ENDOW URBANDALE: BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Admitted to the practice of law in 1966 with the firm of Hopkins & Huebner, PC.  Resident of Urbandale since 1967, having served on the Planning & Zoning Commission, Mayor.  Participated in the creation of the Urbandale Leadership Institute, served on the Des Moines Arts Festival, Des Moines Performing Arts Board, Greater Des Moines Bureau of Economic Development, and Convention and Visitors Bureau.  Also served on the Polk County Board of Supervisors, participated in Polk County Housing Trust Fund, Metropolitan Advisory Counsel, Mid-Iowa Association of Local Governments, and League of Iowa Municipalities (past president), as well as other civic and community involvement.

Adam was born and raised in Urbandale, is a graduate of Urbandale High School, Drake University and Drake University Law School. Professionally he serves as Senior Vice President with R&R Realty Group’s Real Estate Advisors. Adam graduated from the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, Leadership Iowa, and was included in Business Record’s Forty Under Forty class of 2014. 

Adam’s community involvement:

• Urbandale City Council, Interim Council Member

• Iowa Events Center Hotel, Treasurer

• Des Moines AM Rotary Club

• Drake University College of Business and Public Administration National Advisory Council, Chair

• Endow Urbandale, Chair

• Donald V. Adams Leadership Institute National Advisory Council, Chair

Dave grew up in Storm Lake, Iowa and attended Iowa State University where he obtained a Civil Engineering Degree.  In 1979, he married Mary (Johnston) McKay.  They lived in the Chicagoland area for 13 years after college and Dave worked for a consulting firm and later as the Village Engineer for the Village of Park Forest.  In 1993, Dave accepted a position with the City of Urbandale as their City Engineer and Director of Engineering and Public Works Departments.  After 28 years of service with Urbandale, Dave retired in 2021.  They raised three children in Urbandale and they all graduated from the Urbandale School District.  He has 2 grandchildren who are currently attending Valerius Elementary as well as an infant grandson.

​

Dave is a graduate of Leadership Urbandale and he spent two more years helping put on Leadership Urbandale classes.  He has been a board member of Endow Urbandale for over ten years. 

Steve is a retired attorney. He has served on the Board of Trustees since Endow Urbandale’s founding in 2001. Steve also serves on Urbandale’s Capital Improvements Planning Committee and the Urbandale Library Foundation Board. He and his wife, Marybeth, have resided in Urbandale since 1980. Their three children all graduated from Urbandale High School.

Dan was born in Evanston, IL. He spent his early childhood in Calumet City, IL (South Chicago suburb) and moved to West Des Moines in 1968. Dan attended Dowling High School and Augustana College (Sioux Falls, SD) where he graduated with a Political Science degree. Dan played football at both Dowling and Augustana.

​

Dan met his wife Barb at Augustana and they married in 1980. They raised three children: Aaron, Christine and Paul. They have two grandchildren: Madeline and Hannah. Their children attended Urbandale High School.

​

Dan has been very active with coaching, parenting and all things Urbandale including being the head coach of assorted soccer, basketball and softball teams including the legendary Urbandale Bullheads 8U soccer team and the Urbandale Bunnies softball team.

Professionally, Dan joined Mueller Yurgae Associates Food Brokerage in 1977 with his dad, mom and three others. He retired after 43 years in 2020. His passion was selling candy. He was inducted into the National Candy Sales Hall of Fame in 2016. After retiring, he created derFrelleuM Solutions consulting.

Suzanne Behnke moved to Urbandale in 2009. She is a longtime Iowa journalist, currently the editor of the nonprofit investigative news outlet Iowawatch and an adjunct professor for Simpson and Wartburg colleges. Behnke also volunteers for the Urbandale Food Pantry. She is a huge fan of the Urbandale library and the trails system. She especially enjoys time with her family, husband Jon and son Jaymes.

With a passion for building workforce housing communities across the State of Iowa, Karie has long been an advocate of building communities that help cities and towns grow and prosper and that bring people home. 

She leads as CEO of Kading, a family-owned company rooted in Urbandale since 1977 that develops, builds, and manages affordable housing in Central Iowa. Married to Brian, the couple has two adult children, Blake and Bailie. Karie is a small-town junkie who loves the family-owned businesses and the people working to keep these doors open.

Karie currently serves as the president of CREW Iowa an organization that supports women in commercial real estate. She serves as a board member to the Iowa chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where she was named their 2018 Woman of the Year. 

