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Board Chair
A daily money manager and Certified Professional Organizer(R), Laurie Teal works with clients via her company Organized Solutions LLC. Laurie earned her B.S. in Business from the University of Evansville and has been a curious and enthusiastic learner all her life. Passionate about financial literacy, she penned a book – Nine Nights – to encourage readers to become more confident dealing with money matters. In addition to serving on the BCCF F&IR Committee, Laurie wears several hats for the local League of Women Voters as Treasurer, newsletter editor, website manager, and membership committee co-chair. Laurie and her husband Jeff have owned property in Brown County since 2006, but moved to the community full-time in 2014 after becoming empty nesters. They are the proud parents of a daughter and a son, and will be welcoming a daughter-in-law to the family in 2023.
Vice Chair
John led one of the largest food banks in the US and the largest social service charity in Indiana, distributing more than 105 million meals per year, growing 6-fold to $200 million in revenue, 115 employees, 35,000 donors and 20,000 volunteers. Gleaners supported hundreds of partner organizations and operated a regional natural disaster hub and a perishable food cooperative with USDA clean room supporting more than 50 network food banks. John chaired the state food bank association, helped lead Indy Hunger Network and national Feeding America network, served on two pandemic task forces, the National Academies of Sciences Engineering & Medicine’s pandemic resilience task force and the White House Conference on Hunger. Prior to Gleaners, John led public affairs and served as media spokesman for The Kroger Co., distributing resources to hundreds of charities and representing the company on 9 industry association and other boards. Prior to Kroger, John owned a private consultancy focused on strategic planning and organizational effectiveness for non-profits, government, higher-ed and business. John helped found and was inaugural Executive Director of Hanover College’s Center for Business Preparation, transforming how business is taught in a liberal arts environment. John served 10 years as a diplomat with the Department of State in Washington DC, Burma, Taiwan, Thailand and in United Nations meetings. He later served on the US Department of Commerce’s Export Council. John then led Asian business development and international operations for Inland Paperboard & Packaging. He developed Inland’s market entry strategy for Asia, expansion in Latin America and worked with the company’s European partner, then led 8 mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, business process redesign, business intelligence and e-commerce projects. John has deep passion for community service and has served on more than 25 community boards and organizations and has founded multiple non-profits. John is a graduate of Hanover College, Butler University and the US Foreign Service Institute in Washington. John and his wife Karen, a school guidance counselor, are the proud parents of son George and daughters Katie and Jessica.
Treasurer
Terry and his wife of more than 40 years, Janet, have lived in Nashville since 2009. They have 2 sons and a growing group of grandchildren now consisting of 3 girls and 1 boy. Terry is a graduate of the Indiana University Kelly School of Business with a major in accounting. After working for Cummins Inc. for 40 years in various financial/accounting roles, Terry retired at the end of 2019. While working for Cummins, Terry earned the Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant designations. This is a return to the Board of Trustees for Terry as he served in the early 2010’s as Chair of the Scholarship Committee and member of the Finance Committee. He was recognized as the Board Volunteer of the Year during his prior service period.
Secretary
Rachel Perry grew up in Bloomington Indiana and attended the Indiana University Music School until she realized that others took music more seriously than she did. Her college career was then eclectic, with a few years at Berkeley, and finally an undergrad degree from Indiana University at age 42. She went on to earn an M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma. Rachel’s career has been eclectic as well with stints as a postal clerk, a cab driver, a farrier, and twenty-six years with the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites. Since retiring as a fine arts curator in 2012, Rachel has been writing books about Indianan artists and doing contract work for the Indiana State Museum and Indiana Historical Society.
Victor Bongard resides in Nashville with his partner, Emily Austin, and those of their five children that have not yet entirely flown the nest. Victor works full-time as a Senior Lecturer of Business Law and Ethics at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University – Bloomington. He serves on the Town of Nashville Redevelopment Commission, is a member of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, and is an associate member of the Urban Land Institute. He is a graduate of Duke University and Duke Law School in Durham, North Carolina.
Phil McKown was born in Indianapolis and received degrees from Purdue University and Indiana University. Phil and his husband have lived in Brown County since 1975. Phil enjoyed a career in engineering and software development at Indiana University Information Technology Services, the Cummins Technical Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He continues to enjoy a diverse set of interests, including music, visual arts, computer programming and auto racing.
David has resided in Brown County for nearly all of his life. He was a 2005 graduate of Brown County High School and recipient of the Lilly Scholarship. He went on to earn a B.S. in Economics from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a MA in Religion from Cincinnati Christian University. David has worked for Brown County Schools full-time since 2010 and is currently the Director of Technology. He also coaches girls’ varsity soccer at BCHS and served as youth minister at Nashville United Methodist church for 8 years. He lives just outside of Nashville with his amazing wife and two wonderful daughters.
Born in Indiana and raised in Sullivan County, Dwight Thompson earned degrees from Purdue University and Indiana University. He enjoyed a 36 year career in the petroleum industry where he lead projects, operations, and business development in North America, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, China and Australia. In addition to stints in Oklahoma, Texas and Alaska, Dwight lived for ten years in the United Arab Emirates, Scotland and Turkey. He is married to Lisa and has two sons and three grandchildren. Community activities include Friends of Brown County State Park, Rotary, Eagle Manufacturing, the Career Resource Center and Hilltop Homeowners Association.
Bill received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in park administration from the University of Illinois. Following graduation, he worked for 23 years for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources in a variety of capacities, including the last 12 years as director of state parks. He worked for the National Park Service for 15 years before retiring as chief of staff to the director in 2002. Bill and his wife Ann have owned property in Brown County since 1970 and have two children, and two grandchildren. They are active locally in the Nashville United Methodist Church, serve on the board of the We Care Gang. He has been on the board of Habitat for Humanity and in retirement served on the Secretary of Interior’s Advisory Board to the National Park Service.
Volunteer Legal Counsel
Click on the section to learn about each of our committees and its members.
The purpose of the Advancement Committee shall be: 1) To facilitate the orderly acquisition of qualified assets for the Brown County Community Foundation. 2) To improve the public image of the Brown County Community Foundation (BCCF) through public relations and education activities.
The Finance & Investment Review Committee strives to manage the financial affairs of the Foundation in order to: 1) provide income sufficient for charitable distributions and Foundation operations; 2) promote long-term appreciation of capital; 3) ensure accountability to fund holders and the community; and 4) provide for compliance with IRS requirements and national standards for community foundations.
The Governance Committee ensures organizational structure and function that protects the public interest and is in compliance with the most current version of Ethical and Operational Standards for Indiana Community Foundations.
The Grants Committee enhances the opportunities of Brown County citizens through the granting of financial support for charitable projects/programs that address priority community needs.
The Scholarship Committee enhances the opportunities of Brown County residents by providing financial assistance for post-secondary education.
Dwight Thompson
David Phelps
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 191
Nashville, IN 47448
Street Address
209 Van Buren Street North
Nashville, IN 47448 (do not mail anything to this address)
