Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Dale Shewalter

Honorary Chairman of the Board

Dale is affectionately known as the “Father of the Arizona Trail” and although he passed away in 2010, will always be the Honorary Chairman of the ATA Board. Learn more about Dale and how we are keeping his dream of a cross-state trail alive through his In Memoriam page.

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Contact the Board of Directors

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2025 Board Meeting Schedule

• February 9 ~ Annual Meeting ~ Desert Botanical Garden ~ Phoenix
• March 29 ~ Spring Board Meeting ~ Central Arizona
• June 8 ~ Summer Board Meeting ~ Northern Arizona
• October 19 ~ Autumn Board Meeting ~ Southern Arizona

Additional Board Documents are only available to ATA members in their Members-Only Resources upon login. Not a member? Join or renew today.

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Shawn Redfield

Pine

Shawn’s volunteer involvement with the ATA began in 2005 with remote trail construction along Passage 15. After 30+ years of bureaucracy working for the Department of the Interior, Shawn retired from public service in 2010 and decided to unwind by hiking the AZT. Since then he has continued to work on many areas of the trail including the layout and design, construction, maintenance, and infrastructure development. In 2011, he formally took on the role of Director of Trail Operations where you can witness his unwavering commitment to the continuation of developing and maintaining the trail. Whether he’s installing a sign, replacing a gate, or conducting trail work, Shawn is always busy supporting staff and volunteers to see that they have the tools, supplies and the where-with-all to do their part. He received the 2015 Trail Volunteer of the Year Award from American Trails, and in 2016 was named the Cox Conserves Hero for Arizona – an award that honors volunteers who create, preserve or enhance the outdoor places in our communities.

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Dana Ernst

Vice President

Flagstaff

Dana moved to Flagstaff in the fall of 1997 to attend graduate school in mathematics at Northern Arizona University, where he is now a professor. While rock climbing is the first outdoor activity that got him into the wilds of Arizona, he has enjoyed many immersive experiences while mountain biking, trail running, and backpacking. Dana and his wife have two energetic sons and a dog, and as a family they hike, bike, and run the trails throughout Arizona. He believes that respect for sensitive habitats and places of cultural significance are what make trails truly sustainable, and the Arizona Trail is the crown jewel of our vast networks of trails. Dana is honored to play a role in preserving the AZT, as well as enhancing it for his children and future generations. He has served as a Bikepacking Roots Regional Advisor and is active within the NAU Cycling Club.

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David Rabb

Treasurer

Tucson

David first visited Arizona in 1978 and immediately fell in love with the wide-open spaces, beauty, and diversity of the desert. In 2004, he moved to Tucson which has truly been home ever since. His involvement with the ATA started later that year; volunteering in the construction of the Cienega Corridor near Vail. He has continued building and maintaining the trail ever since, participating with the Crazies, Usual Suspects, and Tom’s Sawyers. In 2010 David began segment hiking the trail, completing it in 2012. More recently, he has also had the privilege of participating in the Trail Angel program. David loves to meet trail users from across the world and learn their stories. He believes the trail itself is a wonderful place, but the most important things are the benefits it brings to the people who experience it.

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Karen Gresham

President

Phoenix

Karen is a third generation Phoenician and has spent most of her life living near and hiking in the Phoenix Preserves (Piestewa Peak). She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University, earning a BS in Accountancy and minors in Spanish and Communication. After working as a CPA auditing all types of companies from large corporations to nonprofits to utilities, she “retired” from accounting to raise her three sons. Ever since then Karen has volunteered her time in the classroom, helping public education candidates, and for many charitable organizations. She has raised over $100,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and is now on the leadership team. She currently serves as an elected governing board member for the Madison Elementary School District, and coaches cross country for one of the middle schools. Karen loves everything trail related; she has completed several trail and ultra-marathons in Arizona and beyond, and is a trail steward/hike patrol for the City of Phoenix Parks Department. She has been on many parts of the AZT and will complete a thru-hike eventually!

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Alexandera Houchin

Board Member

Nomadic

Alexandera grew up in the Great Lakes region of southern Wisconsin and is a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. Alexandera attended the University of Arizona and the University of Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in American Indian Studies. Her first true love is cycling, and she has dedicated most of her life to bike touring, bikepacking, and bike racing. Alexandera has completed six successful long-distance bicycling efforts on the Arizona Trail, and she holds the women’s singlespeed records for the AZT 300 (U.S./Mexico border to Superior in 2 days, 19 hours, 25 minutes) and the AZT 800 (U.S./Mexico border to Utah border in 10 days, 13 hours, 36 minutes).

Alexandera has worked for her Tribal Government in Planning, and in the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota, Duluth in community outreach and student support. Her interests lie in pursuit of including Indigenous voices in issues of public land, building trail user relationships across user groups, and giving back to the people and organizations who’ve ensured that she has been able to embark on several of the transformative odysseys she’s had on the AZT.

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Victoria Levin

Board Member

Chandler

Victoria Levin was a transplant to Arizona in 1995 from New York and Boston. She works as a trial attorney for the federal government. While attending law school in Tucson, she became an avid hiker, fell in love with Arizona’s breathtaking landscape and biology, and is particularly enamored by the beauty and serenity offered by the Arizona Scenic Trail. She is honored and humbled to be part of this wilderness preservation organization.

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Rebeca Rodriguez

Board Member

Phoenix

Rebeca’s Arizona Trail journey began in 2018, sparked by volunteering at a trail reroute event in Happy Jack. Witnessing the transformative power of community, she made it a goal to give back to the trails, accumulating over 200 volunteer hours on the Arizona Trail. In 2022, she was selected to be a part of American Hiking Society’s NextGen Trail leaders program where she refined her leadership skills by actively engaging in state and federal trail advocacy efforts.

Equipped with a master’s degree in sustainability solutions from Arizona State University, Rebeca’s academic journey includes a master’s degree in space management from the International Space University and a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona. Transitioning from her aerospace engineering career, Rebeca redirected her path, returning to school to explore the intersection of community, sustainability, and advocacy. At the Hispanic Access Foundation, she serves as a liaison between the Latino community, the United States Forest Service, and federal funding for climate change mitigation. Originally from Puerto Rico, she exchanged a hot and humid climate for the hot and arid landscapes of Arizona.

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Clark Tenakhongva

Board Member

Polacca

Clark Tenakhongva is a respected Hopi leader and traditional cultural practitioner. He served in the United States Army for 10 years, and continued to support veterans as the Director of the Hopi Office of Veterans Affairs for 15 years. He has volunteered on Hopi school boards for decades, and is committed to youth education and empowerment on and off the reservation. Clark was elected as Vice Chairman of the Hopi Tribe in 2017 and served for four years, and one of his proudest accomplishments was the designation of Bears Ears National Monument. Clark is a proud farmer, rancher, grandfather, singer and artist who has won numerous awards for both his music and kachina carvings. Clark is honored to bring a perspective to the ATA from a group of indigenous people who have inhabited Arizona longer than any other, and whose core value is stewardship of the land.