Hans Voss, Executive Director hans@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 14
Hans supports the Institute’s 16 staff members as they work on local food and farming, better community planning and transportation, clean water, and clean energy. He also collaborates with the Institute’s Board of Directors and development staff to build strong relationships with individual and institutional funders. Hans joined the Institute staff in 1995, just months after the organization’s birth, to coordinate the Institute’s statewide campaign for better regulation of oil and gas drilling. The campaign produced remarkable results, including new environmental and safety standards for that industry, fairer leasing practices, and restrictions against drilling along the Great Lakes shoreline, in the Jordan River Valley, and other sensitive areas. In 2000, Hans became the Institute’s executive director. He helped the Institute expand its programs, grow its budget and staff, and establish itself as one Michigan’s top voices on land use issues. Hans was appointed to the bi-partisan Michigan Land Use Leadership Council in 2003 and, a few years later, was deeply involved in launching The Grand Vision. The unprecedented project engaged the region’s citizens, businesses, and government officials in developing a 50-year growth strategy. The Grand Vision is now a state and national model for a publicly supported growth and economic development plan. Hans has been a key member of many statewide coalitions. He’s addressed a wide range of state and regional gatherings, and written commentaries for many publications, including the Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, and the Traverse City Record Eagle. A natural grassroots organizer, Hans works tirelessly to unite diverse interests and achieve practical solutions to important problems. This native Chicagoan migrated to Michigan in 1986 to attend Michigan State University, where we earned a B.S. in Resource Development. Prior to moving to northwest Michigan with his wife, Maureen, he managed groundwater remediation projects for an environmental consulting firm in Farmington Hills, Mich. Today, Hans lives in an historic Traverse City neighborhood, two blocks from Grand Traverse Bay, with his wife and two daughters, Aiden and Lucy. He explores the region’s wild places with his family, relaxes by the wood stove reading great books aloud with his kids, and takes extended family trips to learn about other cultures. He’s often seen unwinding on long runs or bike rides in the Traverse City area. His interest in endurance training led to participation in several ultra-marathons, including a recent 240-mile, 11-day run across Ethiopia to raise funds for schools there.
Brian Beauchamp, Policy Specialist brian@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 19
Before joining the Institute in June 2008, Brian spent 10 years cajoling the state Legislature to protect the Great Lakes, steer Michigan toward renewable energy and energy efficiency, and conserve the beauty and bounty of our vast natural resources. As former campaign director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, he brings us deep experience in both state policy and grassroots organizing, and he’s both on northwest Lower Michigan. He understands that the best way to move Smart Growth policy is by building citizen support to get it done: “Sound public policy has to begin at the grassroots level in order for it to progress through the minefield of any decision-making body at the local or state level,” he says. Brian moved to downtown Traverse City from downtown Ann Arbor, and says he sees many comparisons between the two: They are both hip, vibrant places with walkable neighborhoods and abundant recreational options nearby. The native Michigander has quite a passion for the Mitten State, and he takes it out on the Institute’s mission: protecting the environment, strengthening the economy, and enhancing the quality of life. Brian de-stresses from his demanding desk job by running, biking, swimming, and practicing yoga at a local studio. His long-term vision for the state includes a rail-transit system connecting Traverse City to the rest of the state—especially southeast Michigan, where he grew up and which he visits often.
Janice Benson, Taste the Local Difference Project Director janice@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 21
Janice promotes farms and other food-related businesses in northwest Michigan and spreads the word about the importance of buying and eating local. She manages the annual publication of Taste the Local Difference: Northwest Michigan’s Local Food Guide, and oversees our companion Web site, www.localdifference.org. Janice also builds community partnerships, enjoys terrific relationships with dozens of farms across the region, and manages our farm marketing, sponsorship and special events, including our signature TLD Summer Celebration. She grew up in Auburn Hills, attended Eastern Michigan University, and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration. Janice was a human resources manger in the healthcare industry before pursuing some of her other passions. She served as house manager for the world-renowned American Dance Festival at Duke University, and then moved to southeastern Kentucky to provide outreach to homebound seniors, teach adult education, help open a child development center, and promote healthy eating in local schools, all through the Christian Appalachian Project. Her favorite activity there was providing seeds to low-income families for their own gardens each spring. Janice’s Kentucky work solidified her commitment to supporting local businesses, community gardens, and the environment. She moved back to Michigan in 2000 to coordinate Catholic Human Services’ Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent Program in northwest Michigan. Janice joined the Institute in 2005 because she wanted to promote and preserve local farms, which she says are essential to Michigan's economic future. She and her husband, Kevin, live in downtown Traverse City and enjoy hiking, biking, swimming, and working in their own vegetable garden.
