2025 ALDHA ELECTION INFORMATION
- Voting period is September 1 through September 30.
Nominations are open from August 1 through August 21.(The nomination period has now closed)
Nominees for 2025 (more bios coming):
Coordinator:
Joe (Hafa Adai) Gleason
Joe combines a love for hiking with hands-on experience in nonprofit operations. He brings experience in governance, communication, and operations—and enjoys helping ALDHA run smoothly, with a little humor along the way.
Assistant Coordinator:
Penny (Reverse) Vann
Penny grew up hiking. She loves the eastern woodlands. Penny has served ALDHA before, as its: Educational Coordinator, At Large Board Member, Recording Secretary, and also as a Gathering Director.
Recording Secretary:
Jeff (Turtleback) Prater
Jeff is currently serving as an At Large Board Member, and he heads up our Outreach program.
At Large Board Members:
Christohper (Roll Tide) Marshburn
Chris is currently serving as an At Large Board Member and he leads ALDHA’s Mentorship program.
Vera (Missing Kink) Hurst
Vera is currently our Blaze Editor and has served as an At Large Board Member before as well as Assistant Coordinator.
Tom (Quirk) Jenkins
Tom is a NOBO thru hiker and finished the trail in August of 2024.
Brian (Cheese Shredder) O’Malley
Brian hails from Austintown, Ohio, where he lives on a small farm with his wife, two sons, and a lively menagerie of animals. He works night shift as a licensed practical nurse in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and psychiatric emergency/crisis care. Alongside his full-time work, Brian is pursuing his Registered Nurse degree.
When time allows, he enjoys reading—his favorite book is The Hunger Games—along with drawing, painting, listening to music, experimenting with novice glass blowing, camping, and, of course, hiking. He’s also a dedicated fan of television and film, with favorites ranging from The Ranch and Mom to Stranger Things and Saturday Night Live. Although he has not yet completed a long-distance hike, Brian remains deeply passionate about thru-hiking and the hiker community.
In addition to his commitment to ALDHA, Brian is a strong advocate for mental health awareness and substance use recovery. He takes pride in serving two communities that are often overlooked or stigmatized, and he never hesitates to speak up for those who have not yet found their voice.
Currently, Brian serves ALDHA as a Board Member at Large and as Hiker Fair Coordinator for the 43rd Annual Gathering. Since last year’s event, he has joined the post-Gathering work trip, regularly attended board meetings, and represented ALDHA at Trail Days, where he provided lightweight first aid kits and trail health education to visitors at the ALDHA tent.
Passionate about both the hiking community and mental health advocacy, Brian brings a “dreamer’s” perspective to the board. As he looks ahead to his planned AT thru-hike in 2027, he would be honored to continue serving ALDHA, finding the experience both rewarding and deeply educational
ALDHA Election Process:
Our bylaws require us to adhere to certain stipulations assuring an orderly and transparent election process.
To facilitate the election process, the board has established an Elections Committee which is responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of policies and procedures of the annual election of members of the ALDHA Board, leadership and composition, Board guidelines and conflicts of interest.
A slate of nominees will be selected and voted on by the ALDHA membership via electronic and mail in balloting in September with results announced at The Gathering in October.
Nominations will be accepted for the following openings this year…
Nominate Now!3 At Large Directors and the following Officer positions:
Section 6.3 Coordinator. The Coordinator shall be the principal executive officer of the Corporation and, subject to the control of the Board of Directors, shall oversee the processes of governing by the Board. The Coordinator, when acting as ALDHA’s Operational Manager, is empowered to appoint people to special voluntary positions within the Corporation, including facilities and program chairmen of the Gathering; ALDHA program managers; and editors of publications. The Coordinator shall sign all corporate documents required by law, and attested to by the Recording Secretary.
Section 6.4 Assistant Coordinator. In the absence of the Coordinator or in the event of the death, inability or refusal to act, the Assistant Coordinator shall perform the duties of the Coordinator and when doing so, shall have all the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the Coordinator. The Assistant Coordinator shall perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him or her by the Coordinator or the Board of Directors.
Section 6.5 Recording Secretary. The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of the proceedings of the Board of Directors and the members; see that all notices are given in accordance with these Bylaws, be the custodian of the records of the Corporation, except the financial records and the membership list, and shall see that all corporate documents are properly executed and shall perform all duties incident to the office of secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him or her by the Coordinator or the Board of Directors. The Recording Secretary shall attest/witness any instruments signed by any other officer of the Corporation.
Duties and Responsibilities for All Board Members:
1. All board members must agree to and sign a conflict of interest statement.
2. Board members are expected to help carry the load of managing the day-to-day business of ALDHA. We are a working board and it is not uncommon for board members to wear multiple “hats.”
3. Board members are expected to attend the Gathering, in-person board meetings, and monthly electronic meetings. Board members are encouraged, when possible and feasible, to attend trail functions such as the ATKO, Trail Days and local trail festivals.
4. Board members are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the ALDHA bylaws and motions passed by both past and present boards.
5. Board members are required to adhere to the ALDHA Communications Policy.
Links to more information:
Code of Conduct
Duties & Responsibilities
Whistleblower
Conflict of Interest
If you are interested or want to nominate another member please be sure they are interested. Nominees will be expected to submit a brief biography and a statement of why they want to serve on the board.
Accepting a nomination and subsequent election to the board gives you the ability to affect the future of ALDHA. The pay is lousy (none), there is always plenty of work but you can’t beat the camaraderie. If you love ALDHA and the hiking community, please give serious consideration to joining the board.
ALDHA Elections:
Ballots will be formatted by the Election Committee and posted on the website.
Snail mail ballots and nominee bios will be sent to non email members.
One ballot will be sent per membership.
Electronic voting will be via the website.
Elections close September 30th. Ballots received after this date will not be counted.
Posting of Results:
The website will tally electronic ballots and paper ballots will be tallied and verified by the Election Coordinator and/or the Recording Secretary.
Results will be announced at the Gathering.
Results will be posted on the website, in the Blaze and the Winter Newsletter.
Calendar Overview:
August 1st – nominations open
August 21st – nominations close
September 1st – both electronic and snail mail ballots (for members without email) will be made available.
September 30th – elections close.
