GENERATION IOWA COMMISSIONERS

Chair

• Jodi Grover, lives in Rowley, Iowa and graduated from East Buchanan High School, Winthrop, Iowa. She earned her Associate of Arts degree from Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, then obtained her Bachelor of Arts from The Upper Iowa University, specializing in education. She earned an Iowa Teaching License in 2007 and in 2009, Jodi graduated from The Upper Iowa University with a Master’s in Special Education. Jodi served as a clerk for State Senator Brian Schoenjahn. Currently, she is a Teacher Education Coordinator at Upper Iowa University at the Des Moines Center.
  

Vice Chair

• Vacant

Commission Members

• Erik Christian, 27, lives in Story City, Iowa and currently works for Iowa State University, as a graduate research assistant while pursuing Ph.D. in crop physiology and part-time, as an agronomist, for Prairie Brand in Story City. Born and raised in Iowa he graduated from Roland-Story High School in 2000. He attended Iowa State University receiving his Bachelor’s (2004) and Master’s (2007) in Agronomy. Erik and wife, Alaina, own a commercial vegetable and hay operation on his family’s century farm east of Story City. Erik serves on the Story County Extension Council and is secretary for Story County Farm Bureau.
  
  
• Ragen Cote, 33, is the Executive Director for Downtown Partners in Sioux City, Iowa. She is an Iowa native, growing up in Dubuque and moving to Sioux City at the age of 12. She graduated from East High School in Sioux City then attended Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. While at the university she participated in an exchange program with Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo, Japan for one year. After returning from overseas, she graduated from Morningside College with a BA in business administration, a minor in Japanese and an emphasis in international trade. She has two young children and is on the board of her local young professionals group, Sioux City Growth Organization (SCGO) [www.siouxcitygo.com].
  
  ragencote@gmail.com
  
  
• Christian Fong, 33, lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the Principal for Fong Strategic Consulting, where he advises companies on strategic planning, “next generation” retention and civic projects. He also serves as President of Corridor Recovery, the non-profit that helped coordinate flood recovery for Linn County after the Flood of 2008. After graduating from Underwood High School in 1993, Christian earned his B.S. in Statistics from Creighton University in 1996 and his MBA with high distinctions from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 2005. As a native western Iowan, and current eastern Iowan, Christian's passion is to see the next generation, all across the state, step forward to become a generation of dedicated servant leaders for the state of Iowa.
  
  cfong@christianfong.com
  
  
• Kate Gronstal, 31, lives in Council Bluffs and works as a Project Engineer for HNTB Corporation. Kate received her Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering and Masters of Public Administration from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. She currently serves as the Chair-Elect for Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, a Board Member of Humanities Iowa, MATHCOUNTS Chair for Grenville M. Dodge Chapter of the Iowa Engineering Society, a member of Lewis Central High School's Project Lead the Way Community Partnership Team, a member of the Leadership Council Bluffs Curriculum Committee. Kate is active in politics and many other community activities.
  
  Kate.gronstal@gmail.com
  
  
• Sarah Hinzman, 25, splits her time between “home” in Cedar Rapids and “work” in Des Moines. She is currently the Program Development, Training and Disability Inclusion Coordinator for the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service (ICVS). Prior to her work with ICVS, she served as an AmeriCorps member with the Eastern Iowa Conservation Alliance in Toddville, where she taught thousands of students and general public about environmental science and her favorite subject—reptiles and amphibians. She spends any available free time working and volunteering in local theatres both as an actor and educator. She graduated from Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School in 2003. After two years in Illinois and four months in London, she landed in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and graduated from Viterbo University in 2007 with a B.F.A. in Music Theatre and a Minor in Dance. She hopes to receive some sort of advanced degree in the near future and continue her life in the performing arts.
  
