Idee Belau mn ‘10 Bio

Inspired by her maternal grandfather, Idee began exploring Florida’s wild areas by boat and horseback at the young age of six. Through a nurtured love for the environment and history, she eventually learned to SCUBA dive, which expanded her interest in underwater archaeology and photography and cemented her passion for exploration.

As a Technical Business Analyst, Idee’s acumen for building data-related processes evolved into critical field data collection skills. Regularly called upon to exercise her field skills, Idee undertakes expeditions with NASA’s Spaceward Bound program and the Combat Wounded Veterans Challenge (CWVC) Team. Through CWVC, she was among the first to document underwater occupational prostheses use and testing of altitude impacts on residual limbs and TBI patients during a 2013 Mt. Kilimanjaro summit. In February 2015, Idee carried Explorers Club Flag #208 on its maiden expedition with Advanced Diver Magazine’s Exploration Foundation to document uncharted cenote formations within Mexico’s Yucatan State. Her expedition content is regularly used by mainstream media covering the expeditions.

After a decade of working with the Department of State and Department of Defense, Idee entered private consultation and co-founded Novel Engineering, Inc in 2014. Initially pursuing an education in Political Science, Idee now studies Business Communications at Harvard University and is a trained technical diver, Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society member, a primitive survival school graduate, a Dive Emergency Specialist, and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

As a new Club member entering the reorganized Florida Chapter, Idee saw a need for chapter leadership and soon agreed to serve as its Communications Director. In early 2012, she was elected as the Florida Chapter Chair. During her tenure, the Chapter has experienced positive reengagement with its members, renewed its stewardship of the Arnold Haverlee Exploration Award Endowed Scholarship Fund, established an alliance with Orlando Science Center, and with Idee’s leadership hosted an exciting and unique Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner 2015 that raised significant funds for the Club’s mission.

Idee serves on the CWVC Advisory Board, is a Board of Directors member for Advanced Diver Magazine’s Exploration Foundation, and served as Board of Trustees Vice-President for the Brevard Museum.

The three most significant priorities for the Explorers Club at this time are:

1. Building value in the membership experience.

2. Expanding public awareness of our organization and the Explorers Club goals.

3. Fostering clear and transparent internal budgetary processes.
My two practical ideas to address each of the three priorities are:
1. Upon election to the Board, I will engage in collaboration with a network of marketing professionals and Explorers Club members to identify unique paths and associations that are aimed at bringing awareness of the Explorers Club to new and larger demographics.
2. By applying my skills as a Technical Business Analyst, I will engage in thorough review and analysis of released financial reports, consistently support clarity and transparency in financial reporting, and work with others to ensure that larger organizational events are supported with a planning budget.
My leadership roles within the Explorers Club and other non-profit boards and organizations, along with my professional acumen for data analysis and objective reasoning, provides me with the right balance of experience and understanding to make lasting positive impacts to our Club. Besides my personal time and financial contributions, I feel that one of my strongest attributes is the ability to inspire contribution in others.
My recent volunteer Explorers Club positions:

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  FL Chapter Chair (Current)
  
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  FL Chapter Director Communications
  
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  Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner 2015, Committee Chair
  
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  Nominating Committee 2015, Member
  
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  Chapter Relations Committee, Co-Chair (Current)
  
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  Chapter Relations Committee, Member
  
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  Technical Committee, Member
  
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  Flag Expedition 2015, Co-Lead (Flag #208)
  
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  Funded research of historic grants and scholarship awardees in 2014
  

Other recent non-profit service includes a term as Vice-President for Brevard Museum of History & Natural Science and current membership to the Advanced Diver Magazine’s Exploration Foundation. In addition, I’m one of a few non-veterans to serve on the Combat Wounded Veterans Challenge Advisory Board.

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  to allow all opinions to be heard and given equal weight in order to fully understand the issue,
  
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  to identify points within an issue of potential compromise and earn agreement on those points, thus distilling the issue, and
  
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  placing to vote any unresolved points.
  

