About Us - Friends of Pathways

About Us

OUR MISSION

Friends of Pathways supports a vibrant community by promoting sustainable transportation and healthy recreation in Jackson Hole.

OUR TEAM

Katherine Dowson Sam Petri Margaret Thompson Chris Owen Michael Piker Carter Denison Nancy Weeks Ransom Valley

Katherine Dowson

Executive Director

Many years as a camper and staff member at Teton Valley Ranch Camp gave Katherine an appreciation for the mountains and this area. She moved here permanently after graduating from the University of Virginia in 1988. Since then, she’s been working in the nonprofit arena, serving on several boards including Teton Valley Trails and Pathways, as well as working for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, the Teton Regional Land Trust, Teton County Education Foundation, and the Center of Wonder. Email Katherine >

Sam Petri

Communications & Advocacy Director

Originally from upstate New York, Sam fell in love with the outdoors growing up skiing, riding bikes, and exploring the mountains in the Northeast. After graduating from St. Lawrence University with an English Writing degree, he moved to Jackson Hole and began working as a local newspaper reporter. Soon after, he became the first web editor of TetonGravity.com, the most trafficked snow sports website. Sam later took his writing and communication skills to the business world and for the last seven years has worked as a public relations account executive, helping grow brands in the outdoor industry.

Sam has served the Jackson community by volunteering on the board of 89.1 KHOL Jackson Hole Community Radio, as well as the Teton County Pathways Task Force. He is an advocate for connecting every neighborhood to the pathway system so all people can travel safely through Teton County without the use of a car. Email Sam >

Margaret Thompson

Operations Director

Margaret has spent her life hiking and cycling and has a passion for wild places. She’s lived, worked and played in Jackson Hole for 20 years, and believes strongly in community building, sustainability, affordable housing and alternative transportation. She enjoys and appreciates Jackson Hole’s pathways and trails every day while commuting and recreating and loves being a part of the Friends of Pathways team. She feels fortunate to own a home through the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust.

Margaret is from Billings, Montana, has a B.A. in Finance from the University of Oregon, is fluent in Spanish and loves to travel throughout world and explore wild places with her husband Matt. Email Margaret >

Chris Owen

Trails Program Director

Chris first visited Jackson when he was 14 on a backpacking trip and knew he had to move there. After earning a BS in Recreation Resource Management from Clemson University he found his way back working at the National Outdoor Leadership School and living in Jackson between courses. He shifted to the Jackson Trail Crew and spent 8 years working on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in partnership with Friends of Pathways before coming to work for us full time. Chris is an avid biker and climber and spends about as much time on the trails on his own time as he does during the work week. So look for him working along with the Youth Trail Crew and Trail Ambassadors next time you’re out on an adventure. Email Chris >

Michael Piker

Pathways Stewardship Director

Mike grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana but spent his summers on the family farm in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas where he developed his love of the outdoors. Upon graduating from the University of Arkansas with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, he took a field service position that included extensive travel across the western U.S, including Jackson. In 1996, after several years of power plants and industrial settings, he moved to Jackson to pursue a less stressful lifestyle in the outdoors. Mike is an avid cyclist who spent years racing his mountain bike and recently discovered how much fun riding can be without worrying about intervals and heart rate monitors. Mike works seasonally for FoP and heads up the Ambassador program to promote responsible pathway & trail use. In addition, he helps with trail construction/maintenance and miscellaneous pathway projects. Look for him out on the pathway talking to folks under the FoP tent or on the local trails riding his mountain bike with a chainsaw on his back. Email Mike >

Carter Denison

Outreach and Events Coordinator

Originally from Minneapolis, Carter lived in Juneau, Alaska prior to finding herself on her next adventure in Jackson. Carter graduated from Augsburg University in 2017 with a BS in Kinesiology, where she also played on the Women’s Soccer team. As an avid hiker, biker, skier and recreator, the Tetons have combined her passion for the outdoors with her love of the small community feel. Carter and her fiancé Guthrie adopted a lab mix they named Corn Dog when they moved to town and have spent almost every day taking advantage of the trails and pathways that Jackson has to offer. You can find Carter this summer at all FOP events or walking with her dog at Emily Stevens Park! Email Carter >

