Board and Officers

Sara Smith of Girard – Treasurer I have always lived in the Mahoning Valley area and currently reside in Girard. The largest part of my business career was spent working for Packard Electric, a Division of General Motors. Seems I’ve always been aware of the Mahoning River as I lived on the South side of Youngstown very close to the Sheet & Tube Company located on the Mahoning River in Campbell. Over the years, I have developed a real interest in ecology and how our human presence in this world has impacted the land and our effect on the life of the animal world. I joined the Friends of the Mahoning River in 2013 and volunteered to be Treasurer, a position I enjoy. I am also Diversity Chair for The American Association of University Women, belong to Warren City Federation of Women’s Clubs and Stonecroft Ministries. The Raymond John Wean Foundation has accepted me as a member of its Resident Council.

Tom Smith of Girard-Chairman of the Board Tom is a paddler who in 2011 set out to find a group involved with cleanups on the Mahoning River. There were no active groups at that time so he joined Trumbull Canoe Trails who conduct occasional log jam and litter cleanups on the river. When the Friends of the Mahoning River formed in 2012 he became a member and has been with the club ever since. Serving as a board member most of the time. Tom is Chairman of the Restoration and Preservation Committee, the committee tasked with conducting litter cleanups on the river. He has also been actively involved with seeking grant opportunities for kayak launches for both Girard and Warren.

Don Rex of Girard- Board Member
Don is a retired teacher and administrator in the Girard Schools; and a Student Teacher supervisor at Kent State University. His interest in developing the river as a recreational and educational resource began years ago when he was a Girard teacher and Girard councilman. He views the Friends of the Mahoning River as the group where he can best pursue those interests. He’s proud to be a member, and is currently a member of the Education, Membership, and Recreation Committees.

Stuart Smith – Board Member
Stu Smith is a consulting ground-water scientist (Ground Water Science), mostly working in municipal water supply. He has made the Mahoning River watershed (specifically the Yellow Creek valley) his home since 2010, and FOMR member since 2015, so kind of a new kid on the block. He is a fan of various rivers, and previously active in leadership of the Sandusky River Watershed Coalition. He has been coordinating the new FOMR water quality monitoring effort. His goal is to increase the use of quality citizen science on the river as well.

Meredith Mckenzie- Board Member A native of Champion Ohio and graduate of both Bowling Green and Kent State Universities, and a graduate of Loyola Law School/Los Angeles. While teaching at Cal Poly, her students created an Idora Neighborhood/Mill Creek Sustainability Design Plan for the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation as well as the Downtown Warren/Mahoning River Peninsula ‘River’s Edge’ Development Plan for the City of Warren. Meredith is a past Sustainability Program Manager for the Arroyo Seco (River) Foundation, member of the Los Angeles River EPA Federal Partnership Program, and founding Board Member of the Kern River Conservancy. She is transitioning to consulting work after a successful California career as a successful real estate broker/land use expert and adjunct professor of urban and regional planning at the California State Polytechnic University/Pomona, where her focus was on environmental planning and sustainability, utilizing a watershed approach to ‘river towns’ development. An avid equestrian and trail rider, Meredith also loves to kayak and is now ‘testing the waters’ as a fly fisherwoman.