Board of Directors

Interested in serving on the board of directors? See our Join the Board page for a description of the open positions.

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director of communication

Anne Maguire
communication {at} nebraska.aiga.org
402-351-5050

Anne Maguire manages the graphic design department at Mutual of Omaha. She has a BFA in visual communication from the University of Kansas. Anne's previous employment includes: in-house design manager with Zales Corporation in Dallas, TX, communication director for Merry Maids, Omaha, and production manager for Swanson Russell Associates, Omaha. Anne is passionate about learning and believes AIGA is a valuable resource for designers and anyone wishing to make design their profession. She also enjoys riding her horse and her mule on her farm in Ponca Hills, just north of Omaha.

 

 

director of community outreach

Joe Sparano
community {at} nebraska.aiga.org
661-772-7266

Joe Sparano is a designer at Oxide Design Co. He received his BFA from the University of Nebraska, Omaha in 2004 and has been an AIGA member ever since.
Joe believes in the power and responsibility of design to make sense of the world. And through AIGA, he hopes to show our community that problem-solving, creativity, communication, and empathy are not only a designer’s most valuable skills — but are skills that everyone can use to simplify and find meaning in their lives.
He teaches these same things as an adjunct design instructor at Metropolitan Community College, mostly through wacky problem-solving projects that his students may eventually recognize as the most important thing they ever did. Or at least, way more fun than they expected to have in a design class without computers.

 

 

director of education

Ashley McFeely
education {at} nebraska.aiga.org
402-291-0616

Ashley McFeely is the communications director and designer at Bellevue Christian Center. Previous positions include designing at Bozell and Swanson Russell Associates in Omaha. Ashley received her BSA from the University of Nebraska, Omaha in 2005 and has been attending AIGA events for as long as she can remember. A born teacher, Ashley spends hours in the classroom as a design instructor at Metropolitan Community College. She believes most students are just missing the "whys" behind the "whats" of their projects, and she loves helping them explore answers to those questions. Her favorite moment is watching the lightbulb go on when a student realizes he/she is capable of solving a problem in a creative and inspired manner. Outside of teaching and communications, Ashley coaches young adult women on food choice and healthy lifestyles, plans on finishing her book before she dies, and is an oil painter at heart.

 

 

director of finance

Justin Schafer
finance {at} nebraska.aiga.org
402-351-4604

Justin Schafer is a senior graphic designer at Mutual of Omaha. He's a passionate young designer who started his career at Alegent Healthcare in the area of experience design. Justin has been actively involved with AIGA since 2007. Justin graduated from Metropolitan Community College with an AAS in Graphic Communication Art and Design. He's currently furthering his education by completing his BFA at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Justin constantly looks for new ways to creatively challenge himself and feels the need the never stop learning. Along with his hobbies of fitness and long distance running, he also enjoys the craft of making and designing modern furniture as well as the occasional silkscreen card or poster.

 

 

director of membership

John Gawley
membership {at} nebraska.aiga.org 
402-884-2031

 

John Gawley is currently working for Omaha Publications (Omaha Magazine) as art director. Before moving to Omaha, Gawley worked four season for the Phoenix Suns, NBA team from Phoenix, Arizona. Gawley also worked for the WNBA team, Phoenix Mercury, and the ECHL team, Phoenix RoadRunners. In 2007 Gawley was part of the behind-the-scenes group of employees that helped push the Phoenix Mercury to their first WNBA Championship (someone's gotta design those noise makers). In 2005, Gawley graduated from The Art Institute of Phoenix with his Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design. Outside of Gawley's passion for design, in his spare time he enjoys the outdoors; hiking, backpacking, camping and kayaking/canoeing.

 

 

director of new media

Drew Gourley
newmedia {at} nebraska.aiga.org
402-344-0168

Drew Gourley is a designer and web developer at Oxide Design Co. He received his BFA in Visual Communication and Design from the University of Nebraska, Kearney in 2009. Drew is a graphic designer turned web developer with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Three years ago he dropped into the design industry like a dry sponge, absorbing all the knowledge he could. It wasn't long before he had mastered his new found passion: code development for web and new media. With a strong sense of design and a brain built for code, he is a secret weapon, bridging the gap between the creative and the analytical.

 

 

director of partnership

Shawna Fowler
partnership {at} nebraska.aiga.org
402-320-8684

Shawna Fowler graduated from Metropolitan Community College with an AAS in Graphic Communication Art and Design. Prior to that she studied art and photography at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. Shawna is currently on a never-ending quest for additional design knowledge at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she is completing her bachelor's degree. She has worked at Progress Publications as a summer graphic artist, currently owns her own freelance photography business and hopes to find full-time career happiness with a design motivated in-house staff. Having previously done hard time in retail management and sales training, she greatly appreciates the value of altering life midstream to pursue a passion. When she is not introducing her kids to the wonders of The X-Files, she is running around with a camera strapped to her neck and collecting art.

 

director of programming

Kristin DeKay
programming {at} nebraska.aiga.org
402-370-8170

Kristin DeKay is co-owner & operations director of Grain & Mortar, a brand strategy and design company. In 2008, she started design studio Image Made with her husband; in August of 2011, they merged with local studio DownsDesign to become Grain & Mortar. Kristin has previously worked in banking and customer service, and—now self-employed—truly appreciates the absence of the time-clock. In addition to graphic design, Kristin’s interests include photography, writing, interior design, cooking, and swimming.

 

 

president

Craig Hughes
president {at} nebraska.aiga.org
402-829-8042 (Please identify that you are calling about AIGA)

 

Craig Hughes is an associate creative director at Ervin & Smith. He has worked in many areas of the design field, including information design, coding, video production, print & digital advertising and brand development. His previous employers include Bailey Lauerman, Oxide Design Co., and Gallup. Craig has served on the AIGA Nebraska board since March of 2010. Craig received a bachelor's degree in Studio Art from UNO with an emphasis in Graphic Design. Craig loves: his wife, being a studio musician, building geeky electronics and furniture—and of course, designing.

 

 

show chair 2012-2013

Nicholas Burroughs
showchair {at} nebraska.aiga.org 
402-740-8041

Nicholas Burroughs is a production artist at Ervin & Smith. He graduated from Iowa Western Community College in 2008 with an AAS in Graphic Design and briefly attended Bellevue University in 2009. Nicholas was a design intern for Film Streams at the Ruth Sokolof Theater for nearly two years, taking part in what was surely one of the longest internships in recorded history. Nicholas is truly and deeply in love with design as a whole and specifically with typography, and even more specifically with FF DIN. Aside from design, Nicholas loves instrumental music and association football.

 

 

volunteer coordinator

Ron Kafka
volunteer {at} nebraska.aiga.org 
402-490-1630

 

Ron Kafka recently graduated from Metropolitan Community College with an associate degree in graphic communication. Ron is seeking a career change after owning his own lawn care business for 10 years. He would like to work with a team of designers solving the needs of a client or business. Ron has been an active member of AIGA since 2009. He has shown his dedication by volunteering for the 365 exhibition as well as The Show 19.
Ron’s passions have always been the love for art, great design, music and helping others. He enjoys collecting art and design, mostly by native Nebraska artists. As a product of the late sixties, he has a love for vinyl records. He not only collects records for the music, but for the artwork on the covers; becoming somewhat of an expert on record labels and designers. Last, but not least, he has a passion for helping others. As Ron puts it,“There is nothing compared to the feeling I get when I truly help someone in need.”