As a nine time Emmy winner, I currently serve as the Board Chair of the Club’s Communications Committee and as Club Media and Public Relations Counsel, initiating the Club’s interface with all worldwide media, and review and approve the Club’s editorial materials.

I have established specific protocols and procedures that ensure tracking of the Club’s worldwide media involvement, and I devote considerable time as Public Relations Counsel to the Club’s senior executives and staff. In am in contact with our Club’s administration each time the Club interacts with media or is promoting one of our many great events, and I take particular joy in progressing our Club’s mission to those who are less familiar with the Club’s goals and objectives.
In 2013 and 2014, I was honored to serve as Master of Ceremonies for the Lowell Thomas Awards, and I have directed the Club’s editorial activity associated with our sponsors and Diageo (Johnny Walker). Additionally, I am the founding member of The Explorers Club Board team developing the World Exploration Summit and will be coordinating the Public Relations of this exciting world exploration event as well.
The Explorers Club is an extraordinarily special organization and I’m particularly proud of my accomplishments advancing the great work that we, as an organization, do. I am asking that you please consider me for a full term so that I can continue working for you as we press forward into the next three years. Thank you for your consideration.

Statement
Though there is much to do, I have listed below, what I believe are four significant priorities most important to The Explorers Club:

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  Insure a balanced budget and financial stability to support diversified programs of exploration and discovery, and advance a major fund raising effort that will add significant sponsorships that will support grant and scholarship programs, lecture series, film presentations, artists programs, member expeditions and Club publications.
  
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  Advance discovery and preservation of the planet through exploration, flag expeditions and scientific research
  
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  Provide significant support for ECAD and Lowell Thomas, our two largest Club fundraisers.
  
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  Advance the Club Historical Archive into the digital age and improve the technology for “live web streaming” of major Club events worldwide.
  

Relevant experience:

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  My decades of professional experience in marketing, public relations, and journalism now directly serving the Club.
  

Practical ideas to address each priority:

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  As a marketing professional, may I respectfully suggest that no “buzz words” and “catch phrases” can be used as a catch-all. The Club must take each challenge individually and strategies must then be developed and executed to meet each selected priority.
  

My work for the Explorers Club over the past 2 years:

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  I serve as The Explorers Club Media and Public Relations Counsel and as Chair of the Board Communications Committee, directing the Club’s interface with worldwide media and preparation of its editorial materials.
  
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  We now monitor, through a specific media-tracking plan, all media requests that come through The Explorers Club.
  
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  We also now have full Public Relations and Media support for ECAD.
  

Marketing and Public Relations Experience:

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  Decades in public relations and marketing positions as a senior executive with major US corporations, such as TWA, American Broadcasting Companies, and RJR Nabisco; and more than two decades of major television journalism experience appearing on network television each week in the Atlanta area.
  

Other non-profit boards:

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  Rutgers University Board of Trustees
  
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  Rutgers University Board of Overseers
  
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  Emory University Board of Visitors
  
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  Board of Literacy Action
  
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  Atlanta Fire/Rescue Foundation
  

Resolving Issues

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  Mediation among the parties; Use of expertise among Board members to resolve disagreements; Seek compromise and consensus before reaching any decisions.
  

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  Women of Discovery (Library Journal award Best Books 2001 and School Library Journal, Best Books 2002)
  
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  Egyptian Mummies (Margaret A. Edwards Award best books of 1998); editor
  
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  The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad
  
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  Contributor to a number of books; and Reviews
  
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  Contributing Editor of The Explorers Journal, 1998-present
  
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  Co-founded with Imagination Celebration, and wrote curriculum for The Art of Exploration, for the Public Schools of Ft. Worth, Texas.
  

