Toby Gannett
Chair
Toby is a recognized leader in consulting circles with boards of nonprofits, corporations and NGOs. His specific areas of expertise are Governance, Finance, Succession Planning, Strategic Planning, Innovation, CEO Selection, Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence. Has depth and breadth of skills and experience have earned him national, state and local awards and recognition.
Local awards include the Colorado Springs Mayor’s “Spirit of the Springs Award”, Leadership Pikes Peak “Community Inspiration Award” and the “Colorado Springs “Alumni and Friends Award and many “Best of Colorado Springs” awards.
Toby joined the PPORA board because he has a deep passion for the outdoors. His family has a long history of leadership in land conservation. They were founding members in the National Parks System, the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Geographic, USGS, the Royal Society, and the modern practice of Conservation Easements. His grandmother, Rep. Ann Gannett, was a leader and mentor to him in the efforts to preserve land near Walden Pond. Toby grew up in a family committed to outdoors and outdoor recreation. His sister is a former World Extreme Skiing Champion and he grew up living at his father’s family-owned ski area in Southern Colorado which was recently acquired by Vail Resorts. He grew up in the nexus of business, conservation and the recreation industry.
Toby spends at least an hour outside each day hiking, biking, skiing, running, etc. The outdoors is where he recharges and spends time with his family. The long term preservation and stewardship of our region’s land is a top priority for him.
Jeff Mosher
Vice Chair
Jeff Mosher moved to the Pikes Peak region in late 2005 to complete his master’s degree and work for several national sports organizations within the Olympic Movement. He transitioned to work for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, helping produce some of the most iconic events held in the area. He is currently the Marketing & Events Director for the City of Cripple Creek with responsibilities for economic and community development as well. These efforts include outdoor recreation initiatives in Cripple Creek and the surrounding area.
Jeff joined the PPORA board because of his desire to expand outdoor recreation opportunities for citizens, visitors, and businesses within the Pikes Peak region. The rapid population growth and high visitation rates in the area requires that we be proactive with conservation and stewardship while also providing ample access to our abundant natural resources for all to enjoy. PPORA has done a terrific job of getting all the right people to the table to discuss these issues and act accordingly. The Pikes Peak region is fortunate to have such a positive organization advocating for the outdoor recreation industry.
Dr. JD McKenna
Treasurer
JD grew up in central Minnesota, where he joined the Boy Scouts at age 6 and joined the military as an Army Ranger and Green Beret. The first time JD came to Colorado, was to train up the newly formed El Paso County Search and Rescue team. Based on that experience, he spent the next dozen years working towards getting back to Colorado permanently.
JD has a Doctoral degree in Business Management with emphasis on Strategic Planning and Organizational Development; with a minor in Information Assurance and Security from Colorado Technical University (CTU). JD is the owner of a consulting and coaching hybrid business, where he helps SMB organizations solve their complex strategic level problems. This is collectively accomplished through facilitated workshops, and tools such as the Business Model Canvas and a Capability Gap Analysis.
JD supports several local organizations that help military personnel, on their transitional journey out of military service. He enjoys mountain biking, backcountry skiing, fishing with his family, and volunteering at local sporting events.
A little-known fact about JD, is that he spent 1 ½ years training in Europe as a mountain guide and wrote a training manual for the Army Special Forces community on winter and high-altitude survival.
Bonnie Goff
Secretary
Coming Soon!
David Leinweber
Founder
David lives and breathes the outdoors – both recreationally and professionally. He has worked as a sales associate, manager, buyer, and owner in outdoor retail industry for over 35 years. Companies he has worked for include; Mountain Miser, REI, Colorado Outdoor Sports, Chickenhead Mountain Sports, Gart Sports, and Grandwest Outfitters. For the last 20+ years he has managed and owned Angler’s Covey, a Colorado Springs specialty fly shop and learning center.
In 2015 David took on the new challenge as founder of the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance partnering with Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC and Visit Colorado Springs. As chairman, he is working to promote the value of the Outdoor Industry to the Pikes Peak community and bring together stakeholders to increase our outdoor amenities, create better access to recreational areas, and promote greater participation in outdoor activities.
David currently serves on the executive committee of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office’s Advisory Board and the Pikes Peak Chapter Trout Unlimited Board. He also has served on the American Fly Fishing Trade Association Board for 4 years from 2006 till 2010. Angler’s Covey is also a member of the Outdoor Industry Association and is an Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Outfitter and was honored to be selected as the national Orvis Outfitter of the Year 2012 and Fly Shop of the Year in 2019.
Chris Young
Past Chair
Chris grew up in Texas and has been an active outdoorsman as far back as he can remember. Whether it was fishing at the lake, camping in the forests, or skiing in New Mexico or Colorado, some of Chris’ best memories from growing up were always in the outdoors. In 2019, Chris and his wife, Adrianna, along with their 3 sons, Jack, Cole, and Dean relocated to Colorado Springs to hopefully continue the outdoor legacy for his own family.
When his boys were young, Chris became involved in Scouting, first as an Assistant Scoutmaster then as Scoutmaster for their local Boy Scout Troop. During this time he took their Texas-based Troop everywhere from backpacking the Rocky Mountains, to sailing in the Bahamas, to canoeing the Boundary Waters of Canada, to whitewater rafting the rivers of the American west. Chris is also very proud that he was able to assist his two oldest sons reach the rank of Eagle Scout along the way through their adventures. Chris has a personal mission of helping to conserve outdoor spaces for all to enjoy and promoting health through participation in outdoor activities.
