Our Team
__________
Meet our team!
Eric
Executive Director
Michelle
Program Operations Director
Emily
Director of Human Resources & Equity
Brooke
School Year Programs Director
Giovanna
Finance Director
Tess
Summer Programs Director
Megan
Day Camp Manager
Kendra
Adventure Programs Manager
Izzy
Overnight Programs Manager
Anna
School Year Programs Manager
Kyle
Operations Manager
Hayley
Development & Events Manager
Asia
HR and Payroll Manager
Heath
Digital Marketing Manager
Rachel
Customer Experience Manager
Jamie
Customer Experience Specialist
Katie
Content Coordinator
John
Group Sales and Communications Coordinator
Gaby
Lead Cook
Hadley
Lead Instructor
Alyssa
Lead Instructor
Anthony
Lead Instructor
Emma
Lead Instructor
Graeme
Lead Instructor
Matt
Instructor
Reyna
Lead Instructor
Sky
Instructor
Anna
Instructor
Brian
Instructor
Our Board of Directors
Interested in joining the Keystone Science School Board of Directors? We are always looking for talented individuals with relevant business or non-profit experience. Please fill out our online application to begin the process.
Learn more about what it means to be a KSS Board Member by reading the Job Description.
Ed Casias
Board Chair
Dillon, CO
Ed Casias has lived in Summit County since 1998. He has been the Summit County Court Judge since 2001. Ed is an active outdoorsman. He enjoys hiking and backpacking, fishing, hunting, and golfing. Ed is a Colorado native who spent many of his formative years camping, fishing, and hunting in the Central Rockies. Ed’s community involvement includes coaching youth sports and being a mentor for Mountain Mentors and Mountain Scholars. Ed has been a past board member of The Summit Foundation, Summit Community Care Clinic, 10th Mountain Lacrosse, and Summit County Youth Baseball and Softball. Ed was a past member of Summit County Rotary and is a current member of the Summit Lake Dillon Optimist Club.
In 2015, Ed received The Summit Foundation’s David Olbright Outstanding Youth Mentor Award. Ed received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business and Economics from The Colorado College and his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University College of Law. Ed aspires to broaden the impact and exposure of Keystone Science School to all Summit County youth and spread the educational and outdoor opportunities to youth who do not have the financial means to attend Keystone Science School.
Chris Banas
Denver, CO
Christopher E. Banas is a seasoned medical device entrepreneur with over 45 years of experience in the industry. He has co-founded ten medical device companies and played a pivotal role in securing FDA and EU CE mark approvals for more than 100 products. Banas has held senior management and engineering positions at major corporations such as Abbott Vascular, Beckton Dickenson, and W.L. Gore & Associates, before transitioning into entrepreneurship. A prolific inventor, Banas holds 82 issued US patents with 87 additional patent applications pending. His focus has been on building early-stage companies and positioning them for successful exits, including notable ventures such as Advanced Bio Prosthetic Surfaces and CardioSpectra.
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Banas is an active supporter of the medical device ecosystem in Colorado. He serves on the boards of several for-profit and non-profit organizations and acts as a strategic advisor to private equity firms. He has co-founded a venture capital firm, Incyte Venture Partners, and provides mentorship to early-stage companies and academic institutions, including the University of Colorado SPARK/REACH program. Banas is also a board member of The Summit Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on enhancing community growth through scholarships, grants, and leadership development.
Geri Gasperut
Geri Gasperut has a long career as a Human Resource professional in the Automotive and Energy Industries. Her experiences in HR are varied and began with an early introduction to labor and industrial relations. Other areas of expertise developed as she gained responsibility in administration of global HR systems, coaching, and leadership development culminating in the roles of regional, and then later, global Vice President Human Resources for Benteler Automotive and Henniges Automotive Companies respectively.
Geri grew up in Detroit, Michigan attended Michigan State University and graduated with a degree in Psychology. She and her family began visiting Summit County in the early 90’s for family ski vacations and it affectionately became the family’s destination of choice. Following retirement Geri and her husband of 40+ years, Louis, moved to Summit County and two of their three children chose Colorado as home too!
An introduction to Keystone Science School sparked a keen interest to become involved. Its purpose and focus on developing children’s interest in science and technology through fun resonated and motivated Geri to join the KSS board. She is also involved with other local non-profits in the community and hopes to make positive contributions wherever and however possible.
Kamrin Helland
Kamrin Helland possesses an impressive track record of over 20 years of experience in the Medical Device Industry as a Global Marketing and Strategy leader. She has worked for Johnson & Johnson, Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics and Medtronic. Currently, she dedicates her time to consulting with both Medical Device startups and global businesses, providing expertise in portfolio strategy, marketing and product management.
Kamrin grew up in the southeast and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Continuing her academic pursuits, she went on to receive her Master’s degree from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Alongside her husband and her daughter, she now resides in Boulder, Colorado. They spend their free time in Summit County enjoying all the summer and winter outdoor activities.
In 2020, Kamrin’s introduction to Keystone Science School occurred when her daughter participated in a Discovery Day Camp. It was during this experience she felt a calling to leverage her scientific (STEM) background to contribute to the mission of KSS. She has served on the Scholarship Committee and, in 2022, joined the Board of Directors, further enhancing her involvement and support for the organization.
Paul Weller
Breckenridge, CO
Until his retirement in 2014, Paul worked for a number of software companies, primarily in the Customer Relationship Management sector, including salesforce.com, Oracle and Siebel Systems. All his roles were customer facing where he worked with customers to determine how the software could address their business needs through demonstrations, presentations, responses documents and analysis of existing business processes. In the later years he managed a highly successful international team working with a range of Fortune 100 companies.
Paul was inspired by the philanthropic culture of salesforce.com and committed himself to working with nonprofits in his retirement. To that end, he has worked with a number of Summit County nonprofit organizations, including the Keystone Science School, to implement and maintain their donor and volunteer management systems using salesforce.com.
Paul is originally from the United Kingdom, born in South London. He studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The City University in London; he has maintained his interest in engineering and sciences which attracted him to the Keystone Science School. He emigrated in 2005 to San Francisco and subsequently moved to Breckenridge in 2013. He is married to his wonderful wife Carole and has two dogs and two cats. Paul spends his spare time skiing, cycling, hiking and playing guitar very poorly.
Richard Sexton
Mr. Sexton has more than 35 years of executive leadership experience successfully directing nuclear organizations engaged in organizational transformation, project delivery, decommissioning, major proposal development, contract oversight, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), waste management, engineering, stakeholder and regulator interface. Richard has executive level experience working in the USA, UK and Canada on some at some of the largest nuclear facility engaged in delivering accelerated organizational transformation, increase efficiency, reduced costs and enhanced safety.
He has a unique combination of technical and executive leadership skills that allows him to solve complex and challenging issues innovatively, cost effectively and in a manner that consistently delivers excellence. He has served as a senior executive in a variety of roles leading large nuclear organizations (e.g., AECL, Magnox, Sellafield, Rocky Flats) and has been directly responsible for preparing GoCo contracts bids responses, business development and oversight positions. In multiple roles he reported directly to the board directors. Richard has extensive “hands-on” field experience, a detailed knowledge of project delivery, risk management, regulatory requirements, stake holding management and is adept at organizational change management, accelerating work, reducing cost, and improving safety.
Marc Hirshman
Marc is the co-founder and president of Twain Financial Partners, a St. Louis-based full-service specialty finance firm working in tax credits, real estate and renewable energy. Prior to starting Twain in 2013, Marc was part of the Senior Leadership Team at U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, running many of the divisions in his 13 years there.
While Marc and his wife, Karen Handelman, started spending time in Frisco in 2015, it wasn’t until 2022 that they officially became Frisco residents. Since that time, Marc has been searching for the right fit with a local nonprofit organization to get involved. He’s excited that he found KSS and was able to join the Board. Coincidentally, both of their daughters moved to Denver in 2023.
Marc received a BA in economics and finance from the University of Illinois, and both his J.D. and LL.M. in taxation from Chicago-Kent College of Law. After finishing his education, Marc and Karen spent a year volunteering full-time with Habitat for Humanity in Georgia and North Carolina. That life-changing experience began a 25+ year personal and work commitment to affordable housing and community development. Marc currently serves on the St. Louis Public Radio Board Executive Committee, St. Louis Habitat for Humanity Alumni Board, St. Louis Affordable Housing Trust Fund Commission, Midwest Redevelopment Fund CDE Advisory Board and Greater St. Louis Chair’s Council. He has served on various other boards over the years including industry-related organizations and municipal economic development agencies.
Douglas (Doug) D. Sims
Honorary Chairman Emeritus
Keystone, CO
Doug Sims served KSS on several committees and eventually board chair. After that time he continued to serve as a mentor and advisor of KSS staff members. You can learn more about Doug and his contributions in his obituary here.
As CEO of COBANK from 1994 through June 2006, Sims was responsible for implementing the bank’s strategic and business direction as set by the bank’s board of directors. During his tenure with COBANK, Sims successfully executed 15 mergers and acquisitions and grew the bank from a $9 billion financial institution to a $36 billion internationally recognized bank. COBANK is part of the $200 billion U.S. Farm Credit System, the nation’s single largest lender to U.S. agriculture and rural America. He joined the U.S. Farm Credit System in St. Louis, MO in 1969 and served in various lending and general management positions for over 37 years.
In addition, Sims was chairman of the Washington DC-based trade association, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and a frequent participant in global trade meetings. He was also a member of the Finance Governors of the World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland and the Dean’s Advisory Committee to the Kennedy School at Harvard University.
Sims was an ardent supporter of programs for young leaders, often speaking to issues of integrity and leadership by example. He served as chairman of the Graduate Institute of Cooperative Leadership at the University of Missouri, the FarmHouse Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri and Lutheran Family Services of Colorado. Sims was inducted into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame in Washington DC in 2006 and is the recipient of the “Builder of Men” award by FarmHouse Fraternity. Sims served on the boards of Thrivent Mutual Funds, Minneapolis, MN, the Keystone Citizens League and the Keystone Science School in Keystone, CO.
A 1968 graduate of the University of Illinois, Sims held a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. In 1992, he completed Harvard’s Advanced Management Program. Sims lived in Keystone, Colorado, with his wife, Nancy. They had two children, a son living in Toronto, Canada and a daughter living in Hoboken, NJ.