Ellen Cooke - Director:

Since 2004, Ellen Cooke has held the position of Executive Partner for Imaging Services at MeritCare Health System. Ms. Cooke is responsible for services which include:  general radiology, MRI and CT scanning, mammography, ultrasound and interventional radiology.  She manages over 220 employees and an $80 million budget.  MeritCare Health System is the largest hospital and medical group practice in North Dakota and includes over 30 regional locations in North Dakota and Minnesota. 
From 1995-2002 Ms. Cooke was Vice President of Operations for Banner Health System (formerly Lutheran Health System) in Fargo, N.D.  She was responsible for managing healthcare operations in three states including hospitals, long term care facilities, physician clinics, home care and home medical equipment services.  She also served as COO for Banner’s home and community care division which provided  home based services in 17 states. 
Prior to 1995 Ms. Cooke spent 7 1/2 years with Olsten Health Services, a publicly traded company with over 600 offices and North America's largest provider of home health care and related services.  Ms. Cooke served as Area Vice President based in Minneapolis, MN. Before entering the healthcare industry, she served as National Branch Business Manager for CPT Corporation, a manufacturer of computer hardware, software and peripherals.
Ms. Cooke holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota and attended graduate studies in Business Communications at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. 

James Deese - Director:

Jim Deese is currently President of JLD Capital Management LLC, a financial advisory firm specializing in investment management. Jim is affiliated with FSC Securities Corporation, a subsidiary of AIG. He formed JLD Capital Management LLC in 2006 after spending 14 years with Paine Webber and Smith Barney in the brokerage business.
Prior to entering the financial services industry, Jim worked 22 years for corporations in financial management and executive positions. Among his later positions, he was General Manager of Mercantile Food Company (an organic food distributor), Chief Financial Officer of American Consulting Corporation (at the time, the largest promotion company in the US), and Director of Finance for the Chicago office, then Assistant Treasurer of JWT Group, Inc. (parent of J Walter Thompson, advertising).
Jim is currently active in his community and on the boards of several charitable and not-for-profit entities, including The Wilton Family YMCA, The Wilton Kiwanis Club (the largest Club in New England, where he recently completed a term as President), Wilton Ogden House (a senior housing facility) and is Chairman of CBET Foundation, Inc. (An environmental fund supporting the local area).
Jim has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Delaware and a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University. He served 3 years on active duty in the US Army including a tour in DaNang, Viet Nam.
Jim has been associated with ICS and its predecessor, Farm Verified Organic for 18 years and was instrumental in helping the company to be spun off from its parent in the mid-1990’s. He has served as a consultant or director for 15 years.

Christina Dockter - President:

Christina Dockter, Senior Executive Partner and President of the ICS Board, was raised on a dairy, livestock and grain family farm, and currently operates a purebred and commercial beef operation with her husband and four children, giving her a great deal of background in agriculture.
In 1999 she was hired as the Bookkeeper at ICS.  Through the next few years her duties expanded, giving her the opportunity to work not only in accounting, but also as the coordinator for the President and CEO and then as a Customer Care Specialist.  In 2002, Christina became the Director of Corporate Operations and joined the Board of Directors, where she now serves as President.  As of January 2005, Christina serves as one of the ICS’ Senior Executive Partners and is responsible for overall company-wide quality assurance, program administration, corporate operations, and FARRMS liaison.  
Christina believes in the future of our youth and the impact they will have in the future of agriculture.  She is on the local Vocational Agriculture Advisory Board, a 4-H organizational leader, and the co-leader for the North Dakota Junior Gelbvieh Association.

Annie Kirschenmann - Director:

Annie Kirschenmann, A.K. A Coach and Company's President  brings a diverse set of skills, training and experience to her coaching, training and strategic development work.

For 16 years, Kirschenmann worked with International Certification Services, Inc., stepping down from her position as President and CEO in 2005. Her duties also included staff development, performance, system management, management of marketing / sales.  In addition, over the past two decades, she has worked with an extensive variety of individuals, companies, organizations, and small businesses as a team development, strategic planning and management consultant, supporting these businesses to achieve exceptional results.