Nancy Weeks

Finance and Development Assistant

Nancy, born and raised in Austin, Texas, lived in Jackson for 13 years and for many years worked for Friends of Pathways as our full-time Office Manager. She and her husband Jamie moved to Stanley, Idaho in 2018. Friends of Pathways came calling again and in 2021 Nancy rejoined the team in a part-time administrative role. Nancy misses the JH pathway system but has found plenty of recreational pursuits in rural Idaho. She is also happy to be working again with her FOP family. Email Nancy >

Ransom Valley

START Bike Operations Manager

Ransom is a life-long skier and biker from northeastern Vermont. He got his first taste of The West while working on his degree in ski area management at Western State in Gunnison, Colorado. Heading back to Vermont, after a few years working and managing ski/bike shops he started his bike mechanic career at East Burke Sports. He decided he missed skiing big mountains and real powder, so took an epic road trip all around the western U.S. and ended up making Jackson his home in 2006. Ransom worked for a decade at Wilson Backcountry Sports as a ski tech/bike mechanic, and obtained a Full-Stack Web Development Certificate from DevPoint Labs/University of Utah in 2017. He came onto the FOP team in 2018 with the rollout of the START Bike Program with the Town of Jackson and became Jackson’s first START Bike Operations Manager. His favorite things are still skiing and biking, but since his Vermont days has added travel, surfing, and SCUBA diving to the list. Email Ransom >

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Jeff Rice

President

Jeff has lived in the valley for 25 years. His passion and love for the outdoors and mountain culture drew him to Jackson Hole where he began working at Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton National Park in 1985. After graduating from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration he moved to Jackson. His career life evolved into an entrepreneurial one and he has been involved in several businesses. Jeff co-founded, developed and sold a regional Internet Service Provider, OneWest.net, in the early 2000’s and today owns and operates our local community market, Jackson Whole Grocer. Jackson Whole Grocer proudly supports many community causes and initiatives including social services, education, sustainability, wellness and local food production. Jeff serves on the FoP Board as a means of carrying on the good work of maintaining a high quality of life in our community through further creation and stewardship of our pathways, trails and transportation systems. Jeff and his wife Darcy have four boys: Ellis, Mason, Alden and Ansel.

Amy Puccia

Vice President

Originally from Guilford, Connecticut, Amy received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Lynchburg College in Virginia in 2006. Shortly thereafter, Amy moved to Jackson on a whim in 2007 and fell in love with the landscape and the community.

Amy and her husband AJ live in town in a TCHA Employment Based house at The Grove. They are both avid trail runners and mountain bikers, lovers of the Bridger-Teton National Forest trail system and frequent commuters on the town pathways.

With experience in community design & development, and a great appreciation for our trails & pathways, Amy joined the Friends of Pathways Board in order to focus her energy and passion into action with a group that is impacting the daily lives of Jackson’s residents and visitors alike.

Katie Wilson

Secretary

Katie is a Licensed Architect who possesses a unique ability to work with a wide spectrum of people; facilitating and synthesizing different perspectives into projects. She holds great respect toward the power of place and the need to connect people’s lives and livelihoods to the landscape.

Katie serves on several Boards, including the Town of Jackson Planning Commission & JH Land Trust’s Open Space Council. She has also taken on multiple local volunteer roles in Jackson, holding the belief that the connection to community helps her better understand the physical, human, political, historical, economic and cultural factors that affect people, natural environments and design.

Katie loves any excuse to connect with nature – you can find her playing in the mountains by foot, bicycle, or skis.

