
Staff
Friends of Black Rock-High Rock staff work year-round in a variety of roles including fundraising, marketing, projects, accounting, retail and administrative positions to ensure that our project grants and programs are making a difference.
Friends of Black Rock-High Rock has a satellite office in Reno and an information center and office in Gerlach, Nevada.
Office 775-557-2900
info@blackrockdesert.org
Stacey Wittek- Executive Director
Like all modern types living in a complex world, I have had a hand in a little bit of a lot of things—Educator and Writer (Journalism, Writing and Photography), Programs Manager, Workforce and Community Developer, Financial Coach and Trainer-Consultant. Through this journey, what I have found is that I have a solid skill at bringing together people for common causes and creating and implementing plans that involve collective impact. I like the kind of party where everybody pitches in.
I am at home outdoors. My personal work as an artist and writer often propels me to desert spaces, quirky towns and places, and in the company of independent thinkers and iconoclasts. As an avid mountain biker, road rider and winter sports enthusiast, if not on wheels or skis I can typically be found reading, writing or researching. Or eating. I love to eat.
Contact Stacey at stacey@blackrockdesert.org
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Nicholas La Palm
Nicholas was born in Butte, Montana, but spent the bulk of his formative
years in Spring Creek, Nevada; the Ruby Mountains serving as a perennial
backdrop in an otherwise endless sea of sagebrush and stars. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Gonzaga University, he spent three wonderful years as the grant writer and Environmental Director for the Te-Moak tribe of Western Shoshone on the South Fork Reservation in Lee, Nevada. Since then, he has worked in various capacities within the nonprofit sector, public education, wilderness therapy, and several community-based projects centered around social and environmental justice.
A lifelong-learner with an emphasis in the history and ecology of the Great Basin, Nicholas is personally and professionally committed to the preservation of its lands and cultures, aiming to engage with diverse audiences to better understand, appreciate, and improve our relationship to the natural world, to our communities, and to our shared past, present, and future. Needless to say, he feels right at home with Friends of Black Rock-High Rock.
When he isn’t working, he can be found doing other things that he loves, including: reading, writing, playing music, cooking, spending time with friends and family, tending to his plants, and wondering and wandering through the
West’s wild spaces.
Contact Nicholas at nick@blackrockdesert.org
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