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LEADERSHIP TEAM

Our shared leadership team of Staff and Board, with the help of volunteers, has a range of expertise and conservation experience, as well as a deep concern for the future of wildlands in our region.
STAFF
John Sztukowski
He/him
Co-Executive Director/Conservation Director
john@wildconnections.org John oversees Wild Connections' public lands work, wilderness lands inventories and educational hikes as well as outreach to the public, agency staff and government offices on conservation issues and BLM or USFS. He chairs several citizen coaltions active in conservation in the region and serves on BLM's Rocky Mountain Resource Advisory Council. John's background ranges from climate change to sustainable agriculture to habitat restoration and wilderness conservation.
India West
She/her
Co-Executive Director/Fundraising Director
india@wildconnections.org India focuses on building strong relationships with Wild Connections' donors and grant makers. She is responsible for fundraising, ensuring Wild Connections revenue is sustainable for long term program and operational needs. She also covers much of the day-to-day administrative works. India's background, in addition to fundraising, includes through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and extensive hikes in her home state of Colorado.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jim Lockhart
He/him
President
jim@wildconnections.org Colorado Springs, Legal writer (ret)Jim helps lead our backcountry hikes and has inventoried many of the Forest and BLM roadless areas as a part of the mapping team.. He is active in Pikes Peak Group of Sierra Club. Backpacking in California’s Sierras and other western wildernesses are among his favorite adventures.
Kristin Skoog
She/her
Vice-president
kristin@wildconnections.org Colorado Springs, Software Engineer (ret)Kristin also chairs our funding team and is on the planning team. She likes hiking, backpacking, skiing, and working on wildlands inventory and monitoring projects. Her background is in software development, and she lends her technical skills to help with the website and productivity tools for the team.
Alison Gallensky
She/her
Secretary
alison@wildconnections.org Westminster, Conservation GeographerAlison’s extensive background in software engineering and geographic information systems have been put to use in support of Wild Connections' roadless area inventories and climate modeling. She is Rocky Mountain Wild’s Conservation Geographer Director and active in GIS in the Rockies. She likes to travel and visit far flung places across North America.
Claude Neumann
He/him
Treasurer
claude@wildconnections.org Denver, Civil Engineer (ret.) Claude leads Wild Connections hikes and has done conservation work and led hikes for many years with the Colorado Mountain Club. His special wilderness interest often leads him to Utah to explore the canyons and and support protection of the red rock lands.
EXTENDED COMMUNITY
Wild Connections can’t do this work on our own. Our talented extended community makes our work possible and successful.
  • Rocky Smith - Public lands policies
  • Christine Hill - Publications
  • Lee Patton - Publications
  • Sofia Corley - Financial assistant
  • Eric Dec - Data Entry
  • The photographers who share their images that invite us into wild nature
Celebrating 30 years of caring for the lands and waters of central Colorado.
Since 1995 hundreds of people have been at the heart of Wild Connections.
  • Volunteers and interns mapped the and documented the wilderness qualities of US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management roadless areas
  • Hike leaders gave people a glimpse of some of the wildest lands in our region
  • Hundreds got their hands dirty in dozen habitat restoration projects
Jean Smith Founder Emerita
She/her
jean@wildconnections.org In 1995 Jean organized the steering committee and volunteers to map roadless areas on the Pike-San Isabel National Forest. This grew into Wild Connections where she has served as Executive Director or Board Chair, and continues as an active member of the Leadership Team.
Wild Connections is a science-based conservation organization that works to identify, protect and restore lands of the Upper Arkansas and South Platte watersheds to ensure the survival of native species and ecological richness. We acknowledge that the Arkansas and South Platte watersheds are the ancestral lands of the Ute, Cheyenne, Jicarilla Apache, Arapaho and other indigenous peoples.
Westcliffe - Program office info@wildconnections.org john@wildconnections.org 817-939-4239 Colorado Springs - Development office india@wildconnections.org 719-660-5311
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