Our Board of Directors

Randy Hanson, Chair (Havre)

Randy brings extensive experience in the field of economic and community development to the Foundation, plus first-hand knowledge of rural Montana economies. He has been the Northcentral Montana Regional Development Officer for the Montana Department of Commerce since 1999. Before that he worked in small business development for 22 rural counties in northcentral and eastern Montana. With one of his sons, Randy still operates the farm he grew up on in southeastern Montana, and he and his wife, Valerie, are active in the Hill County Community Foundation.

Jeff Bretherton, Vice Chair (Missoula)

Jeff returned to his native Montana in 2005 to head up the development and planned giving programs of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Before that, he developed a new nonprofit agency, the Minnesota Real Estate Foundation, to work exclusively with charitable gifts of real estate. He was closely allied in that work with the Central Minnesota Community Foundation. He also worked as the development and planned giving officer of Minnesota’s Saint John’s University, where he earned his B.A. in 1993. He also serves on the Boys and Girls Club board of directors and Missoula’s Planned Giving Council.

Bob Bronson, Treasurer (Great Falls)

Bob is a CPA and managing shareholder in the Great Falls accounting firm of Hamilton Misfeldt & Co. He has been with the firm since 1977. He has been involved with the CPA profession at every level, including the Great Falls Chapter of CPA’s, which he served as president, and the peer review committees of both the Montana Society of CPA’s and the International Group of Accounting Firms. He has also served his alma mater, the University of Montana, as past president of the Grizzly Athletic Association and an adviser to the accounting program in the UM School of Business Administration.

 
Mary Craigle, Secretary (Helena)

Mary is the Chief of the Montana Census & Economic Information Center Bureau. Her research skills are invaluable to the Foundation in spotting and understanding demographic trends in Montana. Before taking her position at the Census & Economic Information Center, Mary managed research functions for the Montana Department of Revenue, the Commissioner of Higher Education, the Office of Public Instruction and the Department of Corrections. She owned her own market research firm in Kansas City, Missouri, before moving back to Montana in 1996.

Joan Bennett (Great Falls)

A retired officer of Bennett Motors in Great Falls, Joan maintains an office in the family business to carry out the many good works she does for her community and for Montana. In addition to her work for the Foundation, Joan is a director of the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center Foundation and an active adviser to the Great Falls-Billings Catholic Diocese. A former mayor and city commissioner of Great Falls, Joan worked with low-income and affordable housing programs for many years, serving on both the Great Falls Housing Authority and the Montana Board of Housing. She also served her community as a director of the Great Falls Chamber of Commerce.

Stan Nicholson (Seeley Lake)

Stan Nicholson is an applied economist who has worked for the Brookings Institution, the Ford Foundation and Colby College. A Montana native, he now lives in Seeley Lake. He has been project director of the Montana Fiscal Forums and consultant to the University of Montana. His most recent work has been as a volunteer with citizen groups and school boards. In addition to serving on the Montan Community Foundation board, Stan is a founding member of the Seeley Lake Community Foundation.

Bill Kearns (Townsend)

Bill is a longtime friend of the Foundation, having served as a regional representative before joining the statewide board in 2003. He is also a founder and director of the Broadwater County Community Foundation. Chairman of State Bank of Townsend, founded in 1899 by his grandfather, Bill is an active citizen in his community and state. The Townsend Rotary Club, Townsend Chamber of Commerce and Broadwater County Development Corp., as well as the Foundation, have all benefited from his leadership, vision and generosity.

Dan Clark (Bozeman)

Dan is the Director of Montana State University’s Local Government Center. The Center’s mission is to strengthen the capacity of local government units and provide training, technical assistance and research services to elected, appointed and administrative officials. Dan works with local government practitioners and their professional associations, tribal governments, state agencies, legislators, and the Montana University System to accomplish the mission. We got to know Dan through his former position as director of the Horizons program, administered by the MSU Extension Service. The community leadership program works to reduce poverty in small, rural and reservation communities with histories of economic and population decline.

Mike Gustafson (Billings)

Mike is president and CEO of Wesco Resources in Billings. Under his leadership, Wesco entered the oil and gas exploration and coal development business in 1973. He has directed and managed several joint venture partnerships with leading utility companies in the Pacific Northwest. He currently directs Wesco’s efforts to develop the Tongue River Railroad, a railroad proposal designed to access and transport coal reserves from the Powder River Basin. He has served on several nonprofit boards, including the Saint Vincent Healthcare Foundation, Rocky Mountain College, Yellowstone Community Health Plan, the JASON Foundation for Education, Intermountain Children’s Home and Eagle Mount.

Stacey Mueller (Missoula)

A fourth-generation Montana native, Stacey is the current publisher of the Missoulian and former Chief Financial Officer of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. She has served on several nonprofit boards, including the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Missoula County, and Community Medical Center of Missoula. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of the University of Montana School of Business Administration. Stacey lives in Missoula with her husband Mike and two daughters.

Betsey Weltner (Big Sky)

Betsey has over 25 years of communications experience in both the public and private sectors. She has worked in various capacities, from congressional aide to president of her own communications firm to U.S. Reputation Director for BP. Currently, Betsey works as an independent consultant for corporate clients that include Honeywell, Plum Creek Timber and BP. She also serves on the Big Sky District Water & Sewer Board. She first became involved with the Foundation through her work on Big Sky LIFT, a grant program instituted in 2009 to aid low income residents of Big Sky affected by the recession.

Cinda Holt (Stevensville)

Cinda is the business development specialist for the Montana Arts Council. Since she moved back to Montana in 1994, she has provided consultation in all matters relating to nonprofit business, fundraising and capital campaigns for groups representing the performing arts, media and film, festivals, heritage and preservation, and natural resources. Previously, Cinda served nearly ten years as the managing director of the Sundance Film Festival. Cinda brings her extensive experience and lifelong love of theater and fine arts to the Foundation board.

Dale Woolhiser (Missoula)

A Montana native, Dale is the First Vice President-Investments with UBS Financial Services in Missoula. After graduating from the University of Montana in 1974, Dale worked in the financial services industry for the next fifteen years before taking an early retirement to become a children’s book author. Dale returned to financial management in 1995 as a branch manager for Merrill Lynch. He has been actively involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Missoula as a board member and is a founding board member and current President of the Missoula Community Foundation. In 2009, Dale was honored with a Community Service Award from the University of Montana for his outstanding service and commitment to the Missoula community.

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