Andy Alexander, Chair

Andy is the former Washington Post ombudsman and is an award-winning journalist and news industry leader who has been a reporter, editor and Washington bureau chief during a career that spans five decades.  He is a longtime board member of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which helps foreign journalists who have been subjected to attacks, arrests and harassment by repressive regimes.  Andy currently is a Visiting Professional at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University, where he has taught journalism ethics and helped foster media innovation and entrepreneurship.  He is married to Beverly Jones, an attorney, consultant and author. They live in Washington, D.C. and Rappahannock County, Virginia.

Stephen Brooks, Vice Chair

Stephen was an attorney in New York where he practiced public interest, government and private law and led multiple efforts to support legal assistance for low-income people.

Ed Timperlake, Secretary 

Ed, a resident of Castleton, is a former naval aviator, former government official, author, and columnist. The holder of a BS from the US Naval Academy and an MBA from Cornell, Ed also graduated from the the Senior Officer “Top Gun” course and was a Marine fighter pilot in Southeast Asia, earning two Vietnam Campaign Medals. He later served as a professional staff member for the US House Committee on Rules and as a Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ed is the author of six books, including Year of the Rat, a New York Times best seller for 22 weeks, and the editor of Defense.Info, a global national security publication. He also serves as a volunteer board member of the Vietnam Children’s Fund, which has built 52 elementary schools in Vietnam.

Steve Vick – Treasurer 

Steve has had a 40-year with several non-profit entities in Washington, D.C., most notably 26 years with the National Geographic Society where he was Vice President of Financial Operations. Steve holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the College of William & Mary and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Richmond. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Steve and his wife Libby purchased property in Rappahannock County in 2004, and currently enjoy time at their farmhouse in Slate Mills.

Jay Ward Brown

Jay Ward Brown, a partner with Ballard Spahr LLP, has been representing news and entertainment companies in First Amendment and related matters for almost three decades, including in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state appellate courts, and trial courts around the country. His clients have included The New York Times, The Associated Press, CBS, and Fox.  Jay possesses a B.A. from the University of Minnesota, an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.  He and his husband, the artist Kevin H. Adams, have lived full-time in Rappahannock County since 2006.

Lynn Dolnick

Lynn is on several local boards — RAAC (Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community), Rapp at Home, and Library Foundation — and also the board of the African Wildlife Foundation, based in Nairobi, Kenya.  She is a past board member of the New York Times. She and her husband, Ed, have had a home in Rappahannock since 1995. They spend summer and winter in Rappahannock and spring and fall in Brooklyn, NY—to be close to their kids and grandkids. Lynn is a biologist and worked at the National Zoo for over two decades in many capacities, lastly as Associate Director for Exhibit Planning. She is passionate about art, science, and conservation.

Cindy Griffin

Cindy Griffin has been an entrepreneur for over 40 years. In 2001, she opened a fitness studio in the heart of Portland, ME as a personal trainer and instructor. A family move to Virginia eventually brought her business, currently known as Mountainside Pilates, to Rappahannock serving this community for the last 15 years.

Her home is located near Mountain Run Lake in Culpeper. She loves the outdoors, various active sports, especially long distance road cycling.

John Jacquemin

John Jacquemin is president and chief executive officer of Mooring Financial Corporation, a private investment firm that he created in 1982. Among his honors, John was the Ernst & Young Greater Washington Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006.

John’s current nonprofit board memberships are Kid Pan Alley, an organization inspiring and empowering children to become music creators; the George Mason University Foundation; and the Castleton Festival.  Previously he served on the board of overseers of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and as a board member of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

 

Berni Olson

Long a county leader, Berni Olson has both worked extensively in the nonprofit world and operated her own successful business. She is currently executive director of the Rappahannock Benevolent Fund. Previously, she served in capacities including associate director of the Cacapon and Lost Rivers Land Trust in Wardensville, WV and proprietor of Ginger Hill Antiques in Washington VA.

