Meet our current staff and board members!
Jenna Schambach- Executive DirectorJenna Schambach is the Director of Keep Cass County Beautiful and has proudly called South Bend, Nebraska, home for the past ten years, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her passion for conservation began in childhood through camping and hiking adventures across Nebraska with her mother, fostering a deep appreciation for the state's natural beauty and inspiring a lifelong commitment to environmental stewardship. As an adult, Jenna became focused on finding practical ways her family could reduce its environmental impact. She is excited to share that knowledge and enthusiasm with Cass County residents, helping individuals and communities make small changes that collectively create a lasting positive impact. Before joining Keep Cass County Beautiful, she taught English at Plattsmouth High School for two years and now looks forward to combining her background in education with her passion for conservation to help create cleaner, safer, and more sustainable communities throughout Cass County.
Cindy Cruse - Assistant Director
Cindy Cruse has been fulfilling the role of assistant director for nearly two years. She is the mother of six along with four dogs. She loves to read, walk, play sports and be home with her kids and pets! Cindy said it was by happenstance that she came to work for KCCB. Dana and Cindy attended rotary together and she heard KCCB was hiring; she was immediately interested as she wanted to be part of something meaningful and that even her kids could help and learn from and decided to give it a try. Cindy states that having a husband who is a contractor and has a lot of “stuff” makes it a challenge to reduce waste but she’s improving every day. Cindy says her main role with KCCB is to be a “2nd Dana”, on call and ready whenever needed. There hasn’t been a job so far Cindy has failed or at least tried to do! Cindy notes that Dana and her work perfectly in sync together as a team and that it’s been a real blessing having this opportunity to learn so many real-life lessons on how we can make the world a better place. Cindy said her dream for KCCB is to have Cass County fully embrace KCCB, “we do so much work behind the scenes that others don’t see but if we can get our entire community to support us and take action, we can truly make Cass County the best place to work, play and live!”
Stephanie Wolcott - Educational Director
Stephanie lives near Louisville with her husband and two spoiled dogs. She has two sons who grew up in Louisville and now live in the Omaha area.
Stephanie has loved learning all about KCCB the past few years. She has volunteered by teaching kids in the enviro club and other KCCB events in the community. She loves teaching kids how to reuse and recycle waste in unexpected or creative ways, usually involving crafting or gardening. She is very excited to work as an educator in the schools and community for KCCB.
Stephanie is an artist with the Nebraska Art Council and spends her time teaching art workshops of many kinds in her studio, on-line and at different locations around the community . She is also a Nebraska Extension Master Gardener and loves to spend time learning about plants and sharing plant knowledge. Stephanie loves spending time in nature, creating pottery, gardening, baking, and taking care of her chickens and several other hobbies. She also shares her time volunteering at a local charity thrift store.
Jim Petersen- President
Former Cass County Commissioner Jim Peterson has been a resident of Eagle for 51 years. Jim lives with his wife Colleen whom he has been married to for 55 years, they have four children and five grandchildren. Jim was formerly a Jr. High Band Director at Waverly schools and for 25 years has been directing the choir at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Elmwood! Jim is the owner of Midwest Insurance exchange and is slowly transitioning this business to his daughter Erica. Jim has served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Nebraska and Liaison to Keep Nebraska Beautiful when he served as commissioner. Jim enjoys living on an acreage, being able to garden and enjoy nature, he also loves to fish. Jim has been involved in KCCB since the very beginning, his first role was facilitating the purchase of recycling trailers for the communities of Cass County and being a part of the establishment of KCCB. He is excited to again serve on the board in his retirement. Jim is especially interested in expanding public awareness of solid waste issues and increasing recycling rates and composting. “Our community needs a sustainable, viable plan” Jim states. Jim was elected to the board in January 2024.
