Jessica Doleh

Starting my work in interpretation, as a ZooTeen, I was an interpreter long before I knew the name for what I was doing. Knowing I wanted to turn what I was doing as a volunteer into a career, I completed my BS in Zoology with a minor in Education. During that time, I worked various internships, seasonal, and part time jobs, all with interpretation and education at their core. Prior to the pandemic, I spent time as a Zoo Educator where I got to interpret animals and conservation every day. During the pandemic, I became the Park Specialist at Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville, Missouri where I still am today. I write, plan, coordinate, and teach all the interpretive programs at the park. In the past few years, I completed my masters with a focus on conservation-based interpretation, obtained my CIG, and became involved with NAI. I am currently the Secretary for Young Professional Council and newsletter coordinator for JEDAI Section.

NAI’s mission aligns with what I value and want to play a more active role in the work they are doing. NAI, its members, and conferences have helped me grow tremendously and I feel that through this role I will be able to help others seek out new opportunities and growth. I would bring forward the young professional voice, both through my own experiences, as well as talking to other young professionals and bringing their voice forward. Having previously volunteered with another diversity group, I would also bring that knowledge and skillset to aid in the JEDAI based initiatives NAI is pursuing.

I would like to aid in NAI’s work to tell a complete story. Inclusivity and accessibility are priorities for me, as they help remove biases, barriers, and obstacles. By working towards this, NAI can continue to create a safe space for many who may not previously have seen themselves or their stories within our field.

I hope to be a voice for the inclusion of the JEDAI and young professional perspective throughout the work the NAI board does.

Brendan Kane

Brendan Kane is a Park Guide at Mammoth Cave National Park with a passion for interpreting untold compelling stories. His work in a variety of NPS units have driven him to find the stories lacking from the history books and to share them with coworkers and the public to provide a holistic understanding of history. A large part of this passion evolved from his thesis, which seeked to understand the interpretation of Summer in the Parks, a series of events in the 1960’s and 70’s designed to increase usage of park sites by racial minorities, and how it relates to the broader narrative of interpretation in minority communities.

He is running for the board to be the voice for young professionals in an ever changing and advancing field. Brendan hopes to increase professional development opportunities for individuals getting started in the field, especially those coming from non-traditional routes. NAI is truly an amazing organization that more young people need to know of and know the benefit of joining. As a founding member of the Young Professionals Council, he has had the opportunity to start these efforts, from encouraging young professionals to attend conferences, to providing sessions at the National Conference on how managers can best work with their younger employees.

However, young professionals are not the only ones that need help. As society continues to understand the importance of telling multiple understandings of history we, as interpreters, have a duty to continue to train and learn how to help others understand and connect with these stories in our sites and communities.

Tess Renusch

I want to serve on the NAI Board of Directors because I have benefited greatly from NAI’s work and am passionate about using my voice and skills to ensure that it continues to grow more engaging and relevant to interpreters of all backgrounds, career levels, and identities.

I currently work as the Public Engagement Manager at Gorman Heritage Farm in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I manage visitor experiences, public programs, and interpretive media. My five years in the field have been filled with a mix of on-the-ground interpretation and management. I worked hard to get my CIG, CHI, and CIT certifications in that time and have enjoyed volunteering for NAI through the Region 4 and Interpretive Naturalist sections. I hope to better serve the interpretive community by acting as a voice for new interpreters on the Board of Directors.

If elected, I would advocate for improved labor conditions for interpreters including setting a base pay recommendation for organizations who hire interpreters. As a young professional myself, I know that the barriers to entry and advancement in this field are often tied into these material concerns including pay, limited full-time positions, and the expense of professional development opportunities. I believe that NAI should advocate for best practices for labor conditions in our field and would work hard to prioritize this.

As a queer person, issues of representation are always at the forefront of my mind and central to my work in the field. I believe that in order for NAI to represent the diversity in our field, including interpreters who are neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and interpreters who have disabilities, we need to ensure that the organization is highly accessible. If elected, I would advocate for the organization to make professional development opportunities more accessible both in modality and cost to better reach interpreters who are currently unable to attend NAI events.

I am looking forward to continuing my work in the field and hope to have the opportunity to serve you on the Board of Directors as the Young Professional Board Member.

