Meet Our

Board of Directors

The ISS Board of Directors oversees our international programs and maintains the ethical and fiduciary responsibility of our organization to financial supporters, state government and Iowa's citizenry.

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The Board is led by the Executive Committee, which is comprised of the President, President-Elect, Treasurer and Secretary. This committee meets prior to all Board meetings (and other times as necessary) and acts with the authority of the Board between meetings.

Teresa Parmenter

President

Teresa joined the ISS Board in 2014 but has been a citizen diplomat for over three decades.  Teresa has played an integral part in the Yamanashi/Iowa Baseall Exchange and has been active in Iowa as the Athletic Director of Holy Trinity School and Governor of the Iowa Amateur Athletic Union for 16 years.

Paolo Bartesaghi

Treasurer
 

Paolo joined ISS in 1998. His term on our Board of Directors began in 2004 and since then he has been President of ISS and currently serves as Chair of the Iowa-Veneto partnership. Paolo was born in Lecco, Italy, and worked extensively in the fashion industry for many years. He moved to Des Moines in 1997 and was the owner of the retail stores A Touch of Italy and Accenti. He is now a travel consultant for his company Traveling Treasures. Paolo has served on numerous boards and committees including Drake Fine Arts and the Des Moines Metro Opera. He is currently the President of the Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa.

Roger Nowadzky

Vice President / President Elect

Monty Freeman
Secretary

Monty Freeman has been involved with Iowa Sister States since 2001. He previously served as the ISS Board of Directors President, and most recently as Interim Director for Iowa Sister States. For many years, Monty taught Biology at Urbandale High School. He is active in his community as a local 4-H club leader, and as a volunteer at the Annett Nature Center, where he conducts summer camps for youth.

Luca Berrone

Luca has been involved with ISS since the very beginning! He assisted in its formation in 1983 and has serve in various capacities since then, and has been on the Board of Directors since 2006. Luca was born and raised in Torino, Italy and built his ties to Iowa as a foreign exchange student at Hoover High School and then as an international student at Iowa State University. Luca is the President of SACMI, USA Ltd., a subsidiary of an Italian manufacturing company.

Rob Denson

Rob joined our Board of Directors in 2018. He is the president of the Des Monies Area Community College and has been there since 2003. In addition, Rob is active on nearly twenty community boards. Rob received his B.S. in Political Science and Economics and his M.S. in Higher Education Administration from Iowa State University. He graduated from Law School at the University of Florida in 1979 and is a board certified civil trial lawyer. 

Grant Kimberley

Grant joined the ISS Board in 2014. He is the Director of Market Development for the Iowa Soybean Association, and has participated in overseas trade missions all around the world. Grant is a sixth-generation family farmer, and in February 2012, he and his family hosted then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping for a highly-publicized farm visit. Grant also met with Xi in Beijing the following month as a part of the Iowa Lt. Governor's trade delegation.

 Phyllis Van Gilst

Phyllis joined the Board in 2004, and she has traveled with ISS on an exchange to Yamanashi, Japan where she climbed Mt. Fuji. Her international travel experience is extensive, and she has hosted many international guests over the past two decades. Phyllis is the Director of International Trade Compliance for Emerson Process Management.

Will has been volunteering for ISS since 1998. He has also served as Chair of the Iowa-Hebei partnership since 2000. Will is our immediate past president, and has helped coordinate many exchange projects in Hebei and in its neighboring cities Tianjin and Beijing. Will teaches English and global study courses at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC).