Who Can Save Ketchum?

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Dale Bates is president and founder of Living Architecture, a nationally recognized architecture, planning and consulting firm specializing in Eco-Conscious, Environmental, and Healthy design. He has lived and worked for over 30 years in downtown Ketchum leading a lifestyle that demonstrates his environmental design philosophy. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation, and leads the citizen volunteer Town Design Team in the design of the Fourth Street Heritage Corridor. Currently he is on the steering Committee of Community Rising, a citizen action group dedicated to creating a more resilient and sustainable community.

www.livarch.com
www.communityrising.com
 

Michelle Griffith Executive Director ARCH Community Housing

Griffith’s family has had a vacation home in Elkhorn for over 10 years. They visited each winter and summer but lived abroad in England, Venezuela and most recently Russia. In December of 2008, Griffith’s family was forced to leave Russia for business and political reasons and elected to make the Idaho vacation home a fulltime residence.

Before her children were born, Griffith worked as a derivatives trader for British Petroleum. After her boys were born, she volunteered for several nonprofits in the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Russia. When her family relocated to the Valley, she knew she wanted to work for a 501c3 charitable organization and interviewed for the ARCH position, which was posted in the local newspaper.

Jason Miller is the Executive Director of Mountain Rides Transportation Authority, a public provider of transportation alternatives to the single occupancy vehicle (SOV).

Miller has led public, private, and non-profit transportation organizations for over ten years. He started his career in transportation in 1997, when he founded a company in Colorado operating passenger shuttle services to skiers and tour groups. In 2006, he moved to the Wood River Valley to become the Executive Director of Wood River Rideshare, which was later centralized into Mountain Rides. Away from work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, getting outside to bike, hike, and ski, and taking time off to travel the world.
 

Vanessa Crossgrove Fry has served as the executive director for Citizens for Smart Growth in Blaine County, Idaho since 2006. Prior to joining CSG she utilized her background in nonprofit management, government relations and stakeholder engagement at two other Idaho nonprofits; the Snake River Alliance and the Environmental Resource Center. Vanessa holds Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Fine Art from Wittenberg University in Ohio. She resides in Hailey, Idaho with her husband Jason, daughter Sylvia and dog, The Doctor.

Jima Rice is a psychologist and consultant with expertise in executive coaching, leadership development and strategic planning. She founded Rice Consulting in 1983 and has since worked with hundreds of clients, from five-person businesses to Fortune 500 companies.   
 
More recently, Jima has applied her professional efforts to entrepreneurial businesses. She has founded three organizations to support entrepreneurs: the entrepreneur’s collaborative (TEC) and the Wood River Economic Partnership (WREP), which absorbed TEC. When WREP shifted its chief focus to hotel and other land development, she left the organization to found Jigsaw, Inc. Jigsaw, going into its third year, is a 501c3 non-profit that supports entrepreneurs, small businesses and a sustainable economy in the Wood River Valley. 
 
Beyond her B.A. from Wellesley College, Jima also holds an M.Ed. from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education and a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Jima has a passion for helping people fulfill their lives.

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