James Bruckbauer, Transportation Policy Specialist james@mlui.org 231-941-6584 x 18
James leads the Institute’s efforts to improve public transportation in northwest Lower Michigan. As a mainstay of our Thriving Communities program, he also works to point future development in the region away from the countryside and toward cities and villages, and works with advocates around Michigan to promote better statewide transit policies. Since graduating from Grand Valley State’s Public and Non-Profit Administration program, James has worked with passion on a variety of New Urbanist and Smart Growth projects. His says his experience confirms his belief that sustainable community development requires “walkable” features like good sidewalks, bike paths, and “mixed use” designs, all tied together by excellent public transit service. That’s why, while living in West Michigan, he developed a social media campaign to mobilize support for installing a proposed Streetcar Starter Network in downtown Grand Rapids. James sees that smart development is good for business, and has helped regions and downtowns around the country with economic development and corporate recruitment efforts. He’s also worked successfully on competitive federal grants and incentives that helped greenhouses all over the Midwest—a key component of local food systems—switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy. James became interested in the Institute after learning about some of the strides our part of the state is making against sprawl. The West Michigan native believes that The Grand Vision provides the Grand Traverse region a great opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of Michigan that sustainable growth is good for people, communities, the land, and our economic future.
Diane Conners, Senior Policy Specialist, Healthy Food for All diane@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 16
Diane helps schools, hospitals, and community agencies connect people to healthy, locally grown food from area farms, regardless of their income. Her Healthy Food for All project maintains an online directory of farms offering educational opportunities to school children, food for their cafeterias, and products for their fundraisers. She works with Head Start, the Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative, Munson Healthcare, MSU Extension, health departments, other agencies, and anti-poverty groups to connect good food, good health, and the local economy. Diane also serves on the Great Lakes Steering Committee of the National Farm to School Network, and is a veteran journalist who writes about successful local-food models and policies for local, state, and national audiences. Diane has a superb record of reporting and writing, extensive knowledge of local growers and markets, and deep commitment to building a vibrant, local food economy. Here journalism career began with the Manistee News Advocate, continued with Minneapolis’ African-American Twin Cities Courier and the alternative, pro-environmental Northern Sun News. In 1986 she joined the Traverse City Record-Eagle, and produced thoughtful, well-reported, and consistently fair work on agriculture, poverty, water, economics, health, and the environment. She won a bushel of state Associated Press and Michigan Press Association awards, and shared the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for a series she worked on about northern Michigan poverty. She left the paper in 1998, refocused her writing on agriculture, and advocated for fresh, local fruits, vegetables, breads, meats, and other area farm products. In 2000 she joined the board of the Oryana Food Cooperative in Traverse City, and moved it toward more local food. Two years later she helped start and then became the market master for the Leland Farmers Market, building it into a showcase of local agriculture. She then researched and compiled the listing of 140 local food producers and their offerings for the Institute's inaugural edition of what is now our popular Taste the Local Difference food and farm guide. Raised near Springboro, Ohio, Diane received a B.S. in journalism from Michigan State University. She and her husband, Dean, live outside of Cedar, where they tend a large vegetable garden and, every March, invite family and friends to join them around the fire and a long, metal tray bubbling with sap from their many maple trees.
During a tour of America almost two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville noted the crucial role of local leaders and small associations in making the country work. That clearly is the case with Judy and the exceptional public interest work she did in Benzie and Manistee Counties before joining the Institute. We’ve known Judy ever since the early 1990s, when the Institute’s predecessor organization, the Manistee County Land Use Coalition (MCLUC), was just getting started. Judy was one of our most active supporters. At the time she was the program coordinator for the Manistee Area Public Schools and organized a collaboration among Manistee industries, educators, students, and local governments to recycle paper in four county school districts. The trash-to-cash project collected 1,200 tons of paper and returned around $30,000 annually to youth activities in Brethren, Bear Lake, Onekama, and the public and Catholic high schools in Manistee. In the late 1990s, Judy helped organize a similar school-based paper-recycling program in Benzie County. She convened 200 students for EarthSave, the first regional youth environmental conference, which the Institute co-sponsored in 2000. She was a leader in the 2004 citizen campaign to block a coal-fired power plant in Manistee and develop a cleaner, alternative, regional energy strategy. Along with her role as office administrator, she represented the Michigan Land Use Institute on the planning board for the Michigan Energy Fair, held in Onekama at the Manistee County Fairgrounds every June from 2006 to 2009. A graduate of Michigan State University, Judy lives in Bear Lake in an energy-efficient, resource-conserving straw-bale house she built mortgage-free over 10 years, completing it in 2008. Although she currently carpools to work, she looks forward to the day she can ride public transit from Bear Lake to Traverse City!