Don Gervais

Treasurer

Don loves the outdoors and spending time with family and friends on the trails or paths. He started coming to Jackson in 2004 and moved here full time with his family in 2016. Don graduated from Franklin & Marshall College and has spent the past 25 years in the investment management business working with some of the largest institutional investors in the world. Don began his career working for the GE pension fund and progressed on to work at JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Allianz Global Investors. Most recently, Don launched his own firm here in Jackson, Gervais Capital Management to bring Institutional tools and techniques to individual investors and smaller businesses. Don is excited to be a part of the FoP to help further the strong work which the organization has done since its inception. Don and his wife Susan have two boys, George and Campbell, and all four believe in contributing to the community to preserve the mountain culture of Jackson.

Libby Hall

Libby grew up in Connecticut and Vermont and attended Middlebury College where she met her husband-to-be Taylor Hall. When Taylor moved to Jackson in 1990, Libby started dipping her toes into the Teton life and upon graduation in 1992, moved out west for good.

Libby lived the typical 1990’s Jackson Hole lifestyle of outdoor pursuits and restaurant gigs before landing positions at the Teton Science School and Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. In 1997, Libby became the Executive Director of the Newton Family Foundation, and in 2004 transitioned to a Board member of the Foundation on which she still serves.

Libby is currently Head Teewinot Coach for JH Ski & Snowboard Club’s Nordic Program, a level 100 USSS (U.S. Ski and Snowboard) Certified Nordic Instructor and a USSS Alpine Official. Libby is owner of PIKA*MADE, and along with her husband Taylor, owner of Skinny Skis, are both passionate about supporting and giving back to the community.

Libby is a full-time parent to kids Whit, Elsie and BB and their three dogs Junie, Gambler and Wiggins. She enjoys traveling, Nordic skiing, hiking and foraging with her family. Libby is passionate about preserving the character of our backcountry experiences. She finds joy in intimately getting to know a place—such as discovering where chanterelles grow or what flowers are blooming when the huckleberries are ripe.

Jim Hunt

Jim presently consults and invests from Tournament Capital Advisors LLC and is non-Executive Chairman of Hunt Companies, Inc., a Texas based diversified real estate business. Jim recently served as the managing partner and CEO, middle market credit at Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, LLC, an alternative investment firm in the areas of energy, real estate, credit and specialty growth capital.

Jim served as non-executive chairman of the board of THL Credit, Inc., was founder and served as CEO and chief investment officer of THL Credit, Inc. and of THL Credit Advisors. He was CEO and managing partner of Bison Capital Asset Management, LLC, was the president of SunAmerica Corporate Finance and executive vice president of SunAmerica Investments. Jim is Lead Director of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. Additionally, he serves on the boards of Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund Inc. and CION Ares.

In addition to Friends of Pathways, Jim is President of the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum, the board of START (South Teton Area Rapid Transit) and the National Forest Foundation. Jim is married to Maggie Fellner Hunt and has two adult daughters.

Kim Kernan

Kim grew up in Seattle and remained a northwest girl for many years. Her mother’s side of the family had homesteaded near the Henry’s Fork in Ashton, Idaho, and as a girl she spent summers visiting cousins there and getting a taste of the mountain life. In 2010, she followed the classic Jackson Hole storyline of planning to spend a year in the Tetons with her husband Bill Mulligan, which has turned into a decade and counting.

Kim has practiced law for 30 years in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. She has a LLM in Environmental Law and her career has focused on land use, development, environmental and natural resources law. She is dedicated to advocating for alternative transportation and for making human-powered travel accessible to all.

Kim and her family love Jackson Hole’s pathways and trails. She and Bill started their kids Anya and Daniel backpacking at 6 years old, and as a family they never miss a summer of these excursions. In her free time, you can find Kim enjoying a good book, fly fishing, skiing, biking or hiking around the valley.

Julie O’Halloran

After enjoying the wonderful natural resources of Jackson for over 16 years, Julie and her husband, Hugh, completed a full transition in 2015. Prior to her relocation, Julie enjoyed an active legal practice in Wisconsin for more than 25 years, and she continues her family law practice in Jackson and throughout Wyoming. For many years, Julie and Hugh were members of a “weekend warrior” cycling team that raced throughout the upper Midwest. That experience exposed her to many hours of riding on busy roads shared with traffic. She values the incredible pathway system in Jackson and appreciates how it improves safety as well as community spirit. Julie strongly believes that our bond with nature through cycling, skiing and hiking promotes a richly-connected community.

