I am in the process of getting my two-year certification in Inner Relationship Focusing

As ED of Creating Great Places, I prepared strategic plans, annual plans, budgets, and reports for approval by the board; conceived and led our main projects in line with our mission and strategic directions; hired and directed the accountant and consultants; managed the organization's finances; did fundraising (both grants and individual donors); generated income through events and rental properties; prepared and filed our annual 990; and generated content via emails, the website, and annual and project reports.

Creating Great Places promotes rural vitality through programs in cultural diversity, historic preservation, rural arts, environmental protection, and outdoor recreation, mostly focused on the Coon Rapids area. In 2005, I formed a local Coon Rapids-Whiterock alliance that successfully competed to win the first Iowa "Great Place" designation, and since that date have raised over $4 million for local rural tourism and environmental projects including major trail developments. Current projects also include art initiatives, historic preservation efforts, and the Southern Prairie Potholes wetland expansion.

I co-chaired the statewide "Khrushchev in Iowa" 50-year anniversary planning committee celebrating Iowa's traditions of citizen diplomacy and agricultural innovation. This added another positive step to 50 years of Iowa-Russia exchanges, and helped educate Iowa youth about the importance of using common human bonds (such as food production) to reach across ideological divides..

Within the Middle Raccoon River watershed I am leading advocacy efforts for a major wetland expansion. This "Southern Prairie Potholes Project" forms part of Obama's America Great Outdoors Initiative. I also lead outreach efforts for the Whiterock Conservancy land trust that is undertaking restoration and sustainable agricultural projects on 5,000 acres of river valley lands.

As founding member and initial outreach coordinator of Whiterock Conservancy, I led neighbor-outreach efforts, established a 5,000 person contact data base, co-developed logo and messaging, wrote press releases, and led Whiterock in teaming with the local community in winning the coveted 2005 "Iowa Great Place" designation, following which this town of 1,300 people, together with the Whiterock land trust, secured a $1 million legislative appropriation and a $1.7 million Vision Iowa grant.

I chaired and served on the ACLU Development Committee, revamping our annual campaign which led to significant increases in our fundraising ability.

I brought to WOLA's efforts to defend human rights in Latin America the experience and expertise gained by living and working for 20+ years in Guatemala in a context of extreme state-sponsored repression, and by being a former employee of WOLA from 1995-2000 leading their work on the Guatemalan peace process, police and security reform, and advocacy training. Currently I am "term-limited" off the WOLA board but continue to remain engaged with this vital organization in various ways.

I assisted Bosques Pico Bonito, a cutting-edge Honduran rain forest carbon-credit project, in setting up basic communciations systems, including messaging, branding, web-presence, Spanish-language descriptions, contact data base, first newsletter, local community outreach, etc.

Chaired the ICLU annual board-directed development campaign.

Founded a Guatemala nonprofit that advocates for the democratic control of the Guatemalan police and military intelligence services. Under Garst's leadership, SEDEM worked on Guatemala's first Secrecy (Open Government) legislation; authored a protection manual for non-profits affected by government surveillance, threats, and office break-ins; trained Guatemalan humnan rights organization in encryption; and engaged in police reform efforts.

Carried out policy advocacy on the Guatemalan peace process and Hemispheric Security Policy. Organized a regional police reform process. Specific focus on police intelligence services and introducing intelligence control language into the Guatemalan peace accords. From 1996-2000, founded and helped direct WOLA's Central American Advocacy Training Program

Free-lance policy research and guide-translation for visiting reporters and congressional delegations. Clients included UNICEF, the Interhemispheric Education and Resource Center, Catholic Relief Services, the Central Amercian Concertation of Development Institutions, and others. A major project involved researching and co-authoring the prize-winning book, Feeding the Crisis: US Food Aid and Farm Policy in Central Americ; which also involved a 4-month regional speaking tour and advocacy on the 1990 Farm Bill.

Founded and headed a policy research unit for Guatemalan Council of Development Institutions. Researched and published Spanish-language books about the Social Investment fund, refugee and displaced persons policy, and the Ixcan region of Guatemala.

Garst was raised in small-town Iowa. She worked during her teenage years for her Father's farming business as a farm-hand and cowgirl,