Board and Staff

WTA Staff

WTA’s staff offers our membership the critical oversight of taxation issues necessary to ensure they remain informed and able to participate in key tax decisions.

Our legislative monitoring, third-party advocacy and education are the answer for individuals and businesses that don’t have the time to monitor these issues themselves, but appreciate the impact our work has on their bottom line.

Hank Hoversland

Executive Director

[email protected]

Bio

Hank Hoversland joins the Wyoming Taxpayers Association after serving the Legislative Service Office as a Fiscal Analyst, where he conducted research on behalf of legislators and assisted in revenue forecasting, among numerous other duties. He holds bachelor’s in economics and political science from the University of Wyoming. During his time there, he served an internship for the United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Hank is excited to continue utilizing his policy experience as Executive Director.

Hank was raised in Casper, but now calls Cheyenne home. Outside of work, he can be found on the football field or basketball court refereeing high school sports, or in the stands cheering on the Pokes. Hank is eager to use the relationships and knowledge base to hit the ground running to advocate for a healthy Wyoming economy through sound tax policy.

Dani Wiblemo

Office Manager

[email protected]

Bio

Dani Wiblemo returned to Wyoming after 20 years in Washington, DC. A graduate of Kelly Walsh High School and Casper College, she moved to DC with her husband. While in DC, she gained her experience in office management at the Center for Democracy and Technology and Connections Media. After moving back to Cheyenne, she managed the office at Wyoming Stock Growers Association.
Dani and her husband Tom are living the life with their children Taylor & Alex

Executive Committee

Chris Brown

President

Bio

Chris serves as the Executive Director for both the Wyoming Hospitality Travel Coalition and Powering Up Wyoming. After working more than 20 years in the restaurant industry, Chris began his association management career in 2011. He is a tireless advocate for his clients, with a passion for the hospitality industry and the growth of renewable energy in Wyoming. Chris and his wife Shelby have lived in Cheyenne for 20 years and have to sons, Ryder and Owen. On his days off you will find Chris spending time with family, fly fishing and coaching both boy’s ice hockey teams.

Craig Rood

1st Vice President

Bio

Laura Lewis

2nd Vice President

Bio

Tom Jones

Secretary

Bio

Tom Jones has been a board member of Wyoming Taxpayers Association since 2016. Tom works for Peabody Energy and is currently Director of Financial Planning at Peabody’s North Antelope/Rochelle Mine. Prior to his current assignment in Wyoming, Tom was in Colorado at Peabody’s Twentymile Mine as mine Controller and was a member of the Colorado Mining Association. Tom is a graduate of California State University – Fresno with a degree in Business Administration/Accounting. Tom resides in Gillette with his wife Julia and they have three children.

Scott Wells

Treasurer

Bio

Scott Wells is the Internal Audit Manager at True Companies in Casper, Wyoming. Prior to True Companies, he was an Audit Manager at KPMG LLP and Moss Adams LLP in Portland, Oregon. He also worked a number of years in Silicon Valley during the Dot Com Bust as an independent corporate financial consultant. Scott is a Chartered Financial Analyst as well as a licensed CPA (inactive). In addition to serving as the Treasurer of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, he is also on the board of the Casper Children Development Center and the Natrona County Library Foundation. He is a graduate of both University of Oregon and Portland State University. Scott resides in Casper with his wife and four children.

Katharine Wilkinson

Past President

Bio

Katharine K. Wilkinson is a licensed Attorney in the State of Wyoming. Her focus is Government Relations and Lobbying.

She is the current President of the Wyoming Capitol Club, serves on the Executive Committee for the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, serves on the Wyoming State Bar Legislative Developments Committee and was a member of the 2013 Class of Leadership Wyoming.

She has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Wyoming College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She is married to her husband Chris, and has three children.

Jon Kirkbride

At Large Member

Bio

Jon is a fourth generation rancher from Cheyenne. In addition to being a long time member/board member of the Wyoming Taxpayers he is currently serving as a member of the Wyoming Business Alliance steering committee, been past President of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association, been past President of the Wyoming School Boards Association, been a member of the State Board of Education was on the initial board of the Wyoming Business Council and was a military veteran. He has a wife Dianne, three sons, fourteen grandchildren and one great grandchild. A big sports fan.

Dave Picard

At Large Member

Bio

Dave Picard has been involved with the Wyoming Taxpayers Association for nearly twenty years. In 1997, Dave formed The Wyoming Group, LLC, a government and public affairs firm serving the Rocky Mountain region with special emphasis in Wyoming. The firm specializes in representing fortune 100 companies in the lobbying and public affairs arena. Since its inception, he and his colleagues have served clients in the areas of lobbying, strategic planning, coalition building and mobilization, issue management and public relations in the government policy-making arena.

Dave is 4th generation pioneer ranching family in Wyoming residing in Cheyenne with his wife Annemarie and children Jacy and Vincent.