Brian Remlinger

Brian has seen the Jackson Hole Pathways and Trail system grow tremendously since he first arrived in Jackson Hole over 20 years ago. He has participated in the design and environmental mitigation of the South Park Loop, WY22, Broadway, and Wilson to Stilson pathways through his consulting business, Alder Environmental LLC. Cycling is a passion of Brian’s and he has logged thousands of miles in numerous ultra bikepacking races including the Tour Divide and Winter Fat Pursuit. He is an avid, year-round cycle commuter and ebike advocate. Brian has three school aged children who benefit significantly from the pathway system both for recreation and commuting. Pathway safety, connectivity and user experience are a high priority for Brian when contributing his experiences to the FoP Board. He believes pathways and trails are truly multi-use for recreation, commuting and for general benefit of the people. His wife, Maddy, is happiest hauling kids around the valley on her cargo ebike.

Scott Spector

Mr. Scott L. Spector is a Principal and Co-founder of Kodiak Properties, L.L.C., a firm specializing in the acquisition of retail centers for investment. Kodiak has purchased more than sixty (60) shopping centers in the mid-Atlantic area. Since purchasing the centers in early 1994, significant improvements have been made in the economic performance of the centers through an aggressive leasing and marketing effort. Kodiak’s goal is to continue to purchase existing centers with significant upside opportunity and to use its management skills to bring attractive returns to investors.

Mr. Spector formed SPMC Urban Properties, LLC in 2009 in order to purchase and re-develop and purpose mixed use urban properties in Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland. SPMC owns fifteen (15) properties in Washington, DC and two (2) in Baltimore, MD.

Formerly, Mr. Spector was Principal and Co-founder of PrimeCore Realty Advisors, Inc., a full-service real estate advisory firm, specializing in the acquisition of outstanding real estate investments for a select group of investor clients. Mr. Spector coordinated the firm’s activities relating to the identification, market research and negotiation for the recommended investment properties. He oversaw the ongoing relationships with brokers, developers, banks, insurance companies, and other sources of investment opportunities. He also set strategy and directed leasing and other revenue enhancement efforts for clients.

Mr. Spector was also a Principal of Triad Partners, a diversified real estate consulting joint venture partnership that provides portfolio asset management services to institutional and individual clients. He was primarily responsible for the organization’s marketing, sales and “value enhancement” strategies and activities. He also managed contract assignments involving in-field inspections and property due diligence work.

Mr. Spector’s 40 plus year professional career has included nearly every aspect of the commercial real estate business from acquisition and development to leasing, management and disposition. He has also been extensively involved in a broad range of income-producing properties, including office buildings, industrial/R & D projects, retail centers and multi-family developments.

From 1985 to 1992, Mr. Spector served as Vice President of Leasing, Development and Acquisitions for Demar, Inc., a mid-Atlantic based real estate development company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In this capacity, Mr. Spector was directly responsible for the leasing and management of over twenty buildings totaling in excess of 2.5 million square feet. He personally was involved in over 1.5 million square feet of lease transactions, including Telecommunications Techniques Corporation (140,000 sf.); Blue Cross/Blue Shield (120,000 sf.); Government Accounting Office (75,000 sf.); and Computer Technology Associates (54,000 sf.). He also completed significant transactions with many other Fortune 500 companies such as Shell Oil, Security Pacific Corporation, Merrill Lynch, Westinghouse Electric Company, Gulf & Western, Prudential, Xerox, and Norwest Mortgage Company. Some of his major local tenant clients included Maryland National Bank, Crestar Bank, 1^st Virginia Bank, Loiederman & Associates and the law firm of Schulman, Rodgers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker.

