Meet the staff
Logan became HCA's second Executive Director in February 2022. A Kansas City native, he first cut his chops in climate action spending half his days as a kindergartener at his dad's solar business. Logan has been involved locally as an active member of Climate Action KC and former board member of Metropolitan Energy Center. He is also a current city councilmember for Overland Park, KS after being elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021.
In his five years prior to joining HCA, Logan was a community engagement manager for Harvesters—The Community Food Network. He was also a former press intern at the Obama White House and worked in constituent services as an intern for Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. To help pay for his education, Logan worked as a package handler for UPS and was a member of the Teamsters union.
A graduate of Shawnee Mission schools, Logan graduated Cum Laude from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in Broadcast Journalism and History. He is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas.
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Sarah grew up in Nebraska and received her BA in English and International Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her MFA in Fiction at the University of South Carolina before moving to Kansas City. She has worked extensively in after school programs, continuing education, and day camps and youth clubs.
Sarah believes that everyone is a lifetime learner and encourages people to be excited about the things they love. At HCA she organizes the Green Guard Stewardship Training Program where Kansas Citians learn environmental skills and connections to protect what they love most: their communities.
In her free time Sarah loves to read and is always looking for a new book suggestion.
Madeline Putman
AmeriCorps VISTA/Outdoor Education Coordinator
info@heartlandconservationalliance.org
(816) 806-8084
Madeline grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York which sparked her love for the outdoors through trips around and within the Adirondack Mountain range with her family. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Conservation and Sustainability in the spring of 2021. In 2019, she had an internship with a land conservancy in Saratoga Springs called Saratoga PLAN (Preserving land and nature). Madeline has a strong passion for non-profit work and community service and is thrilled to work with the Heartland Conservation Alliance through AmeriCorps VISTA, being able to use both this passion and her interest in environmental studies. In her free time, Madeline loves to hike, kayak, camp and other activities that are centered around being outdoors.
Magali was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and raised in Kansas City. She does not say whether KCMO or KCK. Although, she believes that both states need to work together in order to better serve its communities.
She graduated from East High School in 2011 and considers it an honor see the connection between East and Heartland Conservation Alliance. She appreciates the influence education has had in her life. She is currently earning a graduate level Environmental Justice certification at the University of Kansas. Her involvement does not end at school; She also takes joy in volunteering with grassroots organizations. Magali attended the SHIFTJH Summit as an emerging leader, where she learned the power of storytelling and vulnerability.
She hopes to apply her knowledge and skills to her role at HCA and help bridge the intersectionality between health and nature.
Kristina is a Missouri native and has enjoyed spending time outdoors from a young age. She recalls spending many childhood hours riding bikes, exploring, hunting for rocks, camping, and canoeing. Her enjoyment of nature as a child fueled her desire to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Geology from Northwest Missouri State University. Kristina’s professional career spans between the public and private environmental sectors and provided her with the opportunity to work in Jefferson City, Missouri, Seattle, Washington, and Denver, Colorado before returning to her roots in Kansas City, Missouri in 2021.
Since returning to Kansas City, Kristina has enjoyed exploring the abundant outdoor opportunities the Midwest has to offer. She is eager to become more involved with local efforts to provide solutions to the environmental and conservation challenges that the Kanas City area faces. In her role as Program Manager for HCA, Kristina is most excited about developing strong relationships with our partners and local communities to protect the places we love.
Nature Action Crew
Armondo Alvarez
Nature Action Crew Member
Armondo was born and raised in Kansas City. He is proud of the role he is beginning to play for our City's environment! He is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science, and plans to create his own environmental remediation organization in the future.
His earliest memories that made him fall in love and appreciate the natural environment were the times he spent as a child, playing outside in an undeveloped neighborhood with large wooded, open green spaces. When he explored the area, everything he found was so interesting to him. He witnessed gophers bobbing in and out of their hill, deer roaming in daylight, snake sheds in the steep earth grooves found around his home, a huge assortment of insects, and a large array of wildlife. But he saw a lot of pollution: his street hosted a dumping site crowded with trash and plastics. He knew it wasn't right. That memory has stuck with him. He has made it a life mission to restore local green spaces, so that others after him will get to enjoy the same connection with nature that he had.
Tabitha Carr
Nature Action Crew Member
Tabitha was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She is working on getting her bachelor's degree in Marine Biology and Geology. She has volunteered with Urban Trail Co. by helping build and maintain mountain bike and hiking trails, along with the removal of bush honeysuckle.
Tabitha discovered her respect for the earth and love for nature when she visited the ocean for the first time when she was 10 years old. Although her passion began through marine biology, Tabitha has a love for nature as a whole. Recently she took notice of the wooded areas around her neighborhood. Since volunteering, she has been learning more about the invasive bush honeysuckle as well as other invasive species. “It is everywhere, and it has become a mission to help eradicate this invasive species.” Once that started, it kicked off a train of strong love for and need to protect the wildlife around us.
Shaun-Ezekiel
Nature Action Crew Member
Shaun-Ezekiel was born in Pennsylvania and raised outside of Chicago, Tampa, Prague, all throughout Kansas, and now in KCMO.
He discovered his love of nature from his great-grandmother who raised him. She was described by the neighborhood as a "tree lover" and "had the greenest thumb of them all." It was through her garden that they worked on together, along with his mother, that made no home feel whole without at least a few tomato and pepper plants to care for. He tries his best to live up to his great-grandmother's green thumbs through work at HCA. He is still trying to discover what part of conservation is the best fit for him to help Kansas City's community thrive.
He enjoys swimming, hiking, and being involved in both the local urban Jewish and Queer communities. He is most passionate about creating safe inclusive spaces that are not only accessible but promote a sense of community between the diverse people in our city and nature. He also has two cats that he walks on harnesses.
Joseph Kempinger
Nature Action Crew Member
Joseph was born in Kansas City and was raised in Montrose, MO and Saint Joseph. As a child in a rural community, he learned to appreciate wildlife, particularly some of the more neglected areas. Joseph attended Creighton University, and will be graduating with a Bachelor’s in Biology this year.
From an early age, Joseph has been interested in interacting with wild animals, snakes and other reptiles. Steve Irwin was a massive role model and inspiration for him, and even though it probably wasn’t the safest thing to do, he followed his example and caught venomous snakes to develop a relationship with them. After moving to a larger city and not having the immediate connection to wildlife, he pursued other science-related fields.
He initially went to college to study medicine, but ultimately learned that the things he learned could be better applied to conservation and how it interacts with us and our health. Joseph hopes to establish his own biological and chemical lab, performing targeted interdisciplinary research, while making his career in wildlife biology studying specific species and evolutionary processes.