Go

OUR STAFF - Listed by Department

 

 

• Community Life
• Development and Communications
• Finance
• Human Resources and Recruiting
• Regional Directors

 

 

Community Life

 

Ron Willett

Director of Community Life

 

Ron Willett has 25 years experience living and working globally. He lived in Taiwan for 21 years and returned to the US to begin work at the IDEAS office in 2002. Ron speaks Chinese, has travelled broadly in China and for ten years served as Regional Director for China. He began serving as the Director of Community Life in January, 2009. He has a Bachelor's degree in History and a second Bachelor's in Education from Oregon State University. He received a Masters of Divinity from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Later he did graduate studies in adult learning and intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Ron is the chairman of the board for Bless China International, a non-profit organization that focuses on community development, HIV/AIDS prevention training and medical projects in Yunnan, China.

 

 

Development and Communications

 

Sarah Rymer

Director of Development and Communications 

 

Sarah Rymer joined the IDEAS staff in August 2008 as the Director of Development and Communications.  Previously, Sarah was the Director of Seminary Relations at Denver Seminary where she worked in the fields of development, public relations, communications and grant writing. She was instrumental in coordinating a variety of programs to bring national and international exposure to the seminary.  Sarah earned her B.A. in History from Colorado State University and her M.A. in International Development from the University of Denver. She is proficient in Spanish and has extensive travel experience throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. 

Back to the Top

 

 

Martin Bimler

Communications Assistant

 

Martin (Marty) Bimler brings over a decade of marketing and communications experience to IDEAS. He holds a communications degree with an advertising concentration from Purdue University where he also earned minors in English, philosophy, and psychology. He holds a Master's degree in advertising from The University of Texas at Austin where he also completed the Texas Creative sequence with an emphasis in copy writing.

Back to the Top

 

 

Finance

 

Ron Larson

Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

 

Prior to joining IDEAS in 2001, Ron's experience includes 10 years in Europe and 2 years in West Africa with a Christian nonprofit organization, as well as 6 years of audit experience with an international CPA firm. He has a BS degree in Business Management and Accounting from Biola University.

Back to the Top

 

 
Nadine Petersen

Finance Office Assistant

Nadine Petersen has worked with IDEAS since March, 2000 as the Finance Office Assistant. She has over 15 years of combined experience in office and finance administration in various legal, church and publishing offices.

Back to the Top

 

 

Chris Thiessen

Finance Office Assistant

Chris Thiessen joined the IDEAS staff in October of 2008 as a finance assistant. She received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Accounting from the University of Colorado. Upon graduation Chris joined the staff of Home Buyers Warranty and continued to work as a controller for 14 years.

Back to the Top

 

 

 

Human Resources and Recruiting

 

Wendi Gowing

Director of Human Resources

 

Wendi Gowing served for seven years overseas with IDEAS before coming to Colorado to be the Director of Human Resources in 2007. During her time overseas, she recruited and assisted in the care of the staff for the international project, George Washington Academy, as well as led the IDEAS team. She received her BA in Humanities from University of California Berkeley and is currently working on her MA in Organizational Leadership.

Back to the Top

 

 

Vicki Oehring

Recruiting Manager

Vicki Oehring joined IDEAS as the Recruiting Manager focusing on growing the number of Associates globally. Previously, she was with FPC, a national recruiting firm, where she recruited and placed mid to executive level personnel in the manufacturing sector of industry. Her background includes thirteen years of corporate recruiting for consumer products companies such as: the Campbell Soup Company, Godiva Chocolatier, and Burt's Bees. Originally from Nebraska, she received a BA in Broadcast Journalism with minors in English, History and Sociology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Back to the Top 

 

 

Donna Grandi

Third Culture Kid (TCK) Specialist

 

Donna Grandi works as the TCK Specialist providing resources for families working with IDEAS. While living and working in Taiwan for over 25 years, she and her husband, Scott, raised their two sons in a Third Culture context. She has experience teaching secondary school, home schooling, and sending children to a boarding school. She has served on educational boards; Morrison Academy in Taiwan, and Asia Education Resource Consortium. Donna has also facilitated a number of Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills workshops throughout Asia. In addition, she is a certified childbirth educator and doula providing labor and birth support.

Back to the Top

 

 

Regional Operations

 

Tami Brown

Regional Director - Central Asia and the Middle East (CAME)

 

 

Tami has spent the past 15 years in Central Asia where she has worked alongside her husband, Stan, who is the project manager of the Central Asia Harvest Project, played a key role in establishment of an educational facility, and more recently, taken on the role of Regional Director of CAME. As RD, she oversees IDEAS project operations and development in the CAME region. Prior to working with IDEAS, Tami worked in the area of public health with the government of Kenya and she and Stan have been involved in several small business enterprises in Africa and South Asia. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Biology from Wheaton College and her Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan.

Back to the Top

 

 

Scott Grandi 

Regional Director - South and East Asia

 

Scott Grandi has been a regional director with IDEAS since 1997. He lived and worked in Taiwan for 25 years and has traveled extensively throughout South and East Asia. Scott has a Bachelor's degree in History from UCLA, a Master's in Theology from Denver Seminary, and has done additional graduate studies at Biola University's School of Intercultural Studies and Fuller's School of Intercultural Studies.

Back to the Top

 

 

David Penney

Regional Director - North Africa

 

 

David grew up in Africa and has lived there more than half his life. He spent grade school in Senegal, high school in Ivory Coast, university at Wheaton College in Illinois and seminary in Denver, Colorado. David has a BA in sociology and Bible. David got his feet wet in development while serving in Mauritania heading up the relief effort for World Vision. During their 12 years in Mauritania, David began an English language center, a small loan or micro-enterprise program, and a small medical and physical therapy clinic. Today, David is based out of Tunis, Tunisia and he facilitates projects and oversees IDEAS Associates across North Africa, from Mauritania in the west to Djibouti in the east.

Back to the Top