Our Board consists of community members dedicated to upholding the mission of NEIPJC. Interested in joining us? You are invited to fill out a board member application form.
The board meets the 4th Tuesday of each month at 3:00 PM. All are welcome at the meetings. Plans do change, so if you plan to attend, please contact us to be sure the meeting will be held on that date and time.
Current Board Members
Heidi Swets
Heidi (she/hers) has been on the NEIPJC board for a couple of years, eager to maintain the tradition that a town as small as Decorah would value supporting such a place, and use it to help us “widen the circle of compassion”. She worked for many years as a naturalist and environmental educator in a variety of settings and is most passionate about finding ways to rebuild and deepen our connections to the natural world. She is also committed to inspiring choices that support the Great Turning, from the now inappropriate Industrial Growth Society, to a more appropriate Life Sustaining Society—precisely the path that will also address the climate change realities we are now facing. She has two grown daughters and one grandson living in the Decorah area, and lives with her husband Steve in an off-grid, largely recycled-content house surrounded by 60+ acres.
Kent Simmonds
I (he/him) have spent my adult life trying to encourage truth-seeking for myself and others, mostly in college classrooms, but wherever truth-seeking seemed possible. I have found truth-seeking to lead to peace and justice seeking and am increasingly convinced that we will know neither peace nor justice nor truth until we learn how to live cooperatively with the Earth's wisdom, with the wisdom that seems to me to have its origins in divine wisdom. I'm old now and still don't know very well how to practice this cooperation, but I want still to try to learn better and to nurture community efforts in this direction.
Steve McCargar
Steve has been a volunteer at the Peace and Justice Center for 14 years and has paid the bills for the organization during that time.