Mike Lesperance

I am running for reelection to the Board to build on the work NAI is doing to better support current members and make our field welcoming and accessible to a new generation of interpreters. I am a small business owner, Certified Interpretive Planner, and member of the LGBTQIA+ community. Inclusion matters! I have worked on scores of interpretive plans and designs for almost 30 years. I am a past chair of the American Alliance of Museums’ Council of Professional Networks. I helped author AAM’s LGBTQ+ Welcoming Guidelines. I now serve as the chair of the Advancement (Fundraising) Committee and on the Personnel, Finance, and DEAI/JEDAI Committees. If reelected, I will continue working to make NAI better. Here’s how:

Expanding our field. We must support interpreters who connect with the communities they serve. We can welcome diverse voices into NAI by removing financial barriers to participation. I am on the core team writing a proposal for an IMLS grant to integrate DEAI principles in our training programs. We are raising funds to send people from traditionally marginalized communities to our conferences and trainings. I teach Museum Studies at Georgetown University and I know the challenges students face accessing this field.

Sustaining our commitment to make diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion a core of everything we do. Great interpretation requires us to tell stories and reflect perspectives that matter to all our visitors. As a member of a committee revising NAI’s standards for the CIP requirements, I continue to make our certification requirements reflect these needs.

Ensuring NAI’s organizational excellence. My experience as co- owner of The Design Minds, Inc. gives me insight into financial statements and personnel manuals. It may not be an exciting part of the Board’s role, but it is critical. I will continue to lend insight into best practices in managing your funds and ensuring our fantastic staff has the resources to serve members.

NAI has given me the chance to learn from people who make me think differently. Thank you for the chance to continue making NAI a place where everyone may have that opportunity.

Monique Thompson

As a dedicated NAI volunteer and independent Certified Interpretive Trainer, I am committed to fostering growth, equity, and innovation among our communities. After 20 years as an educator and business owner, most recently founding Raindrop Naturalist, I bring a strategic vision and entrepreneurial spirit to advance our global impact and deepen local connections. This requires sustainable initiatives, specifically adapting our coursework to support tour guides, high school students, and indigenous communities. Together, we can share stories that use inclusive language centered on well-being, accessibility, and social justice.

My own journey is a tale of transformation, from accidental interpreter during my Peace Corps Botswana tenure, to lifelong advocate of building relationships between people and Nature. In Botswana, I learned about the power of conservation and conversation from the ecological knowledge shared by my students and their families. Returning to the US, I moved into alternative education and taught Humanities classes to high school students. We engaged in Socratic dialogues, sparking independent thinking among my students to reveal the dialectic nature of universals, such as love, loss, joy, and fear.

In 2017, as a Volunteer Naturalist and Museum Docent, I discovered NAI’s CIG course. After attending the class, I knew that I had found my place and my people. Once certified, I pivoted my career from education to interpretation, serving twice as the Volunteer Chair for NAI’s National Conference, and for the past three years as Deputy Director of NAI’s Interpretive Naturalist Section. I also earned a graduate degree in Conservation Leadership and was hired as the first Outdoor Recreation Instructor for a newly formed trail and stewardship program with the City of Fort Collins.

I have also worked with organizations that reflect my commitment to interpretation and constructive conversations. These include: Restorative Justice Facilitator, National Association of Community & Restorative Justice; Facilitator, The Center for Public Deliberation; Public Engagement Specialist, City of Fort Collins Natural Areas. I hope that, with my experience and your input, we can learn from our past challenges, welcome new voices, and build stronger, better bridges for future generations.

Brian Forist

I bring decades of experience and expertise as a field practitioner and academic along with an eye toward the future. I have studied public communication in parks, protected areas, and heritage sites—that thing that we call “interpretation”—holding a B.S. in Environmental Studies, Outdoor Education, & Environmental Interpretation, an M.S. in Environmental Studies & Elementary Education, and a Ph.D. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies. I have worked in national parks, residential environmental education sites, non-profit organizations, and other public communication venues. I am a teacher, researcher, and practitioner. I am also dedicated to justice, equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in our profession and the places we protect. In particular, I have a significant presence regarding LGBTQIA+ inclusion and representation in the field of interpretation, the outdoors and the outdoor professions.

I first joined the Association for Interpretive Naturalists (AIN) in the late 1970s. My first professional presentation was at the AIN National Conference on Cape Cod in 1980. I have since given numerous presentations and served on panels at regional and national NAI meetings, many with my students. I am running for the NAI Board of Directors because our profession is at a critical point, poised to become ever-more inclusive and to more equitably represent and serve our diverse and expanding audiences. Under the direction of our Board President, Parker McMullen Bushman, we are moving into new and exciting territory. I am a fangirl! I have been and will continue to be a leader in evidence-based, visitor-centered dialogic interpretation and inclusive visitor services. This will move our profession forward. I have served on NAI’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Task Force/Committee since its inception. I will continue in a leadership role in NAI’s DEI efforts, empower members from society’s margins, and help to create a member base and profession that reflects the full diversity of our current and future visitors and other constituents. I am comfortable with difficult questions and conversations. I have a proven track record with students and new professionals. I want to expand on this in the service of our organization and profession.