Meet Our Board of Directors

The Alliance is proud of the following individuals who serve on the Board of Directors.  Many have served unselfishly for a number of years and continue today giving of their time and expertise.  The Alliance truly appreciates each member’s committment to the organization’s mission, their fierce leadership and  all they do on behalf of the citizens of Arizona.

Natalya Brown, Queen Creek (2026) – Natalya was raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota but spent summers with her family in Arizona growing up. She attended Augsburg University where she received a B.A. in Cross-Cultural Studies and International Relations. Since moving to Arizona in 2016, Natalya loves to explore Arizona’s cultural sites and capture the desert landscape and beautiful desert creatures through photography. Having worked as a Council Aide for the City of Phoenix before moving on to campaign work, she now works for Creosote Partners. Outside of work she serves as Secretary for Phoenix Sister Cities’ Chengdu, China Committee and volunteers as a Child Advocate with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

 

The Honorable Sam Campana, Scottsdale (2026) – Sam Kathryn Campana, well-known advocate on behalf of the arts and environment, has been the leader for many quality of life issues in Arizona.  Sam helped create Arizonans for Cultural Development after serving on the founding Board of the Scottsdale Center for the Arts (was its third, first woman,  president), and went on to be its first successful Executive Director, serving in that role for almost fifteen years.  She is Chairman Emeritus of the organization, now known as Arizona Citizens for the Arts and also had a long stint on the Scottsdale Public Arts Board.  Sam was a Fellow at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC and studied public policy at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard.

Concurrently she served on the Scottsdale City Council for two terms (1986 – 1994), ran for an open seat for Mayor, and served from 1996-2000.  Her vision and planning for an urban downtown, an active waterfront, lightrail connections, an ASU presence, an expanded public art program, a mutually productive relationship with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, and a connected open space from Scottsdale’s northernmost border to Tempe are all now coming to fruition.  As a volunteer, she helped found the Scottsdale Foundation for the Handicapped, Share the Health Foundation, the Scottsdale Western Arts Associates (which recently established a western art museum in downtown), and Scottsdale Leadership (who selected her for the Drinkwater Award), following her participation in Valley Leadership (who selected her as Woman of the Year 2010).  She has been appointed by four mayors, four governors and two presidents to serve on various arts/enviro boards, commissions and task forces.

After an International Leadership Fellowship in 2001, she was recruited by the National Audubon Society to establish their state office Audubon Arizona here – and to head up an organization of 10,000 members, nine active chapters, and an 8,000-acre Research Ranch.  Audubon Arizona completed a $7.3million campaign to build a nature education center on the banks of the Salt River on Central Avenue.  It has been open to the public and embraced by the community since October, 2009. After 12 years with Audubon, she now is helping ensure the Desert Discovery Center/Desert EDGE becomes a reality – as the interpretive center and major visitor experience.  Sam lives in downtown Scottsdale in a former farmhouse where pecans once grew.  Cassidy and Katie live nearby with her twin grandsons, her son with his lassies in Dublin, Ireland. She has a pound dog, Harold, a desert tortoise, and 2 chickens – Babe and Emma.

The Honorable Steve Farley, Tucson (2026) – The people of Tucson elected Steve Farley to serve six terms in the Arizona Legislature — three terms in the House, and three in the Senate, and he was ele
cted by his peers as Assistant Minority Leader in both. He served as the Ranking Democrat on the Finance and Ways & Means Committees, as well as Member of the Appropriations, Financial Institutions, Joint Legislative Budget, and Ethics Committees. Steve worked across the aisle to expand Medicaid healthcare to 400,000 Arizonans, and after leading the fight against cuts to public schools for years, he helped leverage the power wielded by the RedforEd teachers movement to win approval of more than $415 million in new funds for K-12 public education in 2018-19. He was a tireless advocate for State Parks and worked with a broad spectrum of stakeholders and elected leaders to restore funding to the Heritage Fund. During his twelve years of legislative service, he has won many awards including Best Debater, Best Elected Official, and Leader of the Year for Public Policy.