I have led or participated in expeditions to:

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  Prince William Sound, Alaska
  
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  The Western Desert of Egypt (National Geographic)
  
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  Yemen; Southern Sudan; Saudi Arabia
  
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  Iran
  
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  Pakistan
  
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  John River, Alaska
  
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  Nepal
  
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  Brazilian coast
  
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  Greenland
  
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  Baffin Island
  
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  Devon Island
  
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  India (American Museum of Natural History)
  
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  Chinese Tibet
  
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  Coast of NW Greenland
  
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  The Andaman Sea
  

I was fortunate to have been honored with the following awards and honors:

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  The Capt. J-E Bernier Medal, Royal Canadian Geographical Society (2015)
  
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  Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award (2011)
  
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  Alumnae of the Year, Madeira School (2011)
  
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  Environmental Leadership Award, Unity College
  
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  Womens' ENews “Leader of the 21st Century”
  
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  Who's Who, Women of the Year Award
  
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  Honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society
  
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  Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
  
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  Fellow of The Explorers Club
  
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  Fellow of Wings WorldQuest
  

I serve on Advisory Boards of several organizations including The William Mills Polar Prize, George Polk Journalism Awards Committee, Takster Foundation (Tibet) and served ten years on the Board of Governors of the National Arts Club and was the subject of a CBS Sunday Morning feature that won the Gracie Award. I hold British and American citizenship and row daily on the Hudson River.

I work as Guest Services Manager at the Kon-Tiki Museum, Thor Heyerdahl's research foundation and home to the Kon-Tiki raft and the Ra II reed boat. Primary responsibilities are all aspects of the guests' visit at the museum, as well as the museum's educational program for schools and businesses. I am also responsible for product design for the museum shop. 

Other organizational affiliations include Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Academic background include a Bachelors degree with honours in archaeology from University College London, specializing in South American Pre-Columbian archaeology, with fieldwork and an award-winning thesis on the Moche people of North Coast Peru. Scientific archaeological fieldwork has brought me to Peru, the Caribbean and Lamanai, Belize. I hold a Master of Arts degree with honours in Conflict Resolution from The University of Sydney, Australia, and worked as a civilian researcher at the Norwegian Defence Research Institute, with a group studying terrorism and asymmetric warfare. I find the combination of historical studies and understanding of current issues through international political studies and research, as well as my day-to-day work with the Kon-Tiki Museum educational program and Explorers Club work to complement each other well. Curious by nature, always looking for a solution to challenges. 

1. 
   Chapter Chair, Norway Chapter (2011-)
   
2. 
   Co-chair, Chapter Relations Committee - responsible for international chapters and chapter formation (2015-)
   
3. 
   Membership Development Committee, Committee Member
   
4. 
   Participated in Chapter logo project, developing template for chapters to design and use local logos.
   
5. 
   Attended ECAD 4 years
   
6. 
   2016 ECAD Regional Co-chair.
   
7. 
   2014 Lowell Thomas event - returned the Kon-Tiki flag (loaned to the Kon-Tiki Museum)
   

Challenges and priorities for the EC in the near future include:

1) Increasing knowledge about the EC worldwide. 

Too many great explorers, organizations and institutions have too little knowledge of the EC. Reaching out to these, recruit members and establish relations can strengthen the EC worldwide.  As part of a core group in the Norway Chapter that has rebuilt a chapter, my experience and understanding of local challenges, needs and opportunities can benefit the BOD. 

2) Empowering chapters and develop new chapters. 

3) Fundraising, sponsorship, branding. 

If elected to the Board of Directors, I promise to work relentlessly to uphold the great traditions of The Explorers Club, and make every effort to contribute to further develop the world center for exploration. 

I have also worked on site in the area of marine archaeology with NOAA during the raising of the Monitor and in other surveys involving the Battle of the Atlantic. I initiated and worked with NOAA, the Department of State and the German Embassy for the protection and preservation of the wreck of the U701 which was successfully instituted in 2007.

