Administrative Assistant
Joanne is responsible for Alliance financial recordkeeping, preparation and processing accounts payable and receivables, and for selecting and shipping merchandise.
Jo joined the Alliance in 2009, initially part-time and soon transitioning to full-time. Jo answers phones, assists walk-in guests, ships merchandise, processes and pays invoices, manages office volunteers, and performs many other duties essential to smoothly running Alliance programs.
She maintains the lush gardens outside the Alliance headquarters, having created a thriving native prairie as a welcoming feature. Visitors to the Alliance office might catch Jo up on a ladder with needle and thread — the job of sewing leaves and acorns on the beautiful Giving Tree falls to her.
Jo’s support of the Trail is evident in the hours she spends maintaining the Trail as part of volunteer crews during Alliance-sponsored trailbuilding weekends. While she can handily paint blazes and nail boards into place, she’s chainsaw certified, too.
Before joining the Alliance, she owned an upholstery business for 20 years. Sewing and working with tools of all sorts has always been a passion. Photography also fills a creative niche in her life. Jo happily shares her photos with the Alliance for its various publications.
She has two adult sons interested in restoration work and preserving the land for future generations to enjoy. An ongoing passion for the last 30 years involves prairie restoration in some form or another.