The Foundation
Board Member Josh Koepke
The Foundation would like to introduce our newest board member, Josh Koepke. Josh takes over for Greg Wright who recently retired from the board. When asked about his willingness to take on the added time and responsibilities of the Foundation, Josh indicated his motivation was in continuing the focus on remembrance with the memorial, getting the Museum project moving forward, and preserving our fire service history.
Josh is very active in the Missouri Fire Service. He started as a volunteer in 2008 and continues to date splitting his time with the Pleasant Valley Fire Department and the Birmingham Fire Department. His career job since 2011 is as an engineer with the City of Kansas City Fire Department. Josh has been an FFAM member for 15+ years and is currently an Assistant Director for District 11 since August 2018. Josh also volunteers with the Missouri State Fair Fire Dept. from 2015 to the present. When not working, Josh enjoys hunting, fishing, and vacationing.
Treasurer Melissa Old
The Foundation would like to introduce our new treasurer, Melissa Old. We wish Greg Wright the best in moving on and into semi-retirement giving him more time to focus on the EMS Funeral Response Team. With the ever-increasing responsibilities of managing deposits and expenditures of our three bank accounts, the board made the decision to partner with an outside contractor in the capacity of a 1099 position.
Melissa lives in Ashland, MO, and previously served two terms on their Board of Aldermen. She has a BS in Business Administration from Columbia College with an emphasis in Accounting and an MS in Public Affairs from the University of Missouri, Truman School of Public Affairs in Columbia. Melissa has worked at the University of Missouri in the Sponsored Programs Office as a Compliance Manager working with a variety of grant sponsors ranging from large Federal agencies to smaller non-profit foundations and everything in between for the past 22 years. She is also on the board of directors for Maplewood Barn Community Theatre helping to produce their summer outdoor theatre seasons.
While her position with the Foundation is non-voting, we are looking forward to her insight into the future both in our financial positions and an honest public perspective on what we can do better in managing your Foundation.
FFAM