Bobby Rolston

At Large Member

Bio

Bobby Rolston has over thirty years in the oil and gas business, the last twenty working for Occidental Petroleum (formerly Anadarko Petroleum), concentrating on State and Local Tax Policy in the Rocky Mountains. He serves on the Executive Committees of both the Wyoming Taxpayers Association and the Utah Taxpayers Association and has served as both Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Tax Committee for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming. Bobby is also a member of the Executive Committee for the Utah Petroleum Association. He has been appointed to Select Committees on Intangible Property Taxation, Special District Regulation and Mineral Valuation by Wyoming Governors Freudenthal and Mead.

Board Members

Nathan Anderson

Union Pacific Railroad

Salt Lake City, UT

Bio

Nathan Anderson is the Senior Director of Public Affairs for Union Pacific Railroad. As a function of the Corporate Relations Group, Mr. Anderson acts as the public face of the company in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Mr. Anderson has direct responsibility for community outreach, constituent and legislative issues, intergovernmental relationships, philanthropic giving, and public relations and serves on multiple non-profit and professional boards. He joined Union Pacific Railroad in 2004 after spending time in both private equity and manufacturing.

Mr. Anderson continues in a strong tradition of an actively engaged public presence in the communities served by Union Pacific Railroad. Until March 2015 he was a part of the Marketing and Sales organization at Union Pacific, with multiple roles including managing business segments, major account management, and business development.

Mr. Anderson and his wife, Cyndie, reside in Salt Lake City, UT with their two sons. He holds BS and MBA degrees from Brigham Young University.

Chris Brown

Wyoming Hospitality Travel Coalition

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Chris serves as the Executive Director for both the Wyoming Hospitality Travel Coalition and Powering Up Wyoming. After working more than 20 years in the restaurant industry, Chris began his association management career in 2011. He is a tireless advocate for his clients, with a passion for the hospitality industry and the growth of renewable energy in Wyoming. Chris and his wife Shelby have lived in Cheyenne for 20 years and have to sons, Ryder and Owen. On his days off you will find Chris spending time with family, fly fishing and coaching both boy’s ice hockey teams.

Emily Cantu

Merit Energy Company

Dallas, TX

Bio

Emily Cantu is a Division Controller at Merit Energy Company, one of the largest private oil and gas operators in the United States with operations in Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas. She currently oversees tax and royalty reporting in the State of Wyoming and has also managed tax reporting in other states across the US. Emily has a Masters in Professional Accounting and Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, both from the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a licensed CPA in the State of Texas. She is married to her husband Niko and has two children.

Kara Choquette

Power Company of Wyoming, LLC

Denver, CO

Bio

Kara Choquette is the vice president of communications and government relations for two independent energy companies: Power Company of Wyoming LLC, developing the 3500 MW Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project on a cattle ranch in Carbon County, and TransWest Express LLC, developing the 732-mile TransWest Express Transmission Project to provide western renewable energy markets with access to made-in-Wyoming electricity. Choquette joined the companies in 2009, after previously leading various communications programs at engineering firm CH2M HILL and at high-tech firm Xerox Corporation. She began her professional career in the newspaper industry and grew up on a farm/ranch that her family continues to operate. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Wyoming Energy Authority, appointed by Governor Mark Gordon in 2022.

Pete Illoway

Illoway Consulting

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

2013 to present- Lobbyist and Consultant

2019 to present- Board Member and Secretary of Wyoming Community Development Authority

2013 to 2019- Board Member and Co-Chair 2018 to 2019 Wyoming Business Council

1998 to 2012- Member of the Wyoming State Legislature serving in the Wyoming House of Representatives, House District 42

1998 to 2004- Vice President Cheyenne LEADS

Board Member Cheyenne Regional Airport

Member Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce

Advisory Board Member of First Interstate Bank Cheyenne

Public Relations Committee Assistant and Heels of Cheyenne Frontier Days

B S Degree in Farm and Ranch Management Economics- Colorado State University 1963

Thomas Jones

Peabody Energy

Gillette, WY

Bio

Tom Jones has been a board member of Wyoming Taxpayers Association since 2016. Tom works for Peabody Energy and is currently Director of Financial Planning at Peabody’s North Antelope/Rochelle Mine. Prior to his current assignment in Wyoming, Tom was in Colorado at Peabody’s Twentymile Mine as mine Controller and was a member of the Colorado Mining Association. Tom is a graduate of California State University – Fresno with a degree in Business Administration/Accounting. Tom resides in Gillette with his wife Julia and they have three children.

Jon Kirkbride

Harding & Kirkbride Livestock Co.

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Jon is a fourth generation rancher from Cheyenne. In addition to being a long time member/board member of the Wyoming Taxpayers he is currently serving as a member of the Wyoming Business Alliance steering committee, been past President of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association, been past President of the Wyoming School Boards Association, been a member of the State Board of Education was on the initial board of the Wyoming Business Council and was a military veteran. He has a wife Dianne, three sons, fourteen grandchildren and one great grandchild. A big sports fan.

