Staff & Board

Our Staff:

Cynthia White

Originally from Connecticut, Cynthia moved to Flagstaff because it was the closest thing to New England in Arizona. Cynthia has a background in environmental earth science and social work. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, Cynthia wants to preserve the natural environment and looks forward to the many opportunities F3 offers. Cynthia has worked professionally to promote water and soil quality as an environmental consultant early in her career. She went on to become a social worker and has advocated for the rights of low-income individuals in Flagstaff and throughout Arizona on issues of affordable housing, transportation, and livable wages. She looks forward to the opportunity to utilize both career paths to fight for the issues she cares about.

Naima Schuller

Naima has loved being involved with the Flagstaff community. A strong proponent of the arts, she served on the board of the Artists Coalition of Flagstaff, as well as other arts organizations. Other areas of involvement have included co-founding a non-profit focused on bringing fresh, healthy food to the greater Flagstaff region, and assisting local companies at the Small Business Development Center at Coconino Community College. Naima has seen Flagstaff grow and change since attending college at NAU in 1988. She is very excited to be in a position to affect positive change in our community and invites all of Flagstaff to participate in the most dynamic group of people around!

Our Board:

Tish Bogan-Ozmun

Tish was born in Washington DC and lived there until moving to the hills of Kentucky when she was 10. After meeting the forest in Kentucky, she moved to Oklahoma and met the prairie as well as her husband Jon Ozmun. She and Jon moved to Flagstaff with their daughters in 1974 when Jon joined the faculty at NAU. Tish started her real estate career in 1976 while raising a growing family. With children and grandchildren living in Flagstaff, Tish is committed to doing everything possible to make Flagstaff a great place to live. In addition to being on the F³ board, Tish is president of the board of Habitat Harmony, Inc. and very active in the life of Federated Community Church, especially Christians for the Earth. Tish’s educational background includes a BA in English and an MA in Philosophy. Working for the preservation of wildlife and habitat are especially close to her heart!

Frank Brandt

Frank retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force with nearly 5,000 flying hours with the requisite professional and formal education as well as the practical gained from much overseas travel. He has always believed one should give back to his community-something to do with subliminal childhood messages and the Boy Scouts: Duty, God, and Country. He and his wife Linda have lived in Flagstaff 14 years. He has been president of the Northern Arizona Audubon Society, is on the state board of Audubon Arizona, and with Linda wrote a small book, Finding Birds in the Flagstaff Area. He has served on the Flagstaff Water Commission, and is finishing his fifth year on the Planning and Zoning Commission where he hopes he has made a difference, and volunteers for this and that more than a sane person would.

Amanda Dominguez

Amanda is a Flagstaff native and has been employed at Safeway for 11 years. She recently received a degree in Criminal Justice from Coconino Community College. She is looking forward to working with Friends of Flagstaff's Future to learn about different aspects of our town and is also looking forward to sharing her ideas about the future of Flagstaff.

Sherry Golden

An attorney practicing in the area of nonprofit corporate representation, Sherry Golden is committed to working for the preservation of the environment. She has written on the inherent value of the natural world for The Flagstaff Tea Party and contributed to the open space provisions of the Flagstaff Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan. Sherry is a founder and director of Habitat Harmony, Inc., a local environmental group responsible for the relocation of the Fox Glenn Park prairie dogs, and for the construction of an interpretive nature trail explaining the prairie dog habitat. She also works in the public schools, and is the coach for three high school mock trial teams at Northland Prep Academy.

Patrice M. Horstman

Patrice has been a resident of Flagstaff for over 30 years. She moved to Flagstaff from Minnesota to attend NAU and has made Flagstaff her home ever since. Patrice briefly took temporary leave from Flagstaff to attend law school at the University of Arizona and Georgetown Law School. She worked in DC for a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee but returned to Flagstaff after the presidential election of Ronald Reagan. She has been a practicing lawyer in Flagstaff since 1979 and is a partner in the law firm of Hufford, Horstman, Mongini, Parnell and McCarthy. Patrice has been active in community organizations and environmental and political activities since her student days at NAU.

