Our Team

How We Work

We are a group of highly experienced, committed leaders who are motivated to help communities invigorate their spirit.

Based on our clients’ needs, we assemble a unique and agile team to fit the work. Our roots are based in Montana, but we also tap leading professionals across the region to develop the best end product.

Diane Conradi
Founder and CEO,
Outdoor Community Partners

Diane has a passion for outdoor recreation close to home. She started Outdoor Community Partners so communities, nonprofits, and public and private land managers don’t have to start at “Square One” when dreaming, creating, and growing the quality outdoor recreation access they seek.

As an experienced attorney, founder and advisor to Whitefish Legacy Partners/Whitefish Trail, Montana State Parks Foundation, appointed member to the Montana Environmental Quality Council, Flathead Reservation Fish and Wildlife Commission, Montana’s first State Parks and Recreation Board, and founder of Montana Access Project, she knows the difference that high-quality nature-based recreation access makes to the economy, community health and quality of life for residents and visitors alike.  

She knows what it’s like to innovate recreation approaches on public lands, state trust lands and private lands from a practical, legal and policy perspective. 

And most of all, she knows it’s hard work, and is ready to bring her extensive legal background in real estate, nonprofit, and land conservation know-how to any project.

Lech Naumovich

Greater Than Image

Lech Naumovich has been promoting conservation and restoration awareness through science, community involvement, media, public speaking. He earned a Master’s Degree in Restoration and Landscape Ecology from the Yale School for the Environment and then subsequently took his talents to work for various agencies including the US Forest Service, BLM, Fort Hunter Liggett – USARC, California Native Plant Society, as well as starting a restoration ecology non-profit named Golden Hour Restoration Institute.

Kathleen McMahon

Applied Communications

Kathleen McMahon has 35 years of community planning experience. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois and a Masters Degree in Educational Technology from George Washington University. She is a member of the Montana Association of Planners, the American Institute of Certified Planners, and Montana Economic Development Association.

Kara Maplethorpe

Heart of the Rockies

Kara came to Heart of the Rockies Initiative from the Centennial Valley Association. She is known for her homemade orange rolls and her ability to boil water in a paper cup over a campfire, which comes in handy more often than you might think. At work, she enjoys listening, learning, and collaborating with people of various perspectives, as well as finding opportunities to amplify community voices while setting the stage for future generations. To Kara, every day is a new adventure with a lesson to learn, a river to canoe, or a book to read. She emphasizes this belief by commonly quoting the movie UP: “Adventure is out there!” Kara earned a bachelor’s degree in natural resources wildlife management and biology from Northland College.

Jen Saucier

Agency Owner + Designer, Fir & Larch

Jen is a designer and entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in the tourism and outdoor recreation industry, a former Whitefish City Councilor, an organizer of the Whitefish Farmers Market, and an avid outdoor enthusiast. Her background and work in design, marketing, branding, wayfinding, and map-making helps local communities navigate the public process and tell the unique story of their place. Whether it’s work for a small town in rural Montana or for internationally-recognized UNESCO World Heritage sites, she helps communities tell their stories, foster stewardship, and connect people to the places they call home.

Ella Kobelt

Marketing & Communications

Ella helps mission-driven organizations–from local startups to multinational enterprises–tell their stories. She specializes in launching digital campaigns and products that support a more sustainable future and has worked on causes spanning wildfire resilience, clean energy, apparel industry transparency, and tourism management. She was born and raised in Whitefish MT, and spends her free time exploring its surrounding wilderness.

Melissa Weddell

Montana Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research

Dr. Melissa Weddell is a data wrangler, strategist, and professor with over 25 years of experience turning complex information into clear, actionable insights for outdoor recreation, tourism, and community development. She builds collaborative partnerships across government, nonprofit, and private sectors to develop strategies that balance economic growth, destination stewardship, and community well-being. At the core of her work is a commitment to helping communities thrive. By connecting rigorous research with real-world application, Melissa advances outdoor recreation and tourism while strengthening the social, economic, and environmental fabric of the places people call home.

Key Partners

Success Stories and Latest Initiatives

Get Outdoors Libby Initiative

Dedicated to enriching the community of Whitefish, we are working to support the creation of an interconnected, secure, and universally accessible network of trails.

National Rails to Trails Workshop

Recently, we hosted 400 people across 40 states for a Get Grant Ready workshop at the Rails to Trails TrailNation Summit. Learn about our work helping communities nationwide create and connect trails.

Flower Creek

Finalizing the Flower Creek Snowshoe Trail Recreation Development Plan which envisions a sustainable 31-mile multi-use, four-season trail system to enhance economic vitality, health and wellness, and quality of life in the Libby area.