About Learning for life

Vice President, Sportsman's Market, Inc. (Sporty's)
Mark Wiesenhahn is a vice president at Sporty’s, where he has worked for the past 34 years. Mark directs Sporty's media relations and trade show participation, along with managing key Sporty’s partnerships within the industry including Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and Experimental Aircraft Association. He is actively involved in promoting Aviation Exploring and has been an Exploring advisor with Aviation Exploring Post 78 for 27 years. Mark is a recreational pilot.

Dan owns and operates a contract chemical manufacturing business specializing in hazardous materials.  He has worked for a major oil company in refining, planning, chemical manufacturing, government affairs, and consumer products general management.  Dan is a chemical engineer with an MBA and holds several patents in design, chemical processing, and composition of matter. Dan is active in the local community having chaired a non-partisan political action committee, free shuttle service, county workforce development board, community college foundation, chamber of commerce, sanitary district, and wastewater discharge authority. He has served Scouting in many ways including as Scoutmaster, Council Commissioner, Post Advisor, Exploring District Chair, and as the Western Region Chair for LFL/Exploring.  A long-time Scout and Scouter, Dan is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Order of the Arrow Honor member, and is Wood Badge trained.  He is a recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award, Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, and Girl Scout Thanks Badge.  Dan currently serves as the President of the Golden Gate Area Council.

Fred Markham is the Executive Director of the Texas Pioneer Foundation, a private, independent foundation located in Texarkana, Texas. The foundation makes grants for educational purposes that include leadership and character development, access and success in post-secondary education, support for public school foundations, history and civics and literacy and life skills. In 2012, the Texas Pioneer Foundation created the Texas Education Foundation Network (TEFN) to support local education foundations in Texas by providing networking opportunities, sharing of best practices, training, and resources to foundations, and currently serves over 300 school foundations. Fred is a graduate of the University of Arkansas, and the SMU Southwestern Graduate School of Banking.  After a 30-year career in banking, he became Executive Director of the Central Texas Higher Education Authority in 1996 and worked with members of the board of directors to create the Texas Pioneer Foundation in 2004. Fred has been involved in numerous charitable and educational activities throughout his career including Chairman of the San Marcos Economic Development Council, President of the San Marcos Industrial Foundation, President of the San Marcos Education Foundation, Texas State University College of Education Advisory Board, President of the Friends of the Libraries of Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine Development Council and a Founding Director of CASA Central Texas.

Bray Barnes serves as the Director, National Cybersecurity Institute, Washington, DC, and is the Founder and Principal of Security Evaluation and Solutions Group, LLC that provides three unique Homeland Security cornerstones of service employing industry-wide Best Management Practices. Bray Barnes is licensed in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., has more than twenty years’ experience in the legal profession. Prior to his legal career, he served in law enforcement for eleven years, on active duty with the United States Army and served as a Radio Operator during the Vietnam War. While working full time as a police officer in New Jersey and while he and his wife, Patty, raised a family, Bray attended night school for 7 ½ years, earning an Associate’s Degree from Brookdale College, a Bachelor’s Degree summa cum laude and Master’s Degree from the City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice as well as his Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Seton Hall University School of Law.

Craig formally served as the Western Region Area 2 Exploring Chair and is currently a member of the Pathway to the Rockies Council, in Colorado Springs CO, where he serves as a Unit Commissioner and District Service Team Member. He is also the Exploring Chair on the National Commissioner Service Team. Over the years he has earned several awards for his service, including Silver Beaver Award, District Award of Merit, two Distinguished Commissioner Awards as well as the Department of Defense Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. He has completed Wood Badge, staffed seven Wood Badge courses, and ultimately served as Wood Badge Course Director. Craig is an Order of the Arrow Brotherhood member. Professionally, Craig has over 49 years of experience within the Department of Defense systems engineering, logistics, and management. After 30 years of service to his country, he retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel in 1998. After 19 years as a defense contractor, he retired in 2017 as the Deputy Chief Engineer for Engility Corporation’s Global Position System (GPS) Systems Engineering & Integration Program.

Dick left the corporate world as a Senior Managing Director with investment manager AllianceBernstein and now works with start-up companies as an investor and advisor. Earlier in his career, he worked for Procter & Gamble and The Boston Consulting Group. Dick and his wife Gayle Haller divide their time between New York City and Madison, Wisconsin. He has a long history with the B.S.A. beginning as a Cub Scout through his Eagle and Exploring. Dick serves as a board member of Greater New York Councils (GNYC) and Glacier’s Edge Council, where he is also VP - Development. As a youth, Dick was elected National Explorer President and was a youth member of the B.S.A.’s National Executive Board. Before assuming his role as Exploring Commissioner, he was Exploring Chair for the Northeast Region and Interim Scout Executive for GNYC. Dick has been recognized with the Silver Beaver and Spurgeon Award. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where he chairs the advisory board for the UW’s Economics Department and earned his MBA at the Harvard Business School.

Helen is a Professor of Education at Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA.  Her experience in education encompasses both public school and higher education.  Helen has a wide variety of assignments at Regent University that includes teaching and advising as directly related to Character Education.  Aside from teaching, Helen has served as a department chairperson, educational consultant, member and coordinator over the course of several years for many committees as well as serving as the Chairman of the Master's Program, K-12 School Leadership.  There are many credits associated with Helen's deep knowledge in research and development, including K-12 standards-based education, Character Education, Urban Education, Culturally Responsive Schooling and African-American Achievement Gap, and teacher preparation.

Jeff has been a Scouting Commissioner for over 25 years and is currently a member of the National Capital Area Council, Bethesda, Maryland, where he serves as a Unit Commissioner and Assistant District Commissioner in the Colonial District and as Assistant Council Commissioner for Exploring, STEM, Communications and Resources and Council Service Team Chair. He is an Eagle Scout and also participated in Exploring as a youth. He has been recognized with the District Award of Merit and the Order of the Arrow Vigil Honor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Master’s degrees in systems technology and computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School.  Since retiring from the United States Navy as a Lieutenant Commander in 1994, Jeff has worked in systems engineering, operations research analysis, and business development in the government information technology industry.  He presently is a senior price-to-win specialist with the Peraton Corporation.