While most Tucsonans know him as the artist behind the popular tile murals along the Broadway Underpass (using a process he invented) or as a long-time Arizona legislator, Farley’s animal story goes back years to his time as a volunteer animal behaviorist at the San Francisco SPCA and also includes being honored as Humane Legislator of the Year several times for his efforts to ban greyhound racing and puppy mills in Arizona. He also initiated and led the process that brought the Modern Streetcar to downtown Tucson, kicking off a cultural and economic revitalization of the area and was founder and owner of his own graphic design firm. Farley is a cum laude graduate of Williams College and is the proud dad of two daughters and three rescue dogs – Ralphy, Luna, and Ziggy.

Pam Jones, Eloy (2024) – Pam’s love of history has had an influence on both her professional and personal life.  ASU graduate, she and her husband lived in a downtown Phoenix historic neighborhood for almost 30 years.  She became an advocate for historic preservation and has promoted that cause.  While at ASU, Pam researched the history of Sky Harbour Airport for its Fiftieth Anniversary, after graduation she did research for a video about Page, Arizona and the Glen Canyon dam.  She worked for the Arizona Preservation Foundation (APF), published the Willo neighborhood newsletter, and served as executive director for the Arizona Heritage Alliance (AHA).  Additionally, she served on the boards of the Willo Neighborhood, and APF.  Pam has served on the Alliance board for over twelve years

 

Sreekar Krishna, Chandler (2025)  – Sreekar is an ardent enthusiast of the outdoors and everything

Bryan Martyn, Gilbert (2026)  – grew up in Tempe and attended McClintock High School where he
was active in student government and was a varsity athlete in baseball and football. He later earned a baseball scholarship to attend Arizona State University where he majored in Wildlife Biology. Following ASU, Bryan entered the US Army Helicopter Flight Training program where he graduated at the top of his flight class and was selected to fly the AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter. While flying in the Army, Bryan served in Germany, Korea, Texas, and Alabama-completing combat tours in Iraq during Desert Storm and Bosnia. He was later hand-selected for an inter-service transfer from the Army to the United States Air Force to fly Special Operations helicopters. While flying in the USAF, Bryan served in New Mexico, England, and Arizona-completing multiple combat tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. Bryan retired after more than 20 years of military service. Shortly following his retirement, Bryan was elected as a County Supervisor in Pinal County. While serving as a County Supervisor, he was hired by the Arizona State Parks Board to serve as the Executive Director of Arizona State Parks. Bryan today owns a small consulting company with offices in Phoenix and Washington, DC. His firm focuses on veteran, military, environmental, and government policy issues.

Janice Miano, Phoenix (2024)  is a former New Englander transplanted to the southwest desert now for over 20 years.   “When I received my first pair of binoculars at seven years old, I became a junior Audubon member and have been a wildlife watcher ever since.” says Miano. She has been a volunteer/activist in environmental issues for over 35 years. From 1991-1995, she worked as the Grassroots Coordinator for National Audubon’s International and Population Programs in Washington DC. She was chosen to represent the members of National Audubon at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Conference in Perth, Australia where she testified to the importance of the Global Forest Protocol. Miano is a graduate of National Audubon’s Leadership Training and worked closely with Vermont’s Senator Pat Leahy and the late Senator James Jeffords and their staff on many critical issues including foreign assistance and population issues; old growth forest destruction and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

After moving to Arizona, she continued to be active with environmental issues. She is Past-President of the Arizona Audubon Council and worked as Volunteer Coordinator for 5 years at the Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center in central Phoenix. Miano was invited to join the Board of the Arizona Heritage Alliance in 1999. In 2004, she became the Alliance’s Director of Administration. After retiring in 2015, she again joined the Board of the Arizona Heritage Alliance becoming the Advocacy Committee Chairman. Her Additional Honors and Awards are:

