAP! (girls actively participating) and has been on the Jackson Hole Land Trust’s Open Space Council since 2013. With a background in the arts, Carolyn is particularly interested in the connection between conservation, community engagement and the visual arts.

As the Director of Rendezvous Park (R Park), Elisabeth operates and maintains the 40-acre park for the enjoyment of all, for free. R Park is possible thanks to the Jackson Hole Land Trust, who purchased the once-gravel pit from a developer and now holds its conservation easement.

Elisabeth has ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector, most recently with Grand Teton National Park Foundation and before that with an international organization that is eradicating illiteracy in the developing world. She is on the board of Wyoming Stargazing, which utilizes protected land to observe our extraordinary skies.

Elisabeth made Jackson her home in 2010 and does her best to avoid flying over her mountain bike’s handlebars.

Ben Roth was born in Cheyenne, WY and raised in Littleton, CO. Being raised in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains meant he spent his childhood camping, fishing, and honing his eye for the evocative shape of the natural world.

After graduating from UNLV with a degree in hotel management, Ben worked in the restaurant business and did art on the side, all the while fine tuning his understanding of the interplay of sensory experiences. In 2001, he founded YARD Art through the Art Association of Jackson Hole. “Young Artists-Revolutionary Designs” taught up-and-coming artists the process of metal fabrication and sculptural design from start to finish. During his time mentoring young artists, Ben made art his primary focus and started Ben Roth Design, the business he still owns and runs today.

Inspired by the dramatic beauty of the Tetons and the wildlife of Wyoming, Ben crafts metal works and sculptures that have both a simplicity and intricacy.

Ben Roth has received awards for his art from both Americans for the Arts and Custom Home Magazine. The Value of Water, a group show with author Terry Tempest Williams and Felicia Resor was installed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City where it was on display in 2011 and 2012. His works are held in numerous private collections throughout the Rocky Mountains, California, and the Upper Midwest. His public art installations can be seen in Vail, CO, Green Mountain Falls, CO, Jackson, WY, Cheyenne, WY, and Minneapolis, MN.

Ben says, “Working as an artist in Jackson Hole situates me in the midst of a wild place and enables me to express my deep regard for the environment through my art. My work continues to reflect the scale of the mountains, the impact of the seasons and the influence of the natural world. For me, art is a means of expression and also a way to have a positive impact on our interactions with the environment. We live in a place that is worth preserving, and the Land Trust has been successful in protecting habitat and views that I’ve enjoyed all my life. How could I NOT join the Open Space Council?”

Eric Seymour has lived and worked in Jackson Hole for over ten years. Raised in Colorado, Eric developed a love for the outdoors early on. After graduating from Western State University with a BA in marketing Eric started a film production company to document whitewater kayaking expeditions around the world. His experiences as a pro kayaker led him to produce award winning feature length films, including entries to the Banff and Telluride Film Festivals.

As the Social and New Media Manager for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Eric is responsible for overseeing the resorts digital media content. Eric works in the field as a director, executive producer, and cinematographer creating compelling stories for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Eric is also is an accomplished photographer capturing the marketing images for JHMR and is published frequently, including a cover shot on Ski Magazine.

Eric joined the Open Spaces Council in the summer of 2016. He states, “I am excited about joining the Open Spaces Council. Growing up in the Front Range of Colorado gave me a firsthand experience with seeing urban sprawl. What makes Jackson Hole so special is the open land that surrounds our community. Just minutes from the town center we can enjoy hundreds of miles of protected land that will never be developed.”

Nicole’s professional background is in finance, with experience in investment banking and asset management. In addition to a career in finance, Nicole brings years of experience in development – including annual fund campaigns, capital campaigns, and major giving. She has lead or participated in development efforts for the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Stanford University, Harvard Business School, Sidwell Friends School, Lick-Wilmerding High School, Menlo School, and the Woodside School Foundation. Nicole is currently a member of the national Board of Directors of NatureBridge, a trustee for the Menlo School, Atherton, and an Emeritus Board Member of the Woodside School Foundation.

A member of the Sidwell Friends School Class of 1985, Nicole received an AB in Economics from Stanford University in 1989 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994. Nicole and her husband Andrew and their four children spend time in both Woodside, California and Jackson Hole.

Many of Nicole’s most important and memorable experiences have taken place in nature, and she believes in the ability of the outdoors to transform lives. Nicole enjoys skiing, hiking, fly-fishing, biking, tennis and travel, and is a dedicated equestrian.

After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2006 John moved to Jackson, Wyoming where he spent many summers on his grandparent’s ranch. With a unique perspective on the valley and its residents, John works to build a better model of what an architect can be. For him that means being involved and doing what he can to best leverage his skills to the community’s benefit. As an Associate with Gilday Architects, John oversees many residential and community minded projects. He served for six years on the Town of Jackson Planning Commission and was highly involved in the Comprehensive Plan process which created a long term vision of the valley’s future.

Bobby Thomson moved to Jackson in the Fall of 2007 with his college roommate. He had to Google where and what Jackson Hole was after he committed to move here. He had skied maybe eight days total in his life at Wintergreen in Virginia and was that southern kid on straight skis he bought at a thrift store and ski boots three sizes too big. Bobby has done almost everything to stay in Jackson from bagging groceries, being a bell hop, a cashier, Rookie of the Year ski instructor, in group sales for JHMR, and now he owns his own business-Quiznos Sub. He loves being his own boss and having the flexibility to get involved with local organizations.

While Jackson was new for Bobby in 2007, mountain life was not. Growing up, he spent fourteen summers in the blue ridge mountains of Virginia where he gained a great appreciation for open space and the beauty of mother nature. He cherishes the work JHLT is doing to continue to provide open space for future generations.

On his down time, Bobby love to ski as much as possible, hike, and ride horses on the many trails within and surrounding Jackson Hole- many of which have views that will never change thanks to the work of the Land Trust.

Darrick Walker grew up on an almond and pistachio farm in California and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. He is a financial advisor and is also the owner of W4 Ranches which invests in the development and ownership of California almond and pistachio ranches. He is currently working on agricultural conservation easements for ranches in California and in North Carolina. Darrick has lived in Jackson Hole full time since 2006 with his wife Julie and their two children, Abby and William.