Cloudsplitter Board of Trustees
Robert Beier
Robert Beier has lived in Lake Placid since 2015. Prior to that he lived in New York City and worked in the insurance industry. Bob spent 35 years working for AIG in accounting and other front office executive roles. He currently serves as the Treasurer of the Adirondack Health Foundation. He has also served as the Chair of the finance committee of Northwood School. Bob graduated from St. John’s University with a BS in Accounting.
Melissa Eisinger
Melissa Eisinger is the recently retired VP of Adirondack Foundation. For twenty years prior, she was with the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and Adirondack Land Trust. Current and former board service includes the Northern Forest Atlas Foundation, the Bruce L. Crary Foundation, and High Peaks Education Foundation. She is a friendship volunteer for Mercy Care of the Adirondacks.
Diane W. Fish
Diane W. Fish grew up in New England, studied music education at Denison University and taught music at Purnell School in NJ for 12 years, becoming Dean of Students. After several years at the National Sports Academy, she joined the Adirondack Council where she spent 20 years leading the development efforts and the organization as a whole. She and husband Peter raised two children in Lake Placid before moving to Keene in 2017.
Ernest E. [Lee] Keet
Ernest E. [Lee] Keet, Chair is a Saranac Lake-based private equity investor with over thirty years of high-tech investing experience. His not-for profit work has included board positions on the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, Adirondack Council, Adirondack Land Trust, AdkAction, and Point Positive. He holds two master’s degrees in Engineering. Email: Lee@Cloudsplitter.org
Glenn Keet
Glenn Keet is Treasurer of the Cloudsplitter Foundation, and Vice Chair of Adirondack Health Board of Trustees, on which he has served since 2016. Glenn has worked in health care information technology and software for thirty-five years, and is currently with Invitae where he provides strategy and business development for their health information exchange initiatives. He graduated from Lehigh University in 1986 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Applied Sciences.
Jodi C. Keet
Jodi C. Keet has served as a board member of the Pendragon Theatre of Saranac Lake. A 25-year veteran of consumer-products marketing and display manufacturing, she holds a B.A in Fine Art and Media Communications and a M.A. in Media. She loves the Adirondacks and resides in Weston, CT with her husband Scott and son Liam.
Nancy R. Keet
Nancy R. Keet, Grants Committee Chair, has served as Chair of the Adirondack Foundation, on the Executive Committee of North Country Public Radio, and on the board of the Adirondack Experience, the museum in Blue Mountain Lake. She holds a BA and an MA in fine arts and resides in Saranac Lake.
Tracy Ormsbee
Tracy Ormsbee has been the Publisher of the Adirondack Explorer and Adirondack Almanack since March of 2017, overseeing operations of the magazine and its websites. Before joining the Explorer, she was a Senior Editor at the Albany Times Union overseeing Features, Sports, the Sunday report and the newspaper’s magazine division. She and husband Jim have two grown daughters and spend their leisure time hiking, paddling, and skiing.
Barbara Rice
Barbara Rice has served as the Adirondack Park Agency’s Executive Director since March 2022. She is responsible for the administration of the Adirondack Park Agency Act and the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. Executive Director Rice oversees a staff of 44 employees and works closely with the Agency Board on regional land use planning policy. A native Adirondacker, Barbara Rice has extensive background in local government administration, land use planning and community development. She served in Governor Hochul’s Executive Chamber as Assistant Secretary for Economic Development where she oversaw expansion of broadband internet in unserved and underserved areas of…
Holly Wolff
Holly Wolff has been serving as our volunteer Director of Special Projects. After a 34-year IBM career, she held volunteer leadership roles including chairing the board of Pendragon Theatre, serving as a trustee and Secretary of Adirondack Foundation, and acting as Board Chair of Berkshire Choral International. Holly was a trustee and Board Chair of United Way of Connecticut before she and husband Dave moved permanently to Saranac Lake.
