Our Executive Board
Lee Rasch
Lee is the Executive Director of LeaderEthics-Wisconsin since March 2018. He served as President of Western Technical College from 1989 to 2017. Throughout his career, he has actively promoted leadership development, continuous improvement, economic development and sustainability at the national, statewide and local levels. He has written articles and given numerous presentations on these topics. Lee was Chair of the Legislative Committee for the Wisconsin Technical College System for more than 15 years. He was a candidate for the U.S. Congress in 1994 and 1996.
Executive Director
John Smalley
John Smalley's career in journalism spans 39 years. He retired as Editor of the Wisconsin State Journal in 2020 after nearly 12 years in that role. In 2021-22, he has served as the interim media representative for the Wisconsin Elections Commission. He has long been a champion of engaging people to move the community forward.
Board President
Rusty Cunningham
Rusty Cunningham is the highly respected and accomplished former Publisher at Lee Enterprises and Executive Editor of the La Crosse Tribune. In his distinguished career, he has more than 40 years experience in the newspaper industry, serving as a champion for integrity and community collaboration.
Past President
Richard Kyte is the Endowed Professor of the D. B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin where he teaches a variety of ethics courses dealing with issues in business, leadership, and the environment. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamline University and his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University in 1994. Rick writes a regular column for the La Crosse Tribune titled “The Ethical Life.” His latest book, Ethical Business: Cultivating the Good in Organizational Culture, was published by Anselm Academic Press in 2016. He gives numerous presentations on ethics and leadership to organizations all over the country. Rick is a member of the First Presbyterian Church and the Downtown Rotary Club of La Crosse.
Rick Kyte
Joe Heim is an emeritus professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, from 1985 to present. He has been active in a number of state and local organizations, and also an occasional guest political analyst on WKBT-TV, WIZM Radio and Wisconsin Public Radio. Many of his former students went on to successful careers as elected officials or public servants, representing the full political spectrum.
Joe Heim
Hope serves as the Director of Community Engagement and Development at the Franciscan Spirituality Center. Her prior position was serving as Director of Corporate Relations, Office of Advancement at Viterbo University. Hope is active in support of numerous community initiatives and volunteer causes. In 2022. she was recognized as the Servant Leader of the Year at Viterbor University.
Hope Clements
Mike is President of the Wisconsin Water Alliance since 2020. Prior to this role, he served as a Commissioner of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. Mike had a distinguished 20 year career of service with the State of Wisconsin. He was elected to the Assembly in January 1995. He became Speaker of the Assembly and Majority Leader before accepting the position of Secretary of the Department of Administration under Governor Scott Walker.
Mike Huebsch
Judy retired from her position as a Financial Advisor at Wells Fargo. She serves on the Wisconsin statewide committee for American Promise, focusing on campaignn finance reform. She is active with the Green Bay Rotary Club, Vision Greater Green Bay and numerous other statewide and local organizations
Judy Nagel
Jane retired from Western Technical College after a long distinguished career as an educator. Her work at the college went beyond the classrom. Known as a go to person on campus, she assumed a colleage leadership role with several major projects. Since her retirement from Western, Jane remains active within the community.
Jane Rada
Jeff served as CEO of Gundersern Health System for 14 years, supervising a staff of more than 7000 employees. He is responsible for ground-breaking work in promoting environmental sustainability in healthcare and is recognized world-wide for his leadership in this field. He is a sought after speaker and author of the book, Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your people, Inspire Your Community.
Jeff Thompson
Tom served as Director of Information Systems for the global company, Gensler. In that role, he was involved in a number of high profile projects in various locations around the world.
He retired from that position, but remains very active in various community development projects. he is a strong advocate for ethical leadership.