As a professional, Chris has taken his personal mission a step further by focusing on providing wealth management and financial planning solutions to business owners and leaders in the outdoor recreation industry. As a co-founder and financial advisor at local wealth management firm, he helps those that are passionate about the outdoors manage their financial matters to free up both their time and brainpower so that they can continue their focus on promoting the outdoors. Chris is excited to bring his skills around achievement, relationship-building, and opportunity development to the PPORA as he helps to drive the mission of shaping outdoor recreation within the Pikes Peak region.”
Emma Troller
At Large, Palmer Land Conservancy
Emma is a recent transplant to Colorado, having moved to Colorado Springs in early 2021 to work for Palmer Land Conservancy as the organization’s Conservation and Recreation Program Manager. Despite growing up on the ocean, Emma has always been drawn to the mountains, and she is grateful to now call the peaks, valleys, and alpine lakes of Colorado home.
Emma’s academic background in urban planning and natural resource management has led to a career at the intersection of the built and natural environments. With experience in community engagement, she has facilitated multiple strategic planning processes relating to economic development, outdoor access, and land use protection. Emma strongly believes that the best communities are the ones that thoughtfully weigh smart growth with equitable access to the outdoors. In both her personal and professional lives, she is committed to bringing people together to collaboratively find this balance.
The opportunity to work with landowners and rural communities in Colorado has been the highlight of Emma’s career, and she is thrilled to bring this perspective to the strong work at PPORA. In her free time, Emma can be found hiking, backpacking, exploring the west, fly fishing, or in the garden of her 120-year old home.
Cheryl McCullough
At Large, Visit Colorado Springs
Cheryl has been involved with PPORA since its inception in 2015, joined the board as an ex officio then later as an at large member, taking on the officer position of Board Secretary.
She feels this is the most important collaboration of recreation businesses, nonprofits, and land managers in our region. Growing and advocating on behalf of outdoor recreation is vital to our region and provides a greater quality of life for our
residents and visitors. The Pikes Peak region is a premier destination for outdoor recreation and PPORA understands the importance of attracting and encouraging businesses to start and relocate in our region.
Cheryl joined Visit Colorado Springs (formerly the Colorados Springs Convention & Visitors Center) in 1997. Cheryl’s degree in sales & marketing, CVB experience and native roots in Colorado Springs provide her with a great background to assist sports event-rights holders, tournament directors & event organizers with their planning needs. She enjoys spending time with her family and 3 dogs, fishing, gardening & traveling
Walt Hecox
At Large
Walt grew up in Denver, attended Colorado College, and after graduate school and service in the Army returned to Colorado Springs for a career as a CC faculty member. Hiking, skiing, backpacking, Eagle Scout activities, and a love for Colorado’s outdoors tethered him here for 43 years of active teaching and now retirement. Walt Hecox professor emeritus of economics in the environmental program, Colorado College, received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University (1969)
His specialization in courses and research related to regional resource, sustainable development and ecological economics questions. As a consultant he has managed and performed research for the World Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development, Southern African Development Coordination Conference, U.S. Military Academy, Ford Foundation, National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy and Colorado Department of Natural Resources. He helped organize a citizens group: Advocates For Pikes Peak Summit House; served for 4 years as Senior Program Advisor for El Pomar Foundation’s Pikes Peak Heritage Series; has written about the outdoors as a Guest Contributor to the Colorado Springs Business Journal and Colorado Springs Gazette on Pikes Peak region tourism and recreation issues. Regional economics and management have been central to his research over the past 2 decades. He created and directed the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project 2004-2016 that brought student researchers to over 40 topics driving the economic and environmental dimensions to the 8-state Rockies Region, with annual Report Cards, Conservation surveys, and publication as well as press coverage in state, regional, national and international publications.
Lauren Dobson
At Large
Ashley Bryant
Ex-Officio, El Pomar Foundation
Ashley is from Parker, Colorado. She graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in December 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and minors in Business and Spanish. During college, Ashley volunteered and interned with multiple nonprofits focusing on cross-cultural communication and exchange where she not only met emerging foreign leaders, but also various business, government and nonprofit leaders throughout Denver and Boulder. In addition, she studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she practiced her Spanish, traveled all over the country and immersed herself in the culture for a semester. After graduating from CU, she began her year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA at Amigos de las Américas, a youth leadership nonprofit. At AMIGOS, she developed and launched the organization’s first U.S.-based program centered around conservation and environmental stewardship in Colorado. In summer 2022, Ashley Bryant joined El Pomar Foundation as a Fellow, supporting various programs including Pikes Peak Heritage Series, a program dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness of the natural assets of the Pikes Peak region.
In her free time, Ashley loves discovering new coffee shops, listening to podcasts, and spending time outdoors hiking, camping, climbing, skiing and more.
David Dazlich
Ex-Officio,Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC
Jason Hagan
Ex Officio, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Jason is the current Park Manager of Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs, and has been in this position since 2021 but has served at the park since 2014. Prior to that he served at Cherry Creek State Park for several years. He brings a wealth of varied experience and a unique perspective on the balance of conservation and recreation. Jason is an U.S. Air Force and CO Air National Guard Veteran who grew up in the Pikes Peak region. He finished his B.S. in Biology at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Jason enjoys spending time fishing and camping with his wife and two daughters and hunting with his loyal Black Lab Luna.
