Cara is a native Iowan, growing up in southeast Iowa. She has had the privilege of establishing a career in something she loves: water! She has worked in various water sectors and locations over the years and is currently the Sustainability Director with Linn County. Outside of work she is a mother and enjoys being active outdoors. She has always felt peace with being in nature, which has also aided in deepening her spiritual growth. She is active in her church through various activities and continues to be humbled as a youth leader. Prairiewoods holds a special place in her heart as she has truly experienced it as a place of transformation.
Charles is a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Cedar Rapids and volunteers as a tutor at the Catherine McAuley Center. He was a part-time adjunct professor at Mount Mercy University where he taught writing and Capstone courses before retiring in 2022. He also retired from Collins Aerospace in 2018 after a career in technical writing for 22 years. He loves Prairiewoods because it acknowledges our role in caring for God’s creation.
Claire is the Director of Alumni Engagement at Coe College, with previous experience in adult education and health and wellness. She and her husband, Ben, are native Cedar Rapidians who enjoy being involved in their community and supporting local organizations. As a Linn County Master Gardener, she has a deep love and appreciation for nature, and her favorite thing about Prairiewoods is the intersection of faith, nature and wellness. She is looking forward to serving the organization on the board and sharing her passion for those areas with others.
Nate is married to Jenny Klein, and they have four children full of life. He currently serves as the VP for Education with Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa. Nate joined the Prairiewoods board to continue his own faith journey while supporting others along theirs in a meaningful way through the Franciscan charism.
Frank is a retired lawyer, having represented individuals and small businesses in Eastern Iowa for more than 40 years. He grew up on an Eastern Iowa farm in the 1950s and early 1960s in the company of his grandfather, from whom he inherited a love of our Mother Earth. Frank finds his spiritual connection most easily in nature and has been an appreciative visitor, volunteer and participant in Prairiewoods programs for many years. Frank believes whole-heartedly in the mission and the vision of Prairiewoods and says: “I consider it a privilege to serve on the board of Prairiewoods.”
Greg is a retired software engineer with a passion for renewable energy. He helped design his net-zero house. The solar panels on his roof provide more electricity than his all-electric house and electric vehicles consume. He uses his passion for reducing his carbon footprint to further the mission of Prairiewoods to reduce our environmental impact and for all of Creation. He lives with his wife and two adorable cats. They have two grown children and two grandsons.
Hether is an Assistant Vice President RE-Consumer Support Manager at Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust, where she has been for 16 years, and has 24 years of banking experience. Through her growth through CRBT and moving into a leadership role, Hether was seeking to join a board to that felt a good fit to her core beliefs. Hether has her 200-hour yoga teaching certificate and is always looking for opportunities to connect with the environment and those in the like-minded community. After doing some research and visiting with some outside and some within Prairiewoods, this opportunity felt like a great experience for Hether to continue her own personal growth as well as the future growth of Prairiewoods.
Sister Marie is the director of Global Awareness through Experience (GATE) and GATE Charitable Giving, a nonprofit through Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. She has been a part of the Prairiewoods board since 2019. She says, “I believe in the mission and vision of Prairiewoods. They serve as a beacon of hope in our world through education and living the value of science and eco-spirituality for transformation.” She serves as our liaison with FSPA.
Marin first found Prairiewoods while serving in Green Iowa AmeriCorps, where she helped remove invasive plant species and cleaned up tree debris after the derecho. She now works as a housing case manager at Willis Dady Homeless Services and is excited to put her passion for the environment to work here at Prairiewoods.
Peter is a father, husband and designer working in residential remodeling in Iowa City. He has lectured for ISU’s architecture department, worked as a carpenter, practiced architecture, started a furniture design/build studio and recently returned to residential remodeling. He is a LEED accredited professional who’s interested in the evolution of sustainable, renewable and regenerative design and built environments. Peter looks forward to serving the evolving mission of Prairiewoods.
As a retired United Methodist clergy, Rose’s life’s work has always included the area of spiritual formation. Prairiewoods has been such an important part of her spiritual journey, and this opportunity gives her a chance to support the ongoing mission of being a place of transformation for others.
Sister Roselyn is the pastoral associate at St. Mary’s Church in Odanah, Wisconsin, Indian Reservation, and a spiritual director. Most important in being there is creating safe space for being an energy of healing presence. She has deep roots in the Care of Earth, as she grew up on a small dairy farm and worked in God’s cathedrals as an interpretive ranger in the national parks for twelve years around the country from the Florida Everglades to Yellowstone to Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco. She also fought forest fires in Glacier National Park. Being involved in her FSPA community’s Eco-Spirituality committee since 2004 and participating in workshops at Prairiewoods has offered her root connections in the cathedral of Prairiewoods. As John Muir so powerfully said back in 1869 in his Papers, “When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe.” Back in the national parks, she could only quote John Muir. But she knows Jesus said it long before: We are all One in the Body of Christ. Roselyn says, “I honor the opportunity to saunter on the land of Prairiewoods to nourish the radiance of the Body of Christ.”
Sister Suzanne is a spiritual director and caregiver. She has been on the board since 2020 and was previously the FSPA Leadership Team liaison to the Prairiewoods board (2010–2014). She says, “The Prairiewoods Mission statement itself best articulates my reason for choosing to serve on its Board: ‘Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center is a sacred space where people of all faiths and cultures are invited to explore and nurture their relationship with the Source of all Being, Earth, Self and Others with an increasing awareness of the story of the Universe.’ This sacred space of 70 acres contains the reality and opportunity of conscious awareness of the Divine in all relationships. Hence, every person, rock, tree, breeze, program, retreat, drop of stream water reflects Divine Goodness and Grace. Prairiewoods’ active and on-going history of Environmental education and actual ‘doing’ serves as a necessary model for the future of Earth and all of her inhabitants.”