Board of Directors

Benjamin Broadbent (chair) serves as Lead Minister of the First Congregational Church of Colorado Springs. He is passionate about interfaith conversations, racial and economic justice, reproductive freedom, and peace-making. His personal posse includes wife Brooke, son Marin (6), and daughter Sophia (3).

Bruce Cary works for the Colorado Springs Housing Authority and has deep roots in Colorado Springs. You can always find him planting shrubs along the shores of Fountain Creek or building retaining walls in the Garden of the Gods Park. He loves giving back to Mother Earth and sharing peace with the human race, and is proud to be a member or the PPJPC.

Steve Flynn holds a J.D. from the University of North Dakota and is a Colorado Legal Services attorney. A conscientious objector in the Vietnam War, he was arrested for his convictions. He is the treasurer of the Colorado Springs ACLU and a member of its legal committee. He serves as chair of the PPJPC Peace Scholarship Committee and on its Nominating Committee. He is chair of the 4th Judicial District Access to Justice Committee.

Loring Wirbel (Secretary) lives in Monument with wife, Carol, daughter Abbey and pets. He earned a B.A. in Science Journalism at the University of Arizona and is a long-time author, writer and activist. Awards in journalism by Project Censored and Scripps World. Co-chair Colorado Springs ACLU, member of Citizens for Peace in Space and Mobilization for Survival and past PPJPC Board member. Author of Star Wars, U.S. Tool of Space Supremacy.

Julie Ott is a community volunteer and has lived in Colorado Springs since 1995. She holds a JBA and MS in Land Resources, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her PPJPC involvement began with forming a play group of like-minded parents that met at the J&P office and area parks. She went on to help organize the Eyes Wide Open exhibit at Colorado College and found the Green Cities Coalition. She now co-chairs Repeat Boutique, a women’s boutique-style clothing swap, held twice a year to benefit the J&P.

Michael Siddoway spends much of his time studying commutative algebra, module theory and computational algebraic geometry. But when he’s not, he’s chairing the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at Colorado College. Mike served on the J and P board in 2004-05 and we’re glad to have him back. Though from a famous Montana fly fishing family, he rarely meets the yearly minimum requirements to carry his family name. He reads a lot and expertly trains steely-nerved retrievers. He spent the first few weeks of his sabbatical playing Steve Earle songs in the Paris Metro.

Victoria Stone spent years working street outreach for Urban Peak Colorado Springs. She is currently the Minority Family Advocate at Mission Possible. She helps minority youth navigate the court process and access needed resources and services. She has an 11-year-old daughter, Faith, and volunteers for many community organizations.

Jimi Hummer, a Wisconsin native, Jimi graduated from Fox Valley Technical College in 2010 and joined the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs as a chef in 2011. Jimi is co-chair of the PPJPC’s Middle East Peace (MEP) project and is engaged to Sylvia Sedrak, the MEP’s 2011 peace envoy to the Palestine.

Pat Hansen is a retired nurse who generously volunteers her time on various nonprofit boards. She is a member of the Pikes Peak Equality Coalition. When not working as a community volunteer, Pat enjoys music, hiking, yoga and hanging out with her granddaughter.

Melissa Marts serves as Chief Programs Officer at Care and Share Food Bank. She is a longtime sustainable food advocate and has worked with Peak to Plains Alliance, a coalition of local food producers. She opened and operated Tejon Street Market, a downtown grocery store.

Staff

Steve Saint (Executive Director) holds a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University. Prior to a 15-year career in newspaper and magazine writing, he helped organize the Green Party of California. He is the author of Rules for Reaching Consensus (Jossey-Bass).

Melissa Allen (Associate Director, Peace Camp & Finances) is an accounting instructor at Pikes Peak Community College. She holds a Masters of Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University and served with the Peace Corps in Western Samoa.