• 2014 President’s Award, Arizona Parks & Recreation Association
• 2013 Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Award of Merit for Environmental Stewardship (SRP Award) Central Arizona
• 2010 Audubon Arizona’s Chairman’s Award
• 1994 The Roy Pilcher Environmental Achievement Award, Rutland County Audubon Society
• 1992 Vermont Women Making A Difference, Castleton State College

William (Bill) Thornton (2026) – is a second generation native Arizonan, lifelong conservationist, outdoor enthusiast and desert plant lover.   Bill is a longstanding member of the Arizona Heritage Alliance and is currently on the Board and serving as Treasurer.  As an active Board member of the Arizona Heritage Alliance, Bill remains dedicated to establishing a sustainable funding source that will provide support for local, regional and state parks, the state’s historic and cultural treasures and Arizona’s natural environment—thus replacing the half of the Arizona Heritage Fund that was lost in 2009 due to State budget cuts.  Bill also serves as Vice President of the Friends of Ironwood Forest, an all-volunteer organization to educate about, advocate for, and work to protect the natural and cultural resources of Ironwood Forest National Monument west of Tucson.  As an active member of the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, Bill is a member of the cactus rescue crew that has saved nearly 84,000 cacti and other desert plants from mine sites, residential, commercial, and road construction sites, pipeline and powerline corridors.  Bill is diligent in monitoring federal, state and local legislative actions and is a regular contributor to the local media expressing his views and opinions accordingly. Bill’s recent advocacy activities have focused on marshalling opposition to the administration’s unprecedented assault on public lands (including Ironwood Forest) that belong to all Americans.

Cheyenne Walsh, Phoenix (2026) – has represented a wide variety of corporations, non-profits, trade associations, and governmental entities before the Arizona State Legislature, Governor’s office, and state agencies, as well as city and county governments.  She received her bachelor’s degree and law degree from University of Arizona, and also holds a Master of Public Administration from Arizona State University.   She has worked in the Arizona State Senate and the United States Senate, and lobbied nearly every major policy area, including tax, privacy, water, and transportation.  She practiced environmental law and public advocacy at a major international law firm, then joined Isaacson & Walsh, PC, widely recognized as one of Arizona’s top lobbying firms, in January 2015.  She founded Cheyenne Walsh PLC in August 2019. Cheyenne was recognized by the Arizona Capitol Times as a Best Lobbyist under 40  in 2016, 2017, and 2018, and her former firm was recognized as the Best Lobbying Firm in 2017 and 2018.  She was honored to be an inaugural “Breakout” award recipient, selected by the Arizona Capitol Times as one of the “sharpest political minds in the state.”   She has also been recognized among the top lawyers in the state as a Southwest Super Lawyers Rising Star annually since 2014.  Cheyenne serves on the Connect Board for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Valley-Arizona, as President of the Arizona Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs, and on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Heritage Alliance.  She is a Valley Leadership alumna of Class 36 and a Flinn-Brown Fellow.

Dale Wiebusch, Phoenix (2026) – is the Government Relations Director for the City of Scottsdale.   Prior to this he was the Intergovernmental Affairs Director for the City of Maricopa and prior to that the Senior Legislative Associate at the League of Cities and Towns where he was closely associated with the Heritage Alliance. Dale spent many years working in the social service field and has an avid interest in hiking and camping. He is a 1979 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, with a major in Psychology, which serves him well at the Capitol.

