1000 Friends of Wisconsin

Steve Hiniker, Executive Director
Steve joined the staff as Executive Director of 1000 Friends in October 2003, however he has been involved with the organization since its inception as one of the organization's founding board members. Prior to joining the 1000 Friends staff, Steve was the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Citizens Utility Board, a non-profit organization dedicated to representing the interests of residential utility customers. Steve has also served as the Environmental Policy Coordinator for the City of Milwaukee where he developed and successfully lobbied for environmental liability reform legislation ("brownfields legislation"), developed pro-transit transportation funding plans and developed innovative "blue cart" recycling program. His legislative experience includes working with State Senator Joe Strohl during which time he developed policy for recycling, transportation, air emissions trading and education and was responsible for all media relations in the office.

Barb Irvin, Finance Director
Barb manages the office, finances, information technology and member services. Barb holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in Environmental Studies from UW-Madison, where she specialized in Geographic Information Systems. She comes to 1000 Friends from a position as the Information Technology Director at a Madison-based GIS consulting firm. After moving to Madison from Texas, where urban sprawl is king and good planning nearly non-existent, Barb joined 1000 Friends of Wisconsin as a founding member.

Deb Nemeth, Development Director
Deb has worked in both the public and private sector. She was a small business owner for many years. After finishing her graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she worked for Congressman Les Aspin and then went on to work for the state senate as a policy advisor. She was Director of Development and Communications for The Nature Conservancy – Wisconsin Chapter before a short retirement spent traveling. Deb was a founding board member of 1000 Friends and has served on a number of other non-profit boards. She joined the staff of 1KFriends after serving as a volunteer for a number of years. She oversees the fundraising, communications and event planning for the organization.

Kevin Pomeroy, Planning Director
Kevin is responsible for working with elected officials, planning commissioners and citizens throughout the state of Wisconsin to help promote the state's Comprehensive Planning Law. Kevin has experience in community development, architecture and urban planning. He has worked in the public sector as the Design Coordinator of the Wisconsin Main Street Program, in the private sector with planning and architectural consulting firms, owned a company specializing in downtown development and has taught courses at the UW-Madison Department of Urban and Regional Planning.