Debbie Vidlak - Vice President
Debbie, a resident of Union, has been a member of KCCB for 7 years and has served in several different roles over the years. Debbie has a masters in pathology and microbiology and currently works at UNMC as the project coordinator for the Buffet Cancer Research Center Clinical Trials Office. In her spare time, Debbie volunteers with several nonprofits focusing on community improvement, sustainability and animal rescue. Her passion is community cat welfare, and she volunteers as a TNR (trap, neuter, release) coordinator for a local rescue group. Debbie learned about KCCB through a mutual acquaintance who was very passionate about the programs with KCCB. The values of KCCB aligned well with Debbie’s and she feels engaged and invested in making positive change in her community serving on the KCCB board. Debbie’s goals for KCCB are to work towards long-term sustainability such as waste reduction and recycling. In addition, to have the core goal to continue beautifying the community.
Roger Behrns - Treasurer
Roger was a founding board member of KCCB in 2012 and had previously been a board member and volunteer for Keep Nebraska Beautiful. Roger worked at Ash Grove Cement where he was active in Production and Quality Control, Safety and Environmental. He retired in 2011 as Environmental Manager. His hobbies include amateur radio and woodworking and also enjoys photography and travel. Roger is a fifth generation Cass County resident and his family farm was started in 1866. He is also an active board member and volunteer with the Cass County Historical Society.
Steve Dodd - Secretary
Retired U.S. Navy, Plattsmouth resident, Steve is a former president of KCCB since 2021. Steve and his wife Julie are both active members of the county recycling and composting communities and are constantly searching for new ways to reduce their footprint on the planet. Steve’s hobbies include motorcycling and volunteering for many organizations such as KCCB and veterans’ organizations. Steve decided to get involved with KCCB when he discovered that Cass County doesn’t have a landfill and exports all its waste to Iowa and parts of Nebraska. With this discovery, Steve felt it a duty to work towards a more sustainable future by working towards a circular economy where everything gets reused, recycled or composted. One large project that Steve assists with is the Environmental Fair and the St. Johns Fish Fry’s in which a new pilot program using compostables and recyclables diverting over 1,000lbs of landfill waste.
Karin Forest
Karin has served on the KCCB Board since 2020 and lives with her husband Jim and is a mother to three grown sons. Karin’s hobbies are gardening, reading and dog and cat rescue. She is a master Gardener and has been involved with Happy Paws Rescue for 10 years. Karin was born and raised in SW Germany and moved to the states in 2001. Her interests with KCCB are beautification, gardening and conservation. Her passion is to focus on education on environmental issues such as water conservation, native plants and water quality. She is particularly concerned about microplastics and believes in focusing on reducing and reusing wherever possible.
Kristen Janssen
My name is Kristen Janssen. I have loved nature and conservation since I was a child. I grew up watching “Big Cat Dairies” on Animal Planet and knew I wanted to do something to help keep the environment healthy for all creatures. I earned a bachelor's degree in fisheries and wildlife from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree in wildlife conservation and management from Unity College. I live in Elmwood with my husband and three boys who are 12, 10, and 7. I work for Conservation Nebraska where I am the Renew Nebraska Program Manager. Conservation Nebraska is a statewide nonprofit whose mission is to protect our state’s natural legacy by educating the public, supporting communities, and increasing civic engagement. Conservation Nebraska comprises several programs including the Common Ground Education Program, Our Legacy Nebraska, and Renew Nebraska. Renew Nebraska is a nonpartisan coalition of Nebraskans who support energy innovation. Renew Nebraska also serves as an information hub about energy innovation in Nebraska to increase access to high-quality, up-to-date energy-related information and helps connect Nebraskans with experts in energy-related fields. I have always loved giving back to my community from volunteering at the local animal shelter growing up, to serving with AmeriCorps for two years. I also volunteer as a child passenger safety technician, educating caregivers on installing and using car seats to keep children safe in the car. I look forward to serving Cass County on the board of Keep Cass County Beautiful.
Elizabeth Umshler
Eagle resident, Elizabeth has been a member of KCCB for 5 years and is the proud mother of a daughter and fur babies. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends and likes to golf in her free time. Elizabeth decided to become a member of KCCB after doing several litter cleanups in Eagle coordinated by KCCB as she wanted to get more involved. She is very passionate about beautification in the county and doing what she can to support environmental education and betterment for the community. Her dream for KCCB is to continue to engage and educate younger generations so they can have a better understanding of the importance of recycling, composting and creating litter free environments.