Donna Lawrence

Denbury, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil

Plano, TX

Bio

Donna Lawrence is Property Tax Manager with Denbury Inc., an oil operator located in Texas and specializing in enhanced oil recovery with field operations in Wyoming, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Texas. Donna has over 35 years’ experience in the property tax field, specializing in the oil & gas industry. Donna’s previous employment spanned 26 years at Burlington Resources/ConocoPhillips before moving to Denbury. Donna serves on the Board of Directors of the Wyoming Energy Authority, appointed by Governor Mark Gordon in 2020. She also currently serves on tax committees for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, Texas Taxpayers & Research Association, Texas Oil & Gas Association, and Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, guiding state tax policy. Donna was awarded the Del Threadgill Distinguished Tax Professional Award by the Texas Taxpayers & Research Association in 2020. She is a registered lobbyist with the state of Wyoming. She is a graduate of the University of Texas, with a BBA in Petroleum Land Management.

Laura Lewis

Thomson Group, LLC

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Mike Mores

Charter Communications

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Mike Mores is the Senior Government Affairs Manager for Charter Communications, Wyoming. Mike has worked for over twenty years in Government Affairs and Public Relations, representing national nonprofit and fortune 500 company interests in multiple states. Mike is a graduate of the University of Wyoming and resides and offices in Cheyenne. He is married with two sons.

Mike Moser

Association and Advocacy Group

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Dave Picard

The Wyoming Group

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Dave Picard has been involved with the Wyoming Taxpayers Association for nearly twenty years. In 1997, Dave formed The Wyoming Group, LLC, a government and public affairs firm serving the Rocky Mountain region with special emphasis in Wyoming. The firm specializes in representing fortune 100 companies in the lobbying and public affairs arena. Since its inception, he and his colleagues have served clients in the areas of lobbying, strategic planning, coalition building and mobilization, issue management and public relations in the government policy-making arena.

Dave is 4th generation pioneer ranching family in Wyoming residing in Cheyenne with his wife Annemarie and children Jacy and Vincent.

Bobby Rolston

Occidental Petroleum Corporation

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Bobby Rolston has over thirty years in the oil and gas business, the last twenty working for Occidental Petroleum (formerly Anadarko Petroleum), concentrating on State and Local Tax Policy in the Rocky Mountains. He serves on the Executive Committees of both the Wyoming Taxpayers Association and the Utah Taxpayers Association and has served as both Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Tax Committee for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming. Bobby is also a member of the Executive Committee for the Utah Petroleum Association. He has been appointed to Select Committees on Intangible Property Taxation, Special District Regulation and Mineral Valuation by Wyoming Governors Freudenthal and Mead.

Craig Rood

Project West

Gillette, WY

Bio

Amy Rutledge

EOG Resources, Inc.

Houston, TX

Bio

Amy M. Rutledge is the property tax manager for EOG Resources, Inc, one of the largest crude oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the U.S. She has 33+ years of ad valorem tax consulting and compliance experience.

While her primary focus is in the oil and gas industry, she has multi-state experience in commercial, industrial, and residential properties. Amy began her career in property tax for Clarke & Company, where she had the opportunity to work for a diverse group of complex property clients. Amy then joined Ernst & Young, LLP where she became an ad valorem tax consultant focused on oil & gas properties. As a consultant at Alvarez & Marsal and Stancil & Co. Amy continued her ad valorem tax career performing valuation, negotiation, process improvement and outsourcing services for mineral related clients. Amy joined EOG Resources, Inc. in February 2015 as the Sr Property Tax Representative. Amy served on the Local Jurisdiction committee for the Texas Oil & Gas Association. She is a graduate of the University of Houston Clear Lake with a BA in History.

Marianne Shanor

Hathaway & Kunz, LLP

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

A Cheyenne native and fourth-generation Wyoming attorney, Marianne Shanor is a Partner at Hathaway & Kunz, LLP. She assists in diverse areas of practice at the firm, including government relations and lobbying, natural resource law, administrative law, business, commercial and corporate law, civil litigation and appellate work.

Shelley Shelby

Continental Resources

Oklahoma City, OK

Bio

Ginger Smith

PureWest Energy LLC

Denver, CO

Bio

Scott Wells

True Cos

Casper, WY

Bio

Scott Wells is the Internal Audit Manager at True Companies in Casper, Wyoming. Prior to True Companies, he was an Audit Manager at KPMG LLP and Moss Adams LLP in Portland, Oregon. He also worked a number of years in Silicon Valley during the Dot Com Bust as an independent corporate financial consultant. Scott is a Chartered Financial Analyst as well as a licensed CPA (inactive). In addition to serving as the Treasurer of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, he is also on the board of the Casper Children Development Center and the Natrona County Library Foundation. He is a graduate of both University of Oregon and Portland State University. Scott resides in Casper with his wife and four children.

Katharine Wilkinson

KKW Consulting, LLC

Cheyenne, WY

Bio

Katharine K. Wilkinson is a licensed Attorney in the State of Wyoming. Her focus is Government Relations and Lobbying.

She is the current President of the Wyoming Capitol Club, serves on the Executive Committee for the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, serves on the Wyoming State Bar Legislative Developments Committee and was a member of the 2013 Class of Leadership Wyoming.

She has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Wyoming College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She is married to her husband Chris, and has three children.

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