 

Woody Wilson, Tempe (2024) – For more than 25 years, Woody Wilson was the writer and art director of the classic King Features syndicated newspaper comics, Rex Morgan, MD and Judge Parker. Daily estimated readership for both features was 30 million in North America and 14 foreign countries. His stories on important health care issues won numerous awards, including  the American Academy of Nursing’s The Creative Media Award,  The University of Tennessee’s Lena Warner Prize for Contributions to the Health of The Nation, The Golden Achievement Award from American Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics and The Dr. Quentin Young Health Activist Award from Physicians for a National Health Program. Woody retired from his comic strip work in 2016 to pursue his second avocation of producing jazz concerts at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Woody is also active in Tempe community affairs.  In 2020 he was given Tempe’s most prestigious award, the Don Carlos Humanitarian of the Year for his decades of community service. He is a past president of the Tempe Community Council, and is a member of the advisory board for the Tempe Community Foundation. He is a co-founder of Tempe Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and served on the board of the Colonia del Sur #4 Homeowner’s Association for 15 years.

Additionally, Woody is past President of the Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation, a former director of the Rio Salado Foundation and project director for the rehabilitation of the Rose Eisendrath House. He is a former board member of the Tempe History Society, the Arizona Preservation Foundation, a graduate of Tempe Leadership Class XXI, and served on Tempe’s 2040 General Plan Working Group. And, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, at its annual 2019 luncheon, presented Woody with the prized Spirit of Tempe Award.

As the founder and president of non-profit Lakeshore Music, Inc., Woody created the Lakeshore Music Concert Series at the Tempe Center for the Arts, which was in its twelfth season before the COVID pandemic.  The mission of LMI is to present world-class music in a world-class building. Woody is also the co-founder of Cuba Rhythm and Views, LLC, a cultural exchange program that takes American musicians to Cuba and brings Cuban musicians back to the United States to perform. wwwcubarhythmandviews.com

Woody’s hobbies include fly fishing, competitive shotgun sports, collecting fly fishing gear and traveling with same.  “Writing newspaper comics was fun, but never funny,” says Woody. “After decades of relentless and stressful deadlines I want to spend the rest of my time on earth enjoying what I treasure the most…fly fishing, the musical arts and everything Cuban.“

Woody and his late wife, Dr. Carol A. Lockhart, made Tempe their home for 32 years.

 

Lani Lott, Executive Director – Ms. Lani Lott is a highly experienced consultant and advisor in downtown development and economic revitalization, with a career spanning over 28 years. Here are the key highlights of her professional background:

• Career History and Expertise:
  • L.L. Consulting (since 2000): Founder and President, providing a wide range of technical assistance services such as board training, strategic planning, fundraising strategies, tourism, branding, market plans, volunteer management, Main Street formation and development, economic development strategies, and business improvement district formation and management across the Southwest.
  • Burnes Consulting (Senior Consultant): Worked as the lead project manager on various downtown development and revitalization projects nationwide. Conducted strategic planning and assisted communities in developing sustainable organizational and programmatic plans.
• Previous Leadership Roles:
  • Grass Valley Downtown Association, Grass Valley, CA (1990-1996): Executive Director, where she gained hands-on experience in downtown redevelopment, implementing the Main Street Four Point Approach, and managing non-profit operations. Under her leadership, the downtown area saw significant growth including the recruitment of 25 new businesses, creation of 75 jobs, and over $2.5 million in new construction and reinvestment.
• Additional Roles and Affiliations:
  • Small Business Development Centers (California): Part-time business advisor.
  • Arizona Heritage Alliance: Executive Director.
  • Arizona Downtown Alliance: Coordinator (a program of the Arizona Preservation Foundation).
• Education:
  • Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from California State University – Sacramento, graduated Summa Cum Laude.
• Affiliations:
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation
  • Main Street America
  • Arizona Preservation Foundation
  • Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits
• Recognition and Speaking Engagements:
  • Regularly invited as a speaker or trainer by various organizations including the National Main Street Center, California Downtown Association, Governor’s Arizona Rural Development Conference, Arizona Historic Preservation Conference, Arizona Rural Development Forum, and others.
  • Has served as faculty at National Main Street Center town meetings and presents at local Main Street programs, community forums, city councils, and government agencies.

Ms. Lott’s extensive experience, leadership in community revitalization, and broad expertise in economic development make her a highly respected figure in her field, sought after for her insights and guidance across multiple states and organizations.