Board Members
Chuck Porter
Board Chair
Chuck Porter is an Indiana native who began to call Nebraska home in 2001, when he moved with his family onto a 160 acre farm in Otoe County. Their seven years on that farm provided a rich, yet challenging opportunity to establish an organic produce business and the beginnings of a grass-fed dairy operation (later carried forward more successfully by another family). Chuck and his wife Susanna, an occupational therapist, put down roots in Nebraska while raising their two children. An opportunity to purchase their own property and for Chuck to begin working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have led to what is now 21 years of Nebraska life. Chuck also has a Masters in Religious Communications from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio and has served as the youth minister for St. John's United Church of Christ in Syracuse, NE for over 20 years. Chuck also serves the East Nebraska Area of NRCS as a Civil Engineering Technician.
Edison McDonald
Board Vice Chair
Director of Government Affairs and Development, GC ReVolt
By day McDonald is the Executive Director of The Arc of Nebraska In his spare time he also serves as the Director of Development and Government Affairs for GC Resolve a grassroots development company working on agricultural issues and GC Revolt that works on renewable energy development. In this role, he has helped massively expand solar across the state, led the charge to protect family farms from CAFO operations, and worked to open solar regulatory standards.
Peter Mullin
Board Member, Treasurer
Congregation B’Nai Jeshurun/The South Street Temple
Peter serves as our treasurer. He works at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a lecturer in Plant Pathology and Microbiology, and participates in a number of research projects in nematology. As a member of both Lincoln synagogues, he sings with the South Street Temple Choir and contributes percussion and tin whistle for the Star City Kochavim, Lincoln’s premier klezmer band.
Daniel Deffenbaugh
Board Member
Academic Dean of Central Community College - former Professor of Religion, Chair of the Religion department, Hastings College
Lisa Hadler
Board Member
Pastor of Ogallala and Brule United Churches of Christ
Ron Roeber
Board Member
Staff
Rev. Susan Smith, MDiv
Interim Executive Director
Sue grew up in New Jersey in the Lutheran Church. She was an elementary teacher for 11 years in FL and always felt called to teach the next generation to care for the earth. When she went to seminary in the Church of the Brethren, she felt this call was shifting to teach the church to take better care of the earth. She has been an outreach and an interim pastor, served on her district boards and was a church treasurer for a decade. She has now served Antelope Park COB since 2020. She has been involved with many community groups but has focused much of this part of her job by being on the Nebraska IPL board. Her strong faith stance on ecological care and her interfaith beliefs in working together for justice are passions for her.
Rev. Zac Wolfe
Communications Coordinator, Nebraska IPL
Zac is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) Christian tradition. He lives in Lincoln with his wife, Rudi, and their three girls. Zac has previously served as a hospital chaplain, associate pastor, and solo pastor in Nebraska and Missouri, and as a State Campaign Organizer for the Poor People's Campaign in Nebraska. He currently is the part-time Pastor and Director of Social Transformation for Contemplate Lincoln. He is excited to live out his passion for social justice and faith with Nebraska IPL.
