Join Our Board
- Ascend’s board meets 6-8 times per year on the second Wednesday of the month from 4pm-6pm. We do not meet in June, July, August or January with some of the remaining months optional if a meeting is unnecessary. We meet at our office in downtown Weaverville, but can accommodate Zoom if needed. This schedule can change depending on the current board’s schedule needs.
- We have one or two additional board-development or social events each year such as a board retreat, end of the year gathering, or something similar.
- Aside from meetings and general oversight, duties would include what you have personal capacity for such as helping at fundraising events, participating in trail volunteer opportunities, or simply sharing our programs with people you think would like to get involved or donate.
Download the application here:
Meet The Board
Erin Burger
Ascend Board Vice President
Currently a student of Shasta College Associate of Science in Behavior Sciences Current board member of Salyer Heights Water Corp. (Western Trinity County). Currently works for Trinity County Office of Education as the McKinney Vento / Homeless Youth Coordinator, Student Support Liaison
Erin has had a passion for the outdoors her whole life. She grew up in rural Oregon and as a teen joined the Northwest Youth Corp which eventually led to a career with the Forest Service. After years working on fire, trail and helicopter crews traveling the Western United States, she decided to make the permanent move to beautiful Salyer in Trinity County. A career transition for Erin led her in the direction of education. She was a part of the team at the beautiful Burnt Ranch School for five years before moving with her family to Weaverville to further advance her work with youth as an advocate for Trinity County Students.
Presently, Erin works for the Trinity County Office of Education as a student advocate. She believes that ensuring opportunities for all youth to do things they never dreamed and finding confidence in themselves while living these experiences is imperative for our future generations. Erin enjoys being involved in community, supporting youth sports programs, river and lake kayaking and paddleboarding and is so grateful for the privilege to live in one of the most beautiful places in the World
Andy Johnson
Board Treasurer
Architectural Technology Degree
Senior Design and Project Manager, NV5
Clerk of the Board of Directors: Trinity Public Utilities District
Andy’s love for hiking, backpacking and wilderness trips was sparked during his time in boy scouts and camping in the mountains of northern California with his family in his youth. This early exposure to the outdoors has been transformative for him. Recognizing that wilderness experiences are not available to everyone, he sees his work with Ascend as an opportunity to make them accessible to all that are interested.
Andy and his wife have two children to share their love of the outdoors with and enjoy instilling important values such as “leave no trace,” community involvement, and stewardship. Even with an enthusiastic outlook on the growing popularity of backpacking, Andy acknowledges the potential impact of increased usage on the wilderness areas we cherish. He believes that through education, positive experiences, and advocacy for funding and policy, we can overcome the challenges associated with the growing visitor numbers to our public lands.
Having moved to Trinity County in 2018, Andy considers himself fortunate to live in a beautiful and welcoming community. He is an officer of the North Fork Grange and a board member of Trinity Public Utilities District. Andy and his family spent 15 years in Minneapolis, MN where he earned a degree in Architectural Technology. He currently works as a Senior Designer and Project Manager for a nationwide engineering firm. In his free time, Andy enjoys camping and backpacking, paddling canoes, kayaks and rafts, fishing, disc golfing, and seeing live music.
Karen Boltz
Board Secretary
Karen grew up mostly on army bases – her dad was a career army sergeant, and even her mom was an army sergeant during WWII, breaking codes at the Pentagon. She lived in Arizona, El Paso, Texas, Germany, Charleston, South Carolina, and all over Ohio. As an adult she lived in Georgia, the Aleutians, Midway Island, Hawaii, and California.
She got to explore deserts, various seashores, atolls (including scuba diving with sharks), tropical islands, and Adak; a tundra island nicknamed the Birthplace of the WInds. She’s also been lucky to spend quality time in Mexico, Ireland, Spain, and France with her partner, Rick.
Her career was in education, teaching in Montessori and public elementary schools in four states, serving as a school site administrator, and retiring from the Trinity County Office of Education as an Assistant Superintendent.
Karen has a daughter, a son, a granddaughter, three grandsons, and one great-grandson. Karen is a lucky woman and she feels very fortunate to have settled in Trinity Count – the best place ever, thanks to the people, the chance to swim, hike, be on the lake, play in the community band, support Ascend, and view the Trinity Alps from her windows every day.
Jason Palmer
Jason Palmer PhD is a settler anthropologist and a K-12 educator. He is currently a teacher at RISE Academy, a non-traditional community school. He published a book in 2024 about Peruvian Mormonism called Forever Familias. His scholarship unravels the colonial regimes of race, rationality, religion, and gender. His personal life revolves around the four Peruvian women in his family, his students, mountain biking, the Trinity Alps, the Andes, caving with the Shasta Area Grotto, and forming community connections in our amazingly diverse and talented county