Gail Dennis, Director of Annual Giving gail@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext.12
Gail strengthens our long-range financing and programming by managing all of the Institute’s member-based fundraising efforts, from our annual giving campaign to donor relationships. She must be doing something right: Her efforts have helped maintain stability and growth in our fundraising efforts during two of the most economically challenging years in recent history. She works with the staff and board to design, build, and expand our wonderful development and fundraising soirees, member communications, and new member campaigns. Remarkably, Gail joined the Institute staff in 2000 as our design director, producing many volumes of beautifully designed reports and publications. Prior to joining the Institute, she was the art director for a publishing company, the coordinator for an award-winning illustration and Web design studio, and a freelance graphic designer. Gail lives on the Old Mission Peninsula, north of Traverse City, with her husband, author Jerry Dennis. They have two grown sons, Aaron and Nick. In her spare time Gail enjoys traveling and walking the beaches of Lake Michigan.
Jim oversees the Institute's publications and assists in the production and development of the Web site and other communications tools. Prior to joining the Institute, Jim spent two years in the 1990s as managing editor of Metro Times in Detroit, the state's largest weekly newspaper. Jim also directed the Ford Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival and has spent time behind and in front of the microphone as a broadcast radio producer and on-air host. Most recently he hosted a Saturday evening rhythm and blues program on WDET-FM, the National Public Radio affiliate in Detroit.
A skilled environmental journalist, Jim is a talent in every aspect of his professional life. In 2003 he received the Deems Taylor Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers for his 2002 Jazz Times cover article, "Hard Bop/Hard Times: Music, Madness & Drummer Roy Brooks." Jim received the award, one of the most revered in music journalism, at Lincoln Center in New York.
Jim brings the same energy, creativity, experience, and firm grip to his work as the Institute's managing editor. And he brings the proven capacity to oversee complex print and broadcast projects. He is refining the Institute's ability to use its Web site, news service, and reports to inform the public and influence useful changes in public policy. Jim also plays an important role in marketing the Institute.
"I've always felt that in building a staff it's a real advantage to have people onboard who bring other talents to the table," he says. "It gives the organization more depth, experience, knowledge, and, ultimately, wisdom. Editing the Institute's publications is a very exciting and satisfying prospect, and it's just one of many ways I hope to be able to help the Institute grow."
Jim joined the Institute in 2002 after it had already spent nearly a decade developing an effective communications program that is unique among state-based Smart Growth research and policy organizations in the United States. With his help the Institute has plans to add radio and television to its communications toolbox and become a multi-media organization.
Jim is a University of Michigan graduate, earning a B.A. in journalism and music literature. He's a native of Detroit and a longtime resident of that city who also has life-long ties to northern Michigan: His family has a summer cottage on Lake Huron near Rogers City. He now lives in Beulah and, true to the Institute's mission, walks a rails-to-trails path on his way to work.
Shauna leads the Institute’s Benzie County projects and adds greatly to our member outreach and development horsepower. In Benzie, she meets with local governments, community organizations, and business community to promote quality planning that both grows and protects the area’s rural beauty, and also participates Grand Vision housing and transportation work groups. When she’s in Traverse City, she works on building our membership, improving communications with supporters, and planning and promoting our events. In her 15 years in Benzie County, Shauna grew strong local roots while serving her community as a public advocate and a community organizer. She started with a stint at Benzie County’s MSU Extension, working with at-risk youth in after-school and summer recreation programs as an Americorp VISTA* volunteer. Then she joined Big Brother and Big Sisters of Northwest Michigan as a case manager before shifting gears into affordable housing, an issue dear to the Institute, as outreach coordinator at the Benzie Housing Council. So Shauna brings a great deal of community building, fundraising, and networking experience to the Institute. “We live in one of the most beautiful areas in the Unites States, but people struggle to make a living here,” she said. “The Institute confronts this head-on. It advocates for policies and planning that can bring new jobs and new people to the area, build our local economy, and at the same time protect our rural beauty and environment. I’m thrilled to be part of it!”
