Six individuals have been named to serve on the Northland College Board of Trustees. In April, Reverend Carla J. Bailey of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Mike Fiorio of Ashland, Wisconsin; Ned Hancock of Edina, Minnesota; and Ben Shepherd of Brooklyn, New York joined the board. In July, Bill Esposito of Locust Valley, New York; and Dave Ullrich of Chicago, Illinois, joined.
“We are fortunate to have this group of trustees join the board,” said Northland College President Michael A. Miller. “They bring skill sets and acknowledged credibility from their personal and professional lives that will help push forward our goals of sustainability, diversity, and social justice—as well as keep us true to our core mission of being the premiere environmental college in the country.”
Carla J. Bailey
The daughter of former Northland College President Richard P. Bailey, the Rev. Dr. Carla J. Bailey, Esq. has made it her life’s work to serve in the church and work in the name of social justice. In October 2015, Carla became the fifteenth senior minister of Plymouth Congregational Church—and its first female senior minister. She arrived from the United Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, where she served nineteen years. Along with her experience serving in several church and denomination roles, she brings to Plymouth her profound commitment to social justice. To prepare herself as thoroughly as possible to combat injustice, she earned a law degree from Vermont Law School in 2013.
Bailey earned her bachelor of art degree from Kalamazoo College and masters and doctor of ministry from United Theological Seminary. She was admitted to the Minnesota Bar in 2014. She is married to Warren Turner and they have two adult children, Joe and Matrika.
Bill Esposito
William “Bill” Esposito is the president and founder of Ambient Group, Inc., a global environmental and water treatment consulting company with headquarters and laboratories in New York. Esposito founded Ambient Group in 1986, only two years after graduating from Northland College with a degree in biology and chemistry. While building his business, he has pursued advanced degrees in environmental science at the City University of New York Hunter College (1993) and doctor of public health at Columbia University (2008). He received the Northland College Alumni Association’s Environmental Achievement Award in 1996. Ambient Group works to make sustainable indoor environments and specialize in indoor air quality, asbestos lab/field services, and water quality. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, his company formed a new biological terrorism division.
Michael P. Fiorio
Mike Fiorio is a 1980 graduate of Northland College, where he studied business administration. He and his brother are successful financial planners in Ashland, Wisconsin, offering a full range of services. He served as former president of the Bayfield Regional Conservancy Board of Directors and continues to play a role on two of their committees. He has served in other formal and informal community leadership roles over many years on issues around conservation, wildlife, and environmental issues.
Ned Hancock
Edward “Ned” Hancock has spent more than thirty years with 3M, a diversified technology company with a global presence, in a variety of marketing roles. After spending much of his early years in the forested areas of New England, his introduction to the local eco-region turned into a life-long love affair. He became a Madeline Island Wilderness Preserve board member in 2011 to help preserve for posterity what he and his family have been so fortunate to have enjoyed. Hancock has been visiting Madeline Island with his wife and four children for twenty-five years.
Ben Shepherd
Ben Shepherd is a LEED-accredited professional and the associate director for Atelier Ten, an international consultancy committed to high-performance and sustainable design. He graduated from Northland College in 2000 with a degree in environmental studies and went on to earn a graduate degree in environmental management at Yale University in 2006. Shepherd has extensive experience with urban ecology, renewable energy systems and green development assessments. He has managed the development of sustainability guidelines for a wide range of master plans on a multitude of sectors including commercial, university, government, and transportation. Shepherd also teaches core courses on environmental design and building services at Yale School of Architecture and was recently named a recipient of ENR New York’s 2015 Top 20 under 40 rising stars award, which is given to those making a positive impact on the design and construction industry throughout the tristate region. Shepherd has a particularly tight group of Northland College friends who travel together frequently.
David Ullrich
David Ullrich is the executive director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. His responsibilities include working with US and Canadian mayors from across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin to advance the protection and restoration of the resource. The Initiative leads many efforts to accelerate the work to become a more sustainable region by integrating the environmental, economic, and social activities to improve the quality of life and well-being of its people. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Ullrich served for thirty years at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes regional office in Chicago, working on environmental issues in the six states of the upper Midwest. He continues to serve on the Water Quality Board, and in 2006 was appointed by President Bush to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission where he serves as US Section Chair. In 1986, he completed a six-month executive exchange assignment with the German Interior Ministry. U.S. EPA recognized Ullrich for a number of his accomplishments during his public service career.
Ullrich earned an English degree from Dartmouth College in 1970, and an environmental law degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1973. He is the son of former Northland College Trustee Bob Ullrich.