Board of Directors

Managing Partner – Gallup

Scott Brown is a Regional Director of Business Development with Gallup. Brown is responsible for Gallup’s mid-market business development strategy. He manages an international sales team and oversees delivery of Gallup’s consulting solutions, which help organizations create exceptional workplaces. Prior to his current role, Brown was a Senior Consultant and responsible for business development and management of Gallup’s healthcare client relationships. In this role, he worked with clients to align the right Gallup teams and solutions to overcome their organizational challenges. He excelled at helping his clients achieve improvements in human capital outcomes, talent selection, leadership development, succession planning, employee engagement, and patient and physician engagement. Brown received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and master’s in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and is on the University of Nebraska-Omaha faculty.

Currently a partner at Oakdale Strategies, Kelli previously served as Vice President of Donor Services at the Omaha Community Foundation and leads the Foundation’s Impact Investing Program.  She holds a law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law and earned her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation from the American College of Financial Services.  Prior to joining the Foundation, Kelli practiced law in Omaha for 10 years, focusing on estate planning, probate, and trust administration.  Kelli is married to Scott, and has three stepdaughters, Leah, Meghan, and Brooke.

Director of Finance & Infrastructure, Northstar Foundation

Maria brings to DIBS over 25 years of diverse financial and business management experience. Recently, Maria became the Director of Finance & Infrastructure at NorthStar Foundation, managing all financial functions in addition to overseeing daily administrative operations. That followed 10 years with the University of Nebraska system holding similar positions with both the Buffett Early Childhood Institute and UNO Alumni Association. She also has experience in the for-profit industry including construction and project management. Maria received both her masters’ degree in public administration and bachelors’ degree in accounting from UNO, and an International Business degree from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Maria serves on the Board of Directors for the No More Empty Pots organization, and looks forward to applying all that she’d learned from both her financial, educational, and volunteer experiences in her Treasurer role for DIBS for Kids to further its impact within the Omaha community.

Vice President of Development, Together

Tom Hoy is the Vice President of Development at Together, Inc. and serves on the organization’s leadership team. Prior to this role, Tom was the President of Jesuit Academy and also served in a variety of executive leadership positions at Sitel and EGS (now Alorica). Tom is a certified teacher and holds an MBA from Creighton University.

Katie Lessman, M.D., Nebraska Medicine

Katie Lessman is a faculty obstetrician and gynecologist at Nebraska Medicine, where her responsibilities include patient care, training medical students and residents, and participating in and championing faculty and resident research.  Outside of the hospital, most of her time is devoted to her young family, as she recently welcomed her 4th child to the bunch.  Her passion for children’s literature predated her role as a mother, and has only grown with her family.  When child #3 was born with critical congenital heart disease, this interest in children’s literature expanded into clinical research in recovering lost neurodevelopmental potential in at risk populations.  In addition to these things, Katie also volunteers with Junior League of Omaha in research and development.

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