Debbie Leavitt

Debbie Leavitt, Professional Photographer, was educated in Chicago, Madison, and Santa Barbara, where she accomplished a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Brooks Institute of Photography. As a rock/celebrity photographer in Los Angeles, she captured images of the famous from Bono to Zappa. Leavitt's work has been published internationally, including Rolling Stone, People and the L.A. Times. Her clients include Rhino Entertainment, MGM Pictures, and Scottsdale's Westin-Kierland Resort/Herberger Collection. www.DebbieLeavitt.com Life Philosophy: "Time flies, whether you're having fun or not." Debbie looks forward to working with F³ to ensure Flagstaff remains a wonderful place to live.

Deb Linda

In 2003, Deb Linda realized that Democracy was in danger of becoming extinct due to lack of interest, and decided to get up from yelling at the TV and do something about it. She is a founding member and vice-president of DFA-Flagstaff, an organization which promotes democratic and progressive values. She is a firm believer in the power of the grass roots and the need for "we the people" to stand up and have a say in the destiny of our communities. Deb has worked for several non-profit organizations helping people in need, ever since she was let go from her first job at Wendy's for not smiling enough at the customers. She is currently employed at FMC as a registered nurse, having received a degree in nursing from Yavapai College. Deb is also an avid mountain biker, hiker and cross-country skier. Her priorities include advocating for the trails and green space surrounding and connecting our beautiful mountain home.

Sandra B. Lubarsky

Sandra Lubarsky moved to Flagstaff in 1989 to teach Religious Studies at Northern Arizona University. She currently directs the Master of Liberal Studies Program on "Good and Sustainable Communities," a program that reflects her commitment to education as a force for good in the world. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy of religion from Claremont Graduate University and has written on religious pluralism and tolerance and on the importance of beauty as a value system for the 21st century. With Friends of Flagstaff’s Future, she initiated a community-wide discussion on "Building for Community."

Shelley Silbert

Shelley has lived in Flagstaff since 1990. Originally from Tennessee, she quickly fell in love with the mountains, canyons, and desert of the southwest when she came to Tucson for graduate school. Shelley is the Director of Development for Strategic Initiatives at the Center for Sustainable Environments at NAU. From 1994 to 2003, she directed The Nature Conservancy's northern Arizona program. She is particularly proud of her involvement in the successful Coconino Parks and Open Space campaign to raise $33 million for land acquisition and parks improvements, in working to establish the nation's ninth largest conservation easement at Cataract Ranch, and in serving on the Coconino County Comprehensive Plan steering committee. She is currently on the board of the new Coconino County Friends of the Parks. She thinks northern Arizona is a great place to raise her son, who is a sophomore at Flagstaff High School. She hopes to help Flagstaff become an even more vibrant community that celebrates its diverse peoples and spectacular natural environment.

Miguel Vásquez

Miguel is a native of San Francisco, educated at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and the highlands of Guatemala in applied anthropology and agricultural development. Since coming to Flagstaff in 1989 as professor of anthropology at NAU, his work has involved Hopi terrace gardens, cultural preservation, globalization and its impacts, and community ethnography. Currently he is a board member of the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Coconino County Supervisors Hispanic Advisory Board, the Arizona Association of Chicanos for Higher Education, The Arboretum of Flagstaff, and the NAU Commission on Ethnic Diversity. In the past he has served on the boards of the Society for Applied Anthropology and the International Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. In joining F³ he says, "The whole world seems sometimes to be going to hell, but some places are going a little more slowly, and Flagstaff seems to be one of them. I'd like to help keep it that way."

Tamara Wallace Ramirez

Tamara works with the Program in Community, Culture, and Environment at Northern Arizona University. She holds a B.A. in Public Humanities from NAU, and is completing a Master’s thesis on the role of the arts in creating a sustainable culture through NAU’s Master of Liberal Studies Program on “Good and Sustainable Communities.” Tamara serves on Flagstaff’s Beautification and Public Art Commission, the Northern Arizona Book Festival Board, and on Flagstaff Foodlink’s board of directors. She lives here with her husband, David.