  
• Rachel Dozark Judisch, 32, lives in Lake View, Iowa and works as a speech-language pathologist and program manager for local skilled nursing facilities and hospitals. She attended Ar-We-Va High School in Westside, Iowa and earned all Missouri Valley Conference academic and athletic honors while pursing her BA in Communicative Disorders from UNI. Rachel received her MA in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Iowa. After completing her clinical fellowship in Chicago at the nation’s top rehabilitation hospital, Rachel and her husband, Jon, returned to Iowa to further pursue their medical careers. Rachel advocates for pursuing health care careers in rural Iowa via teaching, supervising, and mentoring students and young professionals.
  
  judischrachel@hotmail.com
  
  
• Emiliano Lerda, originally from a rural area of Cordoba, Argentina. In May of 2004 he graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a B.A. in Communication Studies and a Certificate in Global Health. At the University of Northern Iowa, Emiliano served as the student body vice president and president for the academic years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, respectively. In 2005, Emiliano and his wife founded a small non-profit organization where he currently serves as the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors. The organization, LUX Opportunities, funds scholarships for high school graduates from developing countries who have excelled in academics, but lack financial means to proceed with studies at colleges in their home countries. In December of 2008 Emiliano graduated from Drake Law School with a J.D. and certificates in Food and Agricultural Law, Public Service, and International & Comparative Law & Human Rights. While at Drake Law School, Emiliano was a Public Service Scholar and received the Student of the Year, Student Bar Association President’s Award in 2008. Furthermore, he served as President of the Hispanic Law Student Association, and Vice President of the Agricultural Law Student Association. Prior to attending law school, Emiliano worked for the State of Iowa Board of Regents as a Student Relations Officer. Emiliano currently serves the Iowa community as a Commissioner appointed by the Iowa Governor on the Generation Iowa Commission and the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Services. In 2008, he received the Iowa Governor’s Volunteer Award due to his work with the Iowa Department of Economic Development and their Green Streets Initiative. Emiliano is currently an LL.M. candidate at the University of Arkansas Graduate Program in Agricultural Law and works as the government relations manager for the Iowa Corn Growers Association. In 2004 Emiliano married Shannon Blake from northeast Iowa, and they have a son, Santino.
  
  319.504.6729
  emiliano.lerda@gmail.com
  
  
• Christine Ralston, 31, lives in Iowa City and is a graduate of the University of Iowa, with a Bachelor of Music in 2001, Juris Doctor from the College of Law in 2007, and Master of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning from the Graduate College in 2008. Christine was a music teacher before returning to school in 2004. Since graduating, Christine has been a researcher at the Iowa Policy Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization providing objective, fact-based analysis in the areas of taxes and budget, economic opportunity, and the environment. Christine is married and has one truly perfect daughter.
  
  
• Erik Raker, 34, lives in Des Moines, Iowa and is a co-founder and President of Raker Rhodes (Structural) Engineering. A graduate of Hoover High School in Des Moines, Erik received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1996 in Chemical Engineering and his Masters of Civil Engineering from Iowa State in 2000. Erik is currently the Vice Chairman of ACE Mentors of Iowa and an advisor to the Project Lead the Way program in Des Moines. Erik is married and has two daughters.
  
  Eraker@rakerrodes.com
  515.418.6400
  
  
• Maura C. Walsh, 24, came to Des Moines in October 2009 to take up the position of Special Assistant to the President at the World Food Prize Foundation. While she is a Des Moines native, Maura had spent the previous five years studying and working outside of Iowa. She holds a B.A. from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where she studied psychology, international development, and foreign languages. Maura also had the opportunity to spend time abroad: learning Wolof in Dakar, Senegal; interning at Encompass Trust in London, England; and working in Paris, France. Maura is excited to be back in Des Moines, and to be involved in the growing movement to enhance opportunities for students and young professionals in Des Moines and across Iowa.
  
  mwalsh@worldfoodprize.org
  
  
• Khara Coleman Washington, is an attorney living in Davenport, Iowa. A native of New Orleans, Khara graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in French and English. After graduating from Washington University School of Law in 2003, she spent two blissful years in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as a judicial law clerk in the chambers of the Honorable Judge David R. Hansen, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Recently married, Washington has returned to Iowa to pick up where she left off…enjoying the practice of law, but with ample time left over for friends, family, and community. Currently an associate at Lane & Waterman LLP in Davenport, Washington was previously an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago. Washington also serves on the board of directors of Ballet Quad Cities.
  
  kharawashington@gmail.com
  
  

Ex-Officio Members

• State Senator, Jeff Danielson
• State Senator, Shawn Hamerlinck
• State Representative, Elesha Gayman
• State Representative, Peter Cownie
• Iowa Workforce Development
• Iowa Department of Economic Development