The Nazareth Farm Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is responsible to know and approve all policies, participate in strategic planning and be familiar with all programs and services. The members of the Board oversee the implementation of policies and programs of Nazareth Farm. Members are also responsible for the health and wellbeing of this organization while also being active in monitoring Nazareth Farm's income and expense as far as the budget and fundraising are concerned. The Board serves on multiple committees including: Finance, Board Development, and Staff Personnel as well as ad hoc committees.

A little bit about each member of the board:

peggy bailey - Chair

Peggy lives in Annapolis, MD and came to the farm in 2004. She was friends with, then Director, Angie Moloney and her husband Bill Alt and wanted to see what Naz Farm was all about. Angie and Bill asked her to join the board and this is her 5^th year as a board member. Currently, she works in Washington, DC for the Corporation for Supportive Housing as their Senior Policy Advisor on health care issues for homeless populations. She’s been in the DC area for over 10 years and grew up in the Lone Star State. Peggy agonizes over Notre Dame and Cowboys football and plays tennis in her free time.

karen seifert- Secretary

Karen first came to the Farm in 2003, while working as a Youth Minister for a parish in Winnetka, IL. Though no longer doing ministry full-time, Karen joined the Board in 2008 as one way to stay involved with ministry. Karen works as a defense lawyer for the federal government in Washington, D.C. In her free time she enjoys singing, running, and hot yoga.

nick huck - Treasurer

Nick "Nick Huck" Huck currently teaches high school science at Delbarton High School, an all male Catholic high school conducted in the Benedictine tradition. He is originally from Northern Jersey and first visited the Farm as a senior in high school. His transformation experience during this visit ultimately led him to spend a portion of his college summers as "pseudo-staff" at Nazareth Farm. His pseudo-staff status at the Farm continues during the year and he excels at night-duty, dishes and regulating slide, scrape and stack. In addition to the Farm, Nick loves his family, Notre Dame football and playing sports.

beth scanlon

Beth's story is simple. She came to the farm from her home in Upstate New York in January 2005 and promptly fell in love. It is a joy for her to be able to come back year after year as a part of her job as campus minister at Le Moyne College. The people change, the names change but the mission and what calls us all here is as timeless as the mountains. She finds It is a great pleasure and honor to serve the people of the farm and the farm itself. She has been serving on the board since 2005 and is grateful for this opportunity.

scott haner

Scott Haner is a Board Member from Louisville, KY. He, his wife JoAnn and his two daughters (Julie and Lauren) first came to the Farm for Family Week in 2006 as they were searching for a family mission trip so they could serve together. The Family Week experience was very powerful and the Haner Family has returned for each of the last 4 years. He notes, “Each visit to the Farm has provided new memories and the opportunity to reflect on our blessings in a very peaceful environment. The mission weeks help us stay grounded.” Scott was especially moved by the solid foundation offered by the cornerstones of prayer, simplicity, community and service and the commitment of the Farm Staff to make the retreat experience special. In 2008, Scott was asked to join the Naz Farm Board, a position he accepted only when JoAnn agreed to accompany him on all Farm visits. Scott is a Permanent Deacon in the Archdiocese of Louisville. He has worked at KFC/Yum! Brands in Louisville for the last 20 years.

joe ali

Joe Ali is a graduate of the University of Richmond Class of 2007. He began coming to Nazareth Farm during high school with Iona Preparatory in New Rochelle, NY. He continued this tradition of spending his school vacations at Nazareth Farm throughout college by bringing groups to the farm as an alternative spring break. Joe is currently working for a public accounting firm in New York City where he specializes in not-for-profit auditing and tax preparation. After spending a year on the finance committee at the Farm, Joe joined the Board of Directors in September 2008.

kelly bohrer

Kelly has been a friend of the Farm since 1991 and on the Board since 2007. She first came to the Farm as a high school volunteer and came many more times in college. In 2002 she and her husband, Jeff, started bringing youth groups from Queen of Apostles parish in Dayton, Ohio and continue to do so. She now brings the whole family (Jeff, and their two boys Jonathan and Gavin) to the Farm for board meetings. Kelly works at the University of Dayton as the Coordinator of Community Outreach in the Center for Social Concern. She has Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Environmental Biology.

maureen "mo" kiley

This is Mo's second year on the Board of Nazareth Farm. She first began her relationship with the farm by participating in volunteer weeks while in college. She then joined staff and worked at the Farm from 2003 to 2005. Mo lives in Washington, DC area, works as a Health Care Service Coordinator for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and loves to take every opportunity to come back home to Nazareth Farm.

chris "marv" nieport

C. Marv Nieport has been coming to the farm since 1999, when he first experienced "Almost Heaven" as a high school volunteer. Since then he has returned for many holy weeks and other visits. Marv hails from Southwest Ohio, and currently lives in Cincinnati. In 2006 he received an Engineering degree from the University of Dayton. When he is not volunteering with small church communities and youth groups, he can be found hiking, biking, canoeing, and visiting friends & family throughout the United States. Marv is new to the board as of September 2010.

russ plywaczynsky

Russ first came to Nazareth Farm in November of 2004. He lived and worked at Bethlehem Farm, Naz's sister farm, for four years. After his time there, Russ studied accounting and now works for a public accounting firm in Clarksburg, WV. When not studying for the CPA exam, he enjoys spending time with his wife Rochelle, being outdoors, and planning ways to maximize the garden space on his porch. Russ and his wife live in Bridgeport, WV.

rev. john donovan - Historian (ex-officio)

I have been involved with Nazareth Farm since its inception, as one of the original student volunteers from Binghamton, New York in 1975. The Farm is very closely related to my own vocation story and thus, my commitment to is has been strong, having served on the board since 1988 and as an ex-officio member since 1995. My title is the "historian" which means I am supposed to write things down and remember things. I do not take the motto "Expect A Miracle" lightly; I have witnessed and experienced it far too often to walk away from a very special and holy ground, Nazareth Farm.

eric fitts - Director of Bethlehem Farm (ex-officio)

Eric grew up in Wauwatosa, WI, graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 1999 with a degree in biology and was involved in service trips to Nazareth Farm. After college, he volunteered and worked at Nazareth Farm from 1999-2002 (first as Volunteer Staff and then as Project Coordinator). In 2005, Eric married his lovely wife Colleen (who was at Nazareth Farm from 2003-2005) and they both attended West Virginia University, where he earned a Master of Public Administration and Certificate in Nonprofit Management in May, 2007. Eric began on the Nazareth Farm board in May, 2007, when he became Director of Bethlehem Farm (www.bethlehemfarm.net). His favorite things about life on the Farm are working with his hands (in the garden and out on the home repair sites), running the trails and backroads, hiking and stargazing.