Additionally Berni spent four years as a social worker for the Hospice of the Rapidan in Culpeper and was vice president of Sign Language Associates, Inc, a firm providing interpreting services to deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the Washington DC area.

Among Berni’s local volunteer activities are those as a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist, board member of the Rappahannock Animal Welfare League, market coordinator of the Christmas in Little Washington Artisan Market, and President of the Businesses of Rappahannock.

 

Alfred Regnery

Al is an attorney and publishing executive. He served as Minority Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the late 1970s, at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1981 to 1986 and was in private practice of law in Washington until 2003. He was president and publisher of Regnery Publishing, Inc., an independent book-publishing firm from 1986 until 2005 where he published over 200 titles including 23 New York Times bestsellers, and was president and publisher of the American Spectator magazine from 2005 until 2012. He is chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Wilmington, DE and chairman of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund in Alexandria, VA where he is also currently employed, and serves on several other nonprofit boards. His writings have appeared in many national publications and websites. He has been a resident of Rappahannock County since 2012.

Pete Smith

The former Chief Executive of Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a global human resources consulting firm, Pete now is the Founding Partner of SmithPilot, Inc., a firm that provides a variety of consulting services to nonprofits. He has also served on the boards of many private corporations and nonprofit organizations.

Pete and his wife Marcia Marsh are residents of Warrenton and are deeply interested in community development and environmental issues in the Piedmont region.

Tac Tacelosky

Tac has spent much of the last 20 years focusing on public health advocacy. He was the co-founder of Smokefree DC, the advocacy organization that spearheaded the campaign to eliminate smoking from all D.C. workplaces, including bars and restaurants. The law became effective in 2007, after a five-year campaign, and he continues to be involved with public health and technology. In addition, Tac is a long-time supporter and sometimes board member of various D.C.-based nonprofits: Jews United for Justice, Guatemalan Human Rights Commission, Stone Soup Films and Avodah, the Jewish Service Corps. Tac also founded MicroTac Software, Inc. – one of the first companies responsible for bringing non-professional translation tools to the consumer market. He has lived in Sperryville for three years.

Paula Wolferseder Yabar

Paula is the Senior Vice President of Advancement at American Rivers where she leads a dedicated team of development and communications experts focused on the financial health and brand awareness of the organization. Paula has been a committed conservation professional over the course of her career, serving in leadership roles at many internationally recognized organizations including Resources for the Future, the Pew Charitable Trusts and The Nature Conservancy. Paula holds an MBA from George Washington University and a BA from the University of Rhode Island. Paula and her family purchased their property in Amissville in 2005 and split their time there and in Arlington, VA.

 

CHAIR EMERITUS

Larry Bud Meyer

A career editor, newsman and foundation executive, Bud served as Vice President and Secretary of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation from 1995-2009. Prior to joining Knight, he spent two decades in Florida print journalism, the last four years as executive assistant to the publisher of The Miami Herald. Bud is president of Meyer Communications, a strategic communications consultancy for foundations and nonprofits. He is also founder of Morningside Press and author of Mother Fracker. He volunteers for the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection, RAAC and the annual Fodderstack 10-K, belongs to the Rappahannock Lions Club and Businesses of Rappahannock. He is a life member of Leadership Florida. He has lived in Rappahannock County since 2006.

DIRECTOR EMERITUS 

(A distinction granted unanimously to one of our distinguished founders)

William Dietel

Bill, who died at the age of 96 In the fall of 2023, was a former teacher, principal and dean who entered philanthropy in 1970 with the Rockefeller family serving as Executive Vice President and president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund from 1970-87. In 1987 he established a consulting practice that became Dietel Partners in 2007 when his daughters joined the firm. Bill has 50 years of experience networking people and organizations, and consulting with foundations, families and individuals about philanthropy. He has served as chairman of the Child Care Learning Center (CCLC), as a member of the Headwaters Foundation Investment Committee and has lived in Rappahannock County for 34 years.  Read Tim Carrington’s remembrance of Bill here.

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