Amy Kinney, Development Director amy@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 29
Amy oversees the Institute’s financial well-being, and her wisdom and diligence on financial matters has a profoundly positive impact on the Institute’s strength as an organization. Amy, with guidance from the Institute’s management team and Board of Directors, is responsible for monetary oversight. She maintains Institute accounts and preserves the Institute’s monetary commitments. Amy also helps manage human resources and staff benefits. But Amy also spends a lot of time coordinating one of the Institute’s most important endeavors—finding, applying for, and managing foundation grants, and coordinating her work with MLUI’s strategies for new growth. She works with the Institute’s visionary policy teams so that their objectives, strategies, and program successes are thoroughly and accurately communicated to funders. Amy, who is by training a lawyer, worked for the Institute more than a decade ago. She then turned to raising her three children before returning to the Institute in 2008. “What I really like is I’m able to put my skills in finance and the law towards a mission that I wholeheartedly get excited about every day,” Amy said. “The work here is so very important to me.” Amy’s husband, Larry Kinney, is the proprietor of Harmony Home Construction, one of the first green builders in the Grand Traverse region. The couple and their children—Erich, Emily, and Cora—live in Long Lake Township.
Jane Kowieski, Graphic Design and Art Director jane@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 17
Jane is responsible for making all MLUI publications look superb. Mixing color, form, space, and typography, Jane produces a distinctive look that engages our members and thousands of citizens. She has degrees in design and visual communications from Michigan State University and Northwestern Michigan College, graduating with honors in both. A veteran freelancer, Jane has done everything from teaching calligraphy to managing production for one of Traverse City’s top graphic design studios. Her expertise is diverse, and includes coffee table books, corporate identity, package design, product branding, and art direction for numerous Web sites. Jane began working at the Institute in 2005 and brought with her a fresh new approach to visually presenting what the Institute is all about. Born and raised in East Lansing, Jane settled in northwestern Lower Michigan nearly twenty-five years ago, after traveling all over North America and overseas. “When it was time to settle down and plant both feet firmly on the ground, this was where it was. Being a lover of nature, animals, and the seasons, it was a natural place for me to land.” Jane’s energy and lifestyle align perfectly with her professional life at MLUI. These days, she and her husband, Dan, live with two Labrador retrievers and two parakeets on 32 acres near Interlochen. They provide a wildlife refuge on their land, and grow much of their own food and flowers. They are avid foragers, naturalists, and organic gardeners. Both regularly practice Bikram Yoga; Jane is an enthusiastic distance runner who loves hitting the trails near her home and across the Upper Peninsula, as well as running the Mackinac Bridge on Memorial Day.
Jim Lively, Program Director jim@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext.13
Jim has more than 20 years experience working as a planner, organizer and activist in northwest Lower Michigan. He was a key player in initiating and implementing much of the Grand Vision public planning process from its earliest phases. Jim helped secure federal, state and local funding for the Vision; pushed successfully to select a world-class management team and expand its geographic scope to include six counties; and was deeply involved in the public involvement campaign that drew close to 15,000 participants to the project. He’s still very involved in Grand Vision activities, providing technical assistance, communications, and strategic thinking about community development and transportation. A certified planner, Mr. Lively joined the Institute in 2001 and immediately put his widely recognized expertise in planning and his patience with and understanding of the public policy process to work. He led MLUI’s development and promotion of Great Lakes shoreline protection tools for local governments, advocated for alternative transportation solutions—especially public transit—and promoted walkable communities. Before joining the Institute, he spent two years at the Land Information Access Association, in Traverse City, and 10 years as a regional planner at the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments. He has a B.S. in both fisheries and wildlife and biological science from Michigan State University, and an M.S. in Resource Development, also from MSU. Jim and his wife, Kelly, have four daughters—two still at home—and live on a small flower farm in Leelanau County. Jim commutes to work by bus or carpool every day.
Joe Mielke, Technology Coordinator and Communication Specialist joem@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 23
Joe is always hard at work fixing computer problems, fielding questions, improving file-sharing and communication between our offices, and generally helping us get the most out of our computer technology. Joe officially joined MLUI’s staff in early 2006, after working for the Institute on a consulting basis for a year and a half.
Before joining the Institute, Joe was a computer consultant in northern Michigan. He’s spent the last installing newspaper and publishing computer systems, training people, and managing projects at an Ann Arbor software company that grew from five people to 130 people while he was there. Joe picked up most of his computer skills through extensive practical experience and continues to hone his skills and introduce new, time-saving programs to the Institute.
Joe also draws on his first-hand experience as a newspaper reporter and editor and his bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism from Michigan State University as he provides technical support and guidance for the Institute’s award-winning journalism. A tremendous asset for the Institute in many ways, he is excited to work for an organization that positively affects growth and development.