Sara was raised in Grinnell, IA  and graduated from Grinnell High School. She has a younger sister and had a younger  brother. She graduated from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA with a major in history and elementary education. Following graduation, she moved to Boston to work for GTE Sylvania in their Minute Man Missile division. While working, she decided to pursue a degree in Library Science at Simmons College in Boston. Following graduation she returned to Iowa to get married. On a fluke she called the Urbandale Public Library to inquire into job openings on a Friday and was hired the following Monday as the director. She continued working for the library for the next 35 years. She is married to Tim Pearson and has three sons, Matthew, Jonathan and Scott. Tim and Sara have lived in Urbandale since 1976 and their children are all graduates of Urbandale high school.

Kathleen was born, raised and resides in Urbandale. She is a graduate of Urbandale High School and Iowa State University. She married her high school sweetheart, Josh, and they have three boys: Caden, Noah and Andrew. Kathleen serves on the Endow Urbandale board, is a member of the Executive board for Mid-Iowa Council of Scouts BSA of America, as a Mock Trial coach, a homeroom mom, and just about any other place volunteers are needed at school. 

​

Professionally, Kathleen is an executive leadership coach with a focus on senior leadership teams. She hosts a live radio show/podcast called, "The Kathleen Riessen Show: Pushing the Boundaries of Leadership." Kathleen is a Heartcore Leadership graduate ranking top in her class, a Heartcore Mastering Leadership graduate, a mentor for Boston Breakthrough Academy’s Mastering Leadership Program and a Leadership Iowa graduate. She is also a former CPA.

Steven retired from full-time employment in 2017 after a 43-year career in finance and accounting, primarily in the banking industry. He served as an executive officer of Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines (FHLB) from September 2006 through his retirement in January 2017, primarily as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining FHLB, he served in various accounting and financial management positions in the commercial banking and wireless technology industries. From 2001 to 2006, he served as Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary for Iowa Wireless Services, LLC. From 1977 to 2000, he served in various capacities, including Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer with Brenton Banks, Inc., a publicly traded regional commercial banking company that was sold to Wells Fargo in 2000.  Since retiring, he has served on the Board of Directors of West Bancorporation, Inc. and West Bank, West Des Moines, IA; Lloyd Companies, Inc., Sioux Falls, SD; and EFCO, Des Moines, IA.  Throughout his career, he served on the boards of various non-profit, public service, and industry association organizations. He and his wife Rose Ann have lived in Urbandale for more than 44 years. They have three grown children that all attended Urbandale Community Schools.

Wayne was born and raised in Paullina, Iowa and has lived in Urbandale for over 30 years. He is a graduate of Northwestern College, the University of Iowa, and Drake University Law School. Wayne managed the Personal Trust and the Pension and Profit-Sharing Departments at two local banks before opening his own investment management business. He is now retired and spends a good deal of his time doting over their grandchildren. 

Community involvement: 

• Northwestern College, Board of Trustees

• Urbandale Planning and Zoning Commissions, Commissioner

• Endow Urbandale, Treasurer

Joan, who has a bachelor’s degree from Scripps College (Claremont, CA) and a master’s
degree from the University of Denver, arrived in Urbandale the day the water went out in July
1993! Not as auspicious beginning since she had moved to Iowa from Idaho to take a job with
the Board of Regents with primary responsibility for facilities. (Her husband and two sons
arrived after water service was restored).  She has lived in Urbandale ever since and has certainly seen the City change. Her sons are graduates of Urbandale High School and the University of Iowa. She retired from the Board of Regents in December 2016.
 

Joan has served on the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission since 2012 and has
volunteered in the community, most recently providing tax assistance through AARP Tax-Aide
which helps anyone free of charge with a special focus on taxpayers who are over 50 or have
low-to-moderate income. She is an active participant at the Urbandale Senior Recreation
Center and serves on its planning committee.

Ardis Kelley is the Chief Strategy Officer for Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. She was born, raised and educated in Los Angeles, CA.  As life, career and marriage would have it, Ardis made her way to Iowa in 2012 when she joined the FHLB as its Chief Accounting Officer.

​

Outside of the Bank, Ardis serves on the Executive Committee and as Audit Committee Chair of the Finance Council of the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for several organizations dedicated to engaging the Des Moines community through arts, culture, community development and wellness, including Bravo of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines Performing Arts, Des Moines Water Works Park Foundations, Greater Des Moines Partnership - Downtown Development, Greater Des Moines Public Arts Foundation, and Obesity Awareness in Action.

​

Prior to moving to Iowa, Ardis held leadership roles in accounting and finance in Chicago, Illinois, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, New York City, New York, and Los Angeles, California.

​

Ardis is a CPA and received her undergraduate degree in Linguistics and Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Master of Accounting degree from the University of Southern California.

Ardis lives in Urbandale with her husband, Michael Joyce (a Des Moines native), and their three children Kerry, Aidan, and Regan.