Additionally, Mr. Spector served Demar Inc. as Vice President of Acquisitions. In this capacity, he was involved in the purchase, financing and development of three multi-family housing projects and four major office developments totaling more than 1 million square feet. His hands-on experience also included the leasing, packaging, negotiation and disposition of real estate owned (REO) property for Standard Federal Savings Bank.

Previously, Mr. Spector was a Senior Leasing Representative for six years with the Smithy Braedon Company, a major real estate brokerage firm in the Washington, D.C. area. In this position, he specialized in developing and implementing marketing and leasing programs for both existing and speculative office projects for numerous clients including Prudential, American Trading Real Estate Company, Quality Inns (Manor Care), and Landow & Company. He also represented such major tenants as Equitable Life Assurance, Westinghouse Electric Company, Storage Technology, and Legal Services Corporation.

Mr. Spector’s professional involvements include memberships in the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) and the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA). He was the Co-Chairman for the 2003 International Council of Shopping Centers Mid-Atlantic Idea Exchange Program, and Mr. Spector shall Chair the 2004 Mid-Atlantic Idea Exchange Program. He also was founder and past President of the Real Estate Breakfast Club. Additionally, Mr. Spector is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery.

Mr. Spector’s recent charitable endeavors have included being on the Board of the Teton Arts Lab for four (4) years, on the Board of Miriam’s Kitchen for five (5) years, a member of the Board and Vice Chairman of The Phillips Collection for nine (9) years, and is currently on the Board of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation in Jackson. Wyoming.

Mr. Spector is married to Sandra Masur and lives in Georgetown. He is a graduate of Cornell University.

Colleen Valenstein

After graduating from Northeastern University in Boston, Colleen made the move to Jackson in 2003 to fulfill her aspirations to live the ski bum life. Unfortunately, that lifestyle seemed personally unsustainable, so she went on to work for Sotheby’s International Realty in marketing and design and eventually as a freelance graphic designer for a number of years. Colleen then went on to work for a local vacation rental management company, helping it grow to be the largest rental management company in the valley. She is currently trying her role as a domestic engineer and focusing on quality family time and non-profit volunteering.

Colleen enjoys off-the-couch mountain bike racing, leisurely ski touring with friends, and trying her luck with a sourdough starter. But, by far, her favorite time spent is adventuring around the local pathways, trail systems and ski hills in the valley with her two young boys and husband, Ethan.

Julie Walker

Julie Walker was born a beach girl, raised in Newport Beach, CA and attended college at University of California at Berkeley. A chance trip to Jackson changed things and she and her family made a decision to trade the beach for the beautiful mountains of Wyoming. Julie, her husband Darrick and two kids have made the valley home since 2008.

One of the main things that drew Julie to this valley was the opportunity it presented to recreate in its wild, beautiful spaces. The pathways, trail systems, rivers and mountains are where Julie goes to recreate, connect with friends and get away from it all. She is proud of her work with Friends of Pathways and loves supporting an organization whose values are so aligned with her own.

If Julie is not working on a house renovation, she can be found riding her bikes, hiking trails, skiing or fly fishing with friends.

Celia Wallace

Celia grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and received degrees in English and Communications from Tulane University in New Orleans. Her first job took her to Washington D.C. as a Special Assistant to Louisiana Senator J. Bennett Johnston, the chairman for the Senate Energy Committee. Celia later worked on energy and environmental legislation for Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas. She began coming to Jackson in the 90’s with her Wyoming native husband Rob, and eventually made the Tetons her permanent home.

Celia is passionate about her service and support of nonprofits and has served on several Boards including the Deans Advisory Committee of the School of Arts and Sciences of Tulane University in New Orleans; the Brinton Museum Advisory Group in Big Horn, Wyoming; and locally, the Grand Teton National Park Foundation Board and Resource Council.

Celia also loves being a St. John’s Episcopal church member and occasional volunteer or traveling with her family. You can find her walking or cross country skiing every day on the pathways with dogs Molly and Rudy, or hiking or biking on one of our many local trails with husband Rob and daughters Morgan and Ella.