Our Team

Howard Carver

Board Chairman

Silverthorne, CO

Howard retired from Ernst & Young (now EY) in June 2002 where he was serving as the Hartford, CT Office Managing Partner. He has more than 35 years of experience in management, auditing, accounting, financial reporting, and insurance. He also has substantial experience as a board member, board chairman, and auditor for civic/charitable not-for-profit organizations.

Since June 2002, Howard has been a member of the board of directors of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE) and currently chairs its Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. Until their respective sales, he was a member of the board and chair of the audit committee for Open Solutions, Inc. and Phoenix National Trust Company. Since 2005, Howard has been a member of the board of StoneMor Partners L.P. and a member of its audit committee. In 2013, Howard was appointed by Governor Hickenlooper to the Pinnacol Assurance Board where he is Chair of the Board, chair of the Governance & Ethics Committee and a member of the audit committee.

Howard and his wife, Sue, have been involved with a variety of nonprofits with special emphasis on children, education, financial literacy and the arts. Currently, the Carvers are on the boards or committees of or work closely with Lake Dillon Theatre, The Summit Foundation, Breckenridge Music Festival, Continental Divide Land Trust and Mile High United Way as well as Bradley University and the University of Wisconsin.

Howard received his bachelor of science from Bradley University (‘66) and his master of business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (’67).

Robert Mathes

Denver, CO

Robert Mathes is an attorney with Occidental Petroleum Corporation and is based in Denver, Colorado. Rob advises his company on a wide variety of natural resources and oil and gas-related issues. Prior to joining Occidental, he was a partner in a large Denver-based law firm and a smaller boutique firm. Rob graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Wyoming and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Wyoming.

Rob is on the University of Wyoming College of Art & Science Board of Visitors and is active in his church in Denver where he is a deacon and teaches Sunday school. Rob is committed to working with the Keystone Science School because of his passion to support educational foundations and his strong support for ecology and science-based education.

Yanitza Rivera-Garnier

JEDI Commission

Silverthorne, CO

Yanitza was born in Mayaguez PR and moved to Summit County in 2001 at the age of 21 after completing her Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of PR in Mayaguez.  Shortly after arriving in Summit County, she began working at FirstBank in Silverthorne.  She was hired as a teller and held many roles throughout her career with FirstBank including New Accounts Supervisor and Branch Manager.  In her current role as a Senior Specialist Treasury Management Development, she focuses on expanding and enhancing relationships with local businesses.  Her ability to speak Spanish fluently coupled with her thorough understanding of banking has also allowed her to assist many Latinos in the community with their banking needs.

Yanitza also has a passion for mountain biking and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  When she is not working or biking with her husband, she dedicates her free time to promoting fitness and wellbeing.  Her love for Summit County and general health has inspired her to become involved in the community through volunteering for local non-profits like The Summit Foundation, Family Intercultural Resource Center, and The Cycle Effect in addition to running her own fitness coaching business. Through her work with her fitness business and The Cycle Effect Yanitza gets to share her love for coaching others to live their best life.

With Spanish as her first language, she has personally experienced the difficulties of language barriers.   As a board member of The Keystone Science School her goal is to help close the intercultural gap so that everyone in the community feels included, and to inspire other Latinos to become more actively involved in our community.

Lindsey Hempel

Silverthorne, CO

Born and raised in Taos, New Mexico, Linsey will always be a mountain resident. After migrating to the big city of Denver for both undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Denver, Linsey started her career in public accounting for Ernst & Young with a Masters in Accounting. After a few years of traveling around the country working in oil and gas, agriculture, and healthcare, the mountains were calling.

Hand selecting The Pinnacle Companies as the perfect place for her work ethic and lifestyle, Linsey started tackling special projects and strategic planning for Pinnacle’s initiatives. Uniquely, Linsey works across each line of business to streamline processes, implement structure and technology, and increase efficiency to operate with happy clients and company culture at the forefront of it all. While she loves her role with Pinnacle, she is also a proud wife, mother, and athlete. She spends most of her time as an outdoor enthusiast, soaking in any new mountain pass or trail she can with her family and “good dog Carl”. She is active in the outdoor community and has created a circle of friends that recreate and contribute to the ongoing success of the county. Through her adventurous spirit, Linsey brings excitement, laughter, and productivity wherever she goes.

Geri Gasperut

Geri Gasperut has a long career as a Human Resource professional in the Automotive and Energy Industries. Her experiences in HR are varied and began with an early introduction to labor and industrial relations. Other areas of expertise developed as she gained responsibility in administration of global HR systems, coaching, and leadership development culminating in the roles of regional, and then later, global Vice President Human Resources for Benteler Automotive and Henniges Automotive Companies respectively.

Geri grew up in Detroit, Michigan attended Michigan State University and graduated with a degree in Psychology. She and her family began visiting Summit County in the early 90’s for family ski vacations and it affectionately became the family’s destination of choice. Following retirement Geri and her husband of 40+ years, Louis, moved to Summit County and two of their three children chose Colorado as home too!

An introduction to Keystone Science School sparked a keen interest to become involved. Its purpose and focus on developing children’s interest in science and technology through fun resonated and motivated Geri to join the KSS board. She is also involved with other local non-profits in the community and hopes to make positive contributions wherever and however possible.

Richard Sexton

Mr. Sexton has more than 35 years of executive leadership experience successfully directing nuclear organizations engaged in organizational transformation, project delivery, decommissioning, major proposal development, contract oversight, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), waste management, engineering, stakeholder and regulator interface. Richard has executive level experience working in the USA, UK and Canada on some at some of the largest nuclear facility engaged in delivering accelerated organizational transformation, increase efficiency, reduced costs and enhanced safety.

He has a unique combination of technical and executive leadership skills that allows him to solve complex and challenging issues innovatively, cost effectively and in a manner that consistently delivers excellence. He has served as a senior executive in a variety of roles leading large nuclear organizations (e.g., AECL, Magnox, Sellafield, Rocky Flats) and has been directly responsible for preparing GoCo contracts bids responses, business development and oversight positions. In multiple roles he reported directly to the board directors. Richard has extensive “hands-on” field experience, a detailed knowledge of project delivery, risk management, regulatory requirements, stake holding management and is adept at organizational change management, accelerating work, reducing cost, and improving safety.