Kirschenmann has served on many Boards of Directors, at the local, national and international levels;  including corporations, small businesses, NGOs and other non-profit associations. She also has direct experience in the establishment of a 501c3 non-profit foundation.  This has given her a broad overview of the challenges that face executives and leaders from a myriad of different perspectives.  She currently is consulting with some of these organizations on strategic initiatives.

A non-language specialist, Annie's training and experience as a Dance/Movement Therapist allows her to offer her clients dynamic insights into the "non-verbal" aspects of business and development, as it applies to individuals as well as organizations.  Annie won an award for her master's thesis on the Beneficial Aspects of Laughter, Smiling and Humor so she has long recognized the power of laughter and brings a sense of humor to her work.

In 2005, U.S. Senator Kent Conrad named Kirschenmann the very first Entrepreneur of the Year.  When presenting the award, he stated, "Annie is a true entrepreneur in every sense of the word. She is excited, driven and most importantly, has true entrepreneurial spirit that can turn a good idea into a reality."

Kirschenmann works on the ground in the Dakotas and Minnesota and also travels internationally to work with businesses and organizations. She is at home on the prairies of North Dakota, where she lives on her family's organic farm.

 

Fred Kirschenmann - Chairperson:

Frederick L. Kirschenmann, a longtime leader in national and international sustainable agriculture, has been director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University since July 2000. Only the Center's second director since it was created in 1987, Kirschenmann came to the Center from south central North Dakota where he operated his family's 3,500-acre certified organic farm. He continues to oversee management of the farm and has an appointment in the ISU Department of Religion and Philosophy.

He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago, and has written extensively about ethics and agriculture. He has held national and international appointments, including the USDA's National Organic Standards Board. He is a board member for the Food Alliance, Silos and Smokestacks, and the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture at the Rockefeller Center in New York.

Kirschenmann's academic credits include several years teaching and as administrator, culminating in a position as academic dean at Curry College in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1976 he returned to the family farm when his father became ill. By 1980, the farm was certified organic, one of the early operations to make the transition. The farm is a natural prairie livestock grazing system that combines a nine-crop rotation of cereal grains, forages, and green manure.

Kirschenmann Family Farms has been part of a number of research studies. It also has been featured in national publications including National Geographic, the Smithsonian, Audubon, Business Week, the LA Times and Gourmet magazine. In 1995, Kirschenmann was profiled in an award-winning video, "My Father's Garden," by Miranda Productions, Inc.

In 1978, Kirschenmann helped organize North Dakota Natural Farmers that later became the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society. He helped found and for 10 years was president of Farm Verified Organic, Inc., an international private certification agency.

In 2001, Kirschenmann received the Seventh Generation Research Award from the Center for Rural Affairs for his work in sustainable food and farming systems. He also was named a 2002 Leader of the Year in Agriculture by Progressive Farmer publications. His essay, "Ecological Morality: A New Ethic for Agriculture," appears in Agroecosystems Analysis, a monograph published by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America.

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was created by the Iowa Legislature to develop sustainable agricultural practices that are both profitable and conserve natural resources. Since his appointment to the Center, Kirschenmann has been s a frequent speaker, engaging audiences to help shape a new vision for agriculture. New Center directions include research initiatives in marketing and food systems, ecology and policy.

Robert Simmons - Secretary/Treasurer:

Robert Simmons, Senior Executive Partner and Secretary of the ICS board, brings a wide variety of experience to the organization. Prior to coming to ICS in 1997, Simmons first cut his managerial teeth in the U.S. Navy and then with a large multi-national company based in New York. 
Simmons returned home to North Dakota in 1990 to be closer to family and pursue an undergraduate bachelor of arts degree in acting.  His duties with ICS take up most of the time in his professional life, but he still manages to get on stage occasionally.