Annual Meeting

MHPN Announces 2023 Board Slate

Each year at the Annual Meeting, this year to be May 11, 2023, the slate of new board members and officers is presented to the membership for approval. This year, the Board Development Committee announces that there are seven current board members returning for additional terms.

Devan Anderson, for his 2nd three-year term
Jessica Flores, for her 2nd three-year term
Michael Hambacher, for his 2nd three-year term
David Jackson, for his 2nd three-year term
Melissa Milton-Pung, for her 2nd three-year term
Laura Steenwyk, for her 2nd three-year term
Glenn Wilson, for his 2nd three-year term

BIOGRAPHIES FOR BOARD NOMINEES

Lindsey Dotson

Lindsey Dotson is the DDA Director for the City of Charlevoix. She has a master’s degree in Historic Preservation from Eastern Michigan University and obtained her bachelor’s at Grand Valley State University. Lindsey is a certified Main Street America Revitalization Professional and prior to arriving in Charlevoix in 2016, she had worked in two other Michigan Main Street communities totaling over 10 years of experience in downtown management. Lindsey has a passion for downtown walkability/accessibility, youth engagement in placemaking, and the historic built environment. She volunteers as an advisory member of the Charlevoix Historical Society Board and serves as the Buildings and Grounds chair. She also is the staff advisor for the City of Charlevoix’s Historic District Commission.

Eric Gollannek, PhD.

Gollannek serves as the Saugatuck Douglas History Center (SDHC) Executive Director bringing two decades of experience in university teaching and project work in public history, historic preservation, and museum studies. He also earned a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from Grand Valley State University in 2021. Since 2018, he has lead the the SCHD’s efforts to deliver impactful and inclusive history programming, including the award-winning 2021 exhibit A Century of Progress: 100 Years of LGBTQ History in Saugatuck-Douglas and the preservation and interpretation of the Demerest Historic Shanty, a mid-20th century commercial fishing building on the Kalamazoo River.

Gollannek has also worked on numerous public history projects in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest including cultural resource surveys on Michigan’s Mackinac Island and across Michigan’s Copper Country in connection with Keweenaw National Historical Park. In addition to museum practice, Gollannek has taught history, art and architectural history, and material culture studies at Kendall College of Art and Design and Grand Valley State University in the Honors College.

He lives in East Grand Rapids with his wife Capalene Howse and three sons.

Joe Frost

Joe is the Community Development Manager for MEDC Region 5. He is the first in his family to attend university, and earned a B.A. in Geography from Michigan State University in 2008. He earn an M.S. in Historic Preservation in 2010 from Ball State University. He has a combined 20-plus years’ experience with historic sites, historic preservation, Main Street, and community development. Over that time, he has worked at nationally significant historic resources including; Fort Mackinac, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and the Historic National Road. Joe is a qualified professional Architectural Historian and Historian. (36 CFR Part 61) He has a passion for downtown development and Main Street, and has worked locally and with two Main Street coordinating programs, including Michigan Main Street and Main Street Oakland County. He is an active community member and coaches youth hockey with the Bay County Hockey Association.

Aaron Sims

Aaron Sims born and raised in the City of Inkster, MI and the place he still calls home, also educated in the Inkster Public School System, He graduated from Anthem College with a A.A.S degree in Business, Wayne County Community College Automotive Degree, also attended Marygrove College and University of Michigan Dearborn . Aaron is the founder/Executive Director of Project We Hope Dream and Believe a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which serves as a youth mentoring organization to help youth to become productive individuals in a global society.

Aaron has served on several boards and commissions throughout Wayne County, serving as the President of the Western Wayne County NAACP, ALPACT (Advocated Leaders for Police and Community Trust) Canton Police Hate Crime Board, City of Inkster Beautification Board, and the Chair of the City of Inkster Compensation Board.

Aarons greatest challenge has been saving a home in Inkster that belonged to Wilfred and Ruth Little. Wilfred is the eldest brother of Malcolm Little, whom we all Know as Malcolm X. This is the house that Malcolm was paroled to August 8,1952. Aaron and his team wrote a grant to save the house and was awarded $380,000,00 from the Historical Preservation Fund and also received a $50,000.00 grant from the Ford Foundation.

Aaron is the Proud father of one teenage son, Damaree Sims.

In addition to the returning and new board members, the Board Development Committee recommends the following slate for officers for one year terms. Three of the current officers are returning to hold the same position for a second terms, with only the treasurer’s position open for a new candidate.

Janet Kreger, President, second term in this office
Marcus Ringnalda – Vice President, third term in this office
Devan Anderson – Secretary, third term in this office

Current secretary, Laura Steenwyk, is retiring from her office. The Board Development Committee recommends the election of Emily Cauzillo to the position.

Emily Cauzillo is a Director at Impact Credit Partners, and has over ten years of commercial banking experience, primarly working with developers on historic rehabiliations and affordable housing projects throught the country.