Board of Directors
Lauren Babicka
Lynn Babicka
James Bohart
Christian Ettinger, Treasurer
Matthew Ettinger
Heidi Ettinger
Wendy Ettinger, Vice President
Bobbi Hapgood, President
Matthew Hapgood
Barbara Huseby
Sven Huseby
John Powers
Trevor Renner, Secretary
Adjunct Committee
Jonathan Babicka
Missy Babicka
Holly Bohart
Leland Ettinger, Vice Chair
North Landesman
Hudson McLane
Kat McLane
Chris Renner, Chair
Melissa Renner, Treasurer
Britt Rollins, Secretary
Andrew Schumacher
Staff
David Stocks
Executive Director
David joined EFA in 2015 as Arts Program Director and became Executive Director in 2020. He is a former President of the Shaker Museum Mount Lebanon in New York. Earlier in his career, David was a Real Estate Broker and the founding Board President and first Executive Director of Friends of the Katy Trail in Dallas, Texas—one of the nation’s most successful rail-to-trail projects. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University.
Astrid Kaemmerling, PhD
Arts Program Officer
Prior to joining EFA, Astrid worked as Artist-Centered Program Manager at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, LA. Before moving to Louisiana, Astrid served as Cultural Curator at the Goethe-Institut in San Francisco, CA. Born and raised in Germany, her interest in contemporary art led her to the US where she received her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Arts from Ohio University. Her thesis focused on the role of the arts and artists in gentrification discourses. As an artist herself, Astrid has been exhibited internationally, received numerous awards, and attended residencies at the Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto (Italy), the Vermont Studio Center (VT), and Kala Art Institute (CA), among others. Since 2016, she has directed her own social practice art project, educational platform, and research laboratory, The Walk Discourse.
Laura Nixon, JD
Reproductive Health + Justice Program Director
Before joining EFA, Laura was a Law Students for Reproductive Justice Fellow at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, where she led the expansion of the organization’s reproductive justice program. She held earlier positions at the Office of the General Counsel at the City University of New York, Kingsborough Community College, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Laura is a graduate of The City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, where she was the Editor-In-Chief of the CUNY Law Review. Currently, she serves on the Steering Committee of the Appalachia Funders Network.
Carol Pickering
Adjunct Committee Consultant
Carol is a Senior Partner with Dietel & Partners and currently advising EFA’s Adjunct Committee on their collaborative and individual grantmaking efforts. Previously, she guided the Committee’s Food Security initiative in Central Appalachia from 2018-2022. Prior to joining Dietel & Partners, Carol was a Business Reporter and Food Entrepreneur. She is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound.
Amy Pickle, JD
Environment Program Director
Prior to joining EFA, Amy was the State Policy Program Director for Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability, where she led research and engagement with state and local decision makers to address challenges related to the energy transition, and a Senior Fellow at Duke Law School teaching Energy Law. She has served in appointed roles on two North Carolina Environmental Regulatory Commissions. Her early career was as an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center and the North Carolina Department of Justice. She is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Law School, where she was the Executive Articles Editor of the Law Review. Currently, she is serving as a gubernatorial appointee to the Board of Directors for North Carolina Advanced Energy Corporation.
Lucien Rothenstein
Democracy Program Officer
Prior to joining EFA, Lucien served as Deputy Director for Political Affairs and Support Strategy for Demos, a democracy and economic policy think tank with a focus on racial justice and structural reforms. He has also worked as a Speechwriter and Policy Advisor, including as Democracy Reform Policy Lead for one of the leading 2020 presidential candidates. Originally from England, Lucien worked in politics and media in Prague, Berlin, and London before gaining a dual master’s degree in International and World History from Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He wrote his thesis on international relations during Watergate. He earned his bachelor’s in International Relations and Politics from the University of Sussex.
Rebekah Wadadli
Grants Manager
Rebekah is an expert in private foundation administration, having worked as a Senior Director of Client Services at Foundation Source for 10 years before opening her own consulting practice supporting foundation clients in project and change management. Her early career was in the nonprofit sector as a speech writer and grant writer for the American Association for Cancer Research and Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. She brings this breadth of experience to bare as EFA’s Grants Manager where she is dedicated to supporting both our own staff as well as our grantee partners. Rebekah is a graduate of Haverford College.