Explain to me your position and reasons why, what your understanding is of the opposing position and what your objections are and why. This process (mirroring) ensues that misunderstandings do not occur and both positions understood. These are the first steps in achieving a compromise or resolution. I consider myself to be objective and independent. I believe these qualities are essential to all board members and reduce the potential for serious disagreements to begin with.

1. Improve Club demographics by culturing/recruiting younger professionals

2. Increase exposure through greater publicity of member activities

3. Enhance transparency and communication between membership and Club officials

1. Worked with Florida Chapter to foster new explorers through student research grants, increased recruitment of early-career professionals, helped launch partnership between chapter and Orlando Science Center

2. Promoted science and exploration resulting in printed news articles plus syndicated coverage, journal articles, and several social media pieces

3. Worked with chapter members in open meeting to review proposed Bylaws changes, then provided unified feedback to Club officials

1. Forge partnerships with charitable organizations and philanthropists to increase budget for research grants

1. Assist chapter chairs in developing partnerships with universities, museums, etc. for recruitment and promotion of mutually beneficial interests

2. Communicate with chapter chairs to obtain timely updates on member activities; work with Club officials to better publicize those activities

2. Expand Club from assemblage of explorers into an educational institution offering endorsed training (e.g. expedition logistics, navigation, etc.). Workshops have added value of generating revenue for grants and helping explorers acquire new skills

3. Ensure membership is kept abreast of board discussions; also encourage chapter chairs to discuss meeting minutes at each chapter meeting.

3. Improve website interface
Please describe your work on behalf of The Explorers Club at the Chapter, National, International or Committee level in the past two years.

• Florida Chapter board of directors since 2009, serving as southwestern Florida regional director and programs coordinator

• Assisting Vice President for Research reviewing science grant proposals
Please tell us about other ways you have contributed to the Club, such as supporting Club functions and events.

• Served on 2015 Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner planning team, consulted on invasive species menu, provided educational material to attendees, served as hospitality host for emcee

• Currently assisting 2016 ECAD planning (invasive species menu consultation)

How would your position on the Board positively impact our fundraising or revenue stream?

• Career-proven record planning and implementing fundraising events, writing and acquiring grants, and cultivating donors (over $500,000 combined). Attention to detail ensures no revenue gets wasted. Ability to effectively convey mission goals to prospective donors. Dedication to streamlining for efficient use of revenue.
What marketing and public relations experience have you had?

• Served as the public information official for Florida Invasive Species Partnership

• Conducted news interviews for recent flag expedition

• Media liaison while employed by Audubon Society (credits include The Travel Channel, NBC news, PBS, and local newspapers/magazines)

• Coordinated first World Wetlands Day festival (Audubon); procured services and coordinated travel for Jim Fowler (TEC Honorary Chairman) for 60th anniversary fundraiser

• Interviewed for newspaper and magazine articles pertaining to 2015 Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner

• Blue Ridge Community College budget committee

• Florida Invasive Species Partnership steering committee
In the event of a serious disagreement, please describe your approach and advice to the BOD to evaluate and resolve those differences of opinion in a fair and transparent manner?

• Attempt to remain impartial and hear all opposing views.

Dues account for half of Club revenue, so Membership is critical; much progress has been made over the past four years in this area, with Global Rescue one example. “Live Streaming” of events vastly expanded the audience to reach far more members. Membership needs more enhancement tools, but funding is required.

I am very active in the non-profit community. I have been a member of the Birch Aquarium (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) Board for the past 12 years, where I helped in program development, fund raising and business strategy. As a member of the Honorary Deputy Sheriffs Association for 8 years, I am currently serving as President and serve on the Executive Advisory Committee. I am a 11-99 Foundation Life Member. I am also a member of The American Polar Society, The International Seakeepers Society (Founder) and Friends of La Jolla Shores.

1. 
   Exploration
   

1. 
   Continue the excellent work underway in support of exploration (it is not broken!).
   

2. 
   Focus on the physical collections – preserve what we have, actively expand collection with more current and innovative materials.
   