Joe lives in Kingsley with his wife, son, 13 ducks, 15 chickens, one rabbit, one turtle, one cat and one dog. The family enjoy snowshoeing, exploring the woods, short trips to the Upper Peninsula, and adventures in England, Costa Rica, California, and other worldwide destinations. They also share an unusual hobby, geo-caching, a sort of worldwide Easter Egg hunt in which people hide small objects, post theirs geographical coordinates on the web, and search for objects other people have hidden. Joe says that it’s a great way to discover new places that you would never visit otherwise.
Glenn plays a critical role in the Institute’s Energy and Environment team. His journalism challenges Michigan’s rush to build new coal plants and reports on the push for policies and economics that can accelerate the state’s emerging clean-energy manufacturing economy. In particular, Glenn’s reporting on a proposed Rogers City coal plant helped change the public dialogue on the issue as the nation and Michigan move in the opposite direction. His reporting on coal and clean energy is the state’s most extensive and in-depth. “Working at the Michigan Land Use Institute is something I take great pride in,” Glenn said. “I believe in the power of journalism and communications. If done right, it can literally change society for the better.” Before joining the Institute’s in May 2007, Glenn spent 11 years at the Las Vegas Review Journal distinguishing himself as one of the West’s best investigative reporters and as a nationally published author of “true crime” novels with Berkley Books. As a reporter at the Review-Journal, Glenn was twice named Best Print Reporter in Las Vegas. He was the first reporter to identify John Doe #2 in the Oklahoma City bombing, while working as a reporter in South Carolina. Glenn was raised in the small, upstate New York town of Lansing. He spent three years at the Florence, S.C. Morning News before joining the Review-Journal, where he reported on police, the courts, and crime. He’s taught journalism at the University of Nevada Las Vegas; his four well-received true-crime books are Witch (Berkley, 2005) Fire in the Desert (Stephens Press, 2006), Father of the Year, (2009) and In Her Prime (2009). He lives in Kingsley and has strong ties to the Upper Peninsula. His three children are Garrison, Glenn Jr., and Gracie Lee.
Doug is the wired wizard who manages the content, design, production, user-friendliness, and dynamism of the Web site. While keeping current with the online publishing of the Institute’s work, he’s always developing new ways to make the site more interactive. The result is one of the widely-read Web sites in the environmental and land use policy arena. The Institute's site has received numerous awards for excellence and is a two-time winner of Planetizen.com's annual "Top 50 Web Sites." Doug attended the Interlochen Arts Academy for two summers as an art and drama student. In 1995 he returned to school to train as a graphic designer at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, where he became enthralled by the potential for merging graphic design into all forms of communication on the Internet. After graduating from the visual communications program with honors, Doug launched a successful freelance Web design company. He also worked as a graphic designer for print publication, laying out the arts and entertainment sections for Northern Express, a weekly newspaper based in Traverse City. He joined the Institute's staff in 2000. Doug enjoys reading and staying current with trends in art, design, and new media. On working for the Institute, he says, "It’s rare you get to combine something you enjoy with something worth doing. I feel lucky to be here."
Jim Sluyter, Policy Specialist, Get Farming! jimsluyter@mlui.org 231-941-6584 ext. 15
Jim coordinates the Institute’s Get Farming! program because he knows exactly what it takes to become a grower, and to succeed at it: He and his wife, Jo, ran their own CSA (community supported agriculture) operation, Five Spring Farms, for 16 years. But now Jim and Jo have hung up their hoes and Jim’s now passing along his rich knowledge of small-scale farming to a new generation—something that is absolutely crucial to growing the local good food movement. Get Farming! focuses on helping new and aspiring farmers get started in the business, but veteran growers seeking new approaches to their business, especially marketing or production, show up for Jim’s workshops, too. His background makes sure that growers, no matter their experience, get what they need—whether it’s tips on farmland inheritance, building season-extending hoophouses, or purchasing the right kind of crop insurance. Jim is an experienced communicator—which is perfect for his work at the Institute. He published The Community Farm, a quarterly newsletter for CSA farmers and the local food movement, for 12 years and organized conferences and workshops on farming and renewable energy. Before he started farming, Jim had a brief career in social work (with a degree from Western Michigan University) and a somewhat longer stint in public park management, after earning a masters degree in the subject from Michigan State University. True to MLUI’s values, Jim and Jo kept their carbon footprint low while they farmed near Bear Lake: They were early pioneers in off-the-grid living, complete with their own wind turbine and solar panels. Now that they’ve moved to Traverse City, Jim’s still keeps the faith: He gets to the office by bike or BATA.
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