2019 Annual Meeting Voting Information

2020 – 2022 Board of Directors Ballot

ACRES’ Board of Directors is comprised of 18 members. Board members serve three-year terms. The Nominating Committee has selected the six nominees below to serve as board members for the 2020–2022 term.

There are six positions and six candidates. You are voting for or against each candidate.

Daniel Ernst
Roanoke, Indiana
Dan is a Partner and Vice President of Earth Source Incorporated and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture and an Associate degree in Agriculture from Purdue University in 1990. Dan is a registered landscape architect and member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He also serves on the Fort Wayne Downtown Design Review Committee, is a member of Allen County Friends of the Parks and chairman of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. Dan and his wife Margo have two adult children. Dan’s interests include fishing, camping, woodworking and collecting antique farm tractors.

Joe Conrad
Huntertown, Indiana
After 35 years as Chief Executive of BrightPoint and acquiring a reputation as a community development and social service entrepreneur, Joe is now enjoying his retirement by hiking, kayaking, and traveling to wild places. He gardens, works wood, and dabbles in bad art. He and his wife Nancy live just down the road from the Dustin Preserve and have been active ACRES volunteers for the past decade.

Mark Maffey
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Mark moved from Cincinnati to Fort Wayne with his wife and three children in 1985. He retired in 2017 after 45 years holding various engineering and managerial positions with companies that designed and manufactured military and commercial communication as well as aerospace electronics products. He became an Indiana Master Naturalist in 2012, a program administered by the Indiana DNR, and is an active volunteer with a number of local nature preservation organizations. Mark and his wife are life members of ACRES Land Trust. They enjoy the wonders of nature and spending time with their grandchildren.

Ben Hess
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Ben graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Landscape and Horticulture Design in 2002. Ben’s past work experience include Nursery Manager of Heartland Restoration Services and as the East Central Ecologist for DNR Nature Preserves. Ben is currently the Landscape Manager for the City of Fort Wayne Public Works-Right of Way.  He currently assists with review of landscape design, landscape management, plant selection, and is responsible for snow removal of various sections of greenway trail throughout Fort Wayne. Ben was recognized by the Indiana Nursery and Landscape Association as an Accredited Horticulturalist. He is a licensed herbicide applicator, certified wildland firefighter, and has been involved with prescribed burns for the past 15 years. Ben has regularly taught wildflower identification for the Indiana Master Naturalist Program, and in the past wetland ecology.  He has been married to Amanda for 16 years and has 4 children, three boys and one girl; ages range from 5 months old to 13 years old. Most of Ben’s time is spent coaching baseball at Georgetown Little League. When baseball season is over he enjoys hiking, fishing, kayaking and walking the family dog.

John Caffray
Markle, Indiana
John is a veteran of the commercial real estate industry with over 18 years of experience in Northeast Indiana real estate. Prior to his employment with Sturges Property Group, John was the Managing Director of Brokerage at the former NAI Harding Dahm. He also has experience as a Financial Advisor and previously worked for a real estate investment trust. John is a member of Commercial Real Estate Alliance and a former District 2 Representative of the Indiana Commercial Board of Realtors. John received his education from Ball State University where he earned a BA in Graphic Arts Management. John lives in Wells County with his wife, Karen, and their three daughters. John likes anything that gets him outside, like fishing, hunting and landscaping.

Julie Wall
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Julie is an artist and owner of a creative printshop in downtown Fort Wayne called the HEDGE. Her work as an artist is almost always inspired by nature and her own surroundings. A few years ago, Julie and a couple other artists decided to curate a show about their experiences and reactions to their natural surroundings. During the prep work for that show, Julie hiked almost two times a week for a year, and explored many ACRES preserves for inspiration. It was then that she fell in love with ACRES. Julie loves being outside hiking and kayaking, and she always make sure to always have her sketchbook handy as well.

ACRES Annual Member Meeting & Picnic details 

Register for Annual Meeting & Picnic