Julia Goren
Julia Goren is the Deputy Executive Director of the Adirondack Mountain Club where she oversees the operation of the Heart Lake Program Center, leads ADK’s efforts to expand its educational reach and impact in the Adirondack Park, and builds upon its work with partners across the region. Before returning to ADK in 2021 she spent three years with the Adirondack Council, where she served as a Trustee, as their VISION Project Director. Julia holds an MS in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England. In addition to her previous experience with ADK and the Adirondack Council, she worked at the…
Cloudsplitter Staff
Daniel Kiefer-Bach
Daniel Kiefer-Bach comes to Cloudsplitter Foundation as our first Executive Director at a time when we no longer simply respond to grant requests. We now self-initiate projects, provide bridge and matching financing to improve the success of larger grants, and partner with other not-for-profits and the state to multiply the impact on our region. Dan has the experience and local knowledge to continue this strategic evolution. Until recently Dan was the Community Development Coordinator with LivingADK where he developed grassroots community programs for towns in the Old Forge region. Dan’s job has been to promote vibrant and sustainable communities along…
Chenelle Palyswiat
Chenelle Palyswiat, Director of Grants and Administration, is a native Saranac Laker whose heart belongs to the Adirondacks. She holds a degree in Interior Design and enjoys creating and finding beauty in her surroundings. Chenelle is passionate about educating and empowering others to live their happiest and healthiest lives. She loves being a cool mom and dedicated wife who can also help others through philanthropy. Chenelle is currently serving as a member of the ALICE Steering Committee and an Elder at the First Presbyterian Church in Saranac Lake.
Kara Page
Kara Page has 28 years of experience working with non-profits, government and international institutions, and the private sector, in environment, the arts, and community development. As Grants Advisor she offers free advice and support to local not-for- profits who are seeking increased funding from new grant-making sources, especially sources outside of the Adirondacks.
Advisors
Ellen Rocco
Ellen Rocco was the station manager at North Country Public Radio, where she worked from 1980 until her recent retirement. She has served on the board of NPR and on panels for many media and community organizations, including those of CPB, NY Humanities Council, NYS Council on the Arts, and several Adirondack North Country groups. She has lived on a farm in St. Lawrence County since 1971.
Bonnie Keet Adams
Bonnie Keet Adams is active with 100 Women Who Care, Women in Philanthropy, Tupper Lake Shore Owners Association Executive Board, and The Village Giving Circle. She participated as a trustee at the Cloudsplitter Foundation for 18 years. She was a board member for Adirondack Center for Loon Conservancy, served on the strategy task force for Point Positive, as a grant advisor for Small Grants to Small Children, and foundation steering committee member for the Birth to 3 and Adirondack Funders Alliances. She co-founded the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery. She has a BA in Health Science Policy/Social Work and…
Donna Beal
Donna Beal currently serves as Executive Director of Mercy Care for the Adirondacks, a renewed mission of the Sisters of Mercy in the Adirondacks located in Lake Placid, NY. Previously Donna served as Executive Director of the Holstein Foundation; Director of Development for Mercy Uihlein Health Foundation; and as Administrator of the Adirondack Council. She has served on numerous boards including Ballard Park Foundation, Westport Central School Board of Education, Depot Theatre, and the Sponsor Council of the Sisters of Mercy Mid-Atlantic Community, among others.
Brittany Christenson
Brittany Christenson is the Director of Partnership and Program Development at AidKit, a social impact tech startup. Brittany is an energetic and innovative leader in the social sector, motivated by a desire to advance equity and empower people to be better stewards of the natural environment. Brittany served as the Executive Director of AdkAction for 6 years where she advanced community-driven revitalization and environmental conservation projects, with a special focus on building a more equitable food system. Prior to that work, she focused her efforts on managing operations at an organic vegetable farm. Brittany holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from…
Jeremy Evans
Jeremy Evans has served as the CEO of the Franklin County Economic Development Corporation since 2017. Previously he served as the Community Development Director for the Village of Saranac Lake. He is an AICP certified planner with over twenty years of experience in economic and community development and holds Masters degrees in public administration and urban & regional planning. Jeremy lives in Saranac Lake with his family.
Rich Frost
Rich Frost grew up in Glens Falls, headed south for much of his education, then returned to the Adirondacks to practice internal medicine in Plattsburgh. Now retired, he devotes much of his time to writing– history, regional travel, and most recently, fiction. His efforts in nonprofit organizations have included Adirondack Architectural Heritage, Battle of Plattsburgh Association, Adirondack Center for Writing, and Adirondack Birth to Three. He and his wife Marty have organized the Chapel Hill Foundation, which devotes its efforts toward enriching the lives of children, and addressing the challenges of an aging society. Free time, of which there’s nowhere…
Ben Strader
Ben Strader is the Executive Director of Blue Mountain Center, a residency program for writers and artists located in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. He is the founding board chair of the Indian Lake Theater, a new life as a community stage and screen for a defunct movie house in central Hamilton County. For many years Ben served as the Secretary of the Blue Mountain Lake Volunteer Fire Department and the Indian Lake Planning Board. He’s on the planning team for the Indian Lake Equality and Justice Committee, and helped create the Adirondack Nonprofit Network, a group dedicated to supporting…