2. 
   Governance
   

1. 
   Focus on a republic style organization with Board members being representatives of membership – not representatives of leadership. Remind Board Members of their fiduciary and other obligations under the Bylaws and New York law. With those common sense restrictions in mind, encourage Board members to discuss issues of the Club with the membership, build support for positive ideas, then represent these ideas to the Board as implementable actions.
   

2. 
   Focus on the intent of the Bylaws as the primary guidance for Club governance and dispute resolution. Revisit the current committee structure charged with these duties, review the current leadership and membership of these committees and make changes as necessary, including a simplified mission statement focused on a republic style organization.
   

3. 
   Fundraising
   

1. 
   List all fundraising efforts for the past 4 years and rank them by efficiency ($’s and time spent vs. $’s generated). Focus 80% of efforts on the top 20% of initiatives.
   

2. 
   Identify the fundraising needs of the organization (annual spending and perpetual endowment). Determine gap between what we currently plan to generate and what is needed. Form committee (5 or fewer) to create plan to close the gap within 2 years.
   

1. 
   Recruiting and retaining student and early-career scientists to the Club, while specifically addressing increased diversity in the organization; and
   
2. 
   Increasing funding sources for our Grants Program.
   

While maintaining strong core institutional relationships, we can expand our outreach to other organizations (such as Girl Scouts) to bring our message of science and exploration to a new generation, and to bring new skill sets into our organization. This represents an opportunity for The Explorers Club to influence the scope of scientific inquiry currently underway around the world, and lead directly to more effective Club outreach. Finally, a system geared towards tracking our grantees and maintaining communication with them throughout their careers would expand our reach. I envision this system would also pair seasoned explorers with student members and grantees as a tool for attracting and retaining new members.

In 2006, I was asked to envision, build and direct a dinosaur museum in China, which was also to become its first green museum. By 2008, the Liaoning Fossil & Geology Park opened its doors. Scientists and paleontological experts came for research to our fossil quarry, and our museum made waves in the global academic community. Always eager to explore uncharted territory, I also led in 2013 an Explorers Club Flag Expedition to a river site outside of Jingdezhen, where thousands of ancient porcelain specimens lay untouched below the water for a thousand years. The Flag Expedition Report was then described by the Flag & Honors Committee to be “impressive and a modal of an ideal Explorers Club report”. As of 2015, I became the Director of the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology in La Jolla, California, leading underwater archaeological expeditions to Vietnam, Yucatan, Greece and Turkey.

My personal achievements include: helping plant 14,000 trees in China & USA, meeting the Dalai Lama, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, helping discover a rare medicinal plant in the Amazon, retrieving artifacts from an early 20^th century shipwreck in Australia, and being an Explorers Club member!

Statement

1. 
   Bring protective measures and awareness of the environment we explore and live in.
   
2. 
   Fundraising, fundraising and fundraising.
   
3. 
   To preserve The Club’s unity and camaraderie.
   

1. 
   a) Carbon neutral Flag Expeditions should be encouraged, and creating an ECAD Award for the greenest expeditions b) better develop our forums to publically reach out to other members for assistance in their upcoming expeditions.
   
2. 
   a) Identify some of our richest donors and make them feel unique b) encourage each Chapter Chair to be more experienced on how to ask for donations.
   
3. 
   a) Leverage the talents of our members and give more support to our Chapters Head b) embrace technology and take better advantage of social media while following our founder’s historical guidelines.
   

I have published three Explorers Club Journal articles and one Flag Report, have volunteered at every ECAD for the past 5 years, and represented The Club in Morocco. My European origin and diverse international background will be an asset in attracting additional members.

While in China I had an $8 million budget, attended as a speaker many conferences, and successfully served as a voice for our Museum. All of these scientific, financial and diplomatic experiences will prove invaluable to The Club.

In 1995, I was advisor to the Madagascar Ministry of Research on sustainable development. I also have advised several organizations over the years in paleontology, underwater archaeology and carbon neutral guidance.