Staff

Gale Reece
Executive Director

Gale Reece has a proven track record of business success having started Kentucky Underground Storage, Inc. over 20 years ago in the same facility that houses Highbridge Spring Water (her family's company). Located in a cave in Jessamine County, KUSI is a commercial records center offering storage for all types of information – hard copy, microforms, computer media, etc. During her tenure as president and chief operating officer, the company grew from one employee to more than 20 and the storage to over half a million cartons of documents and pieces of computer media.

After Gale retired from KUSI in 2005, she knew she wanted to work on aging issues and was thinking about housing until a Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government employee convinced her that transportation was the pressing issue, and elders couldn't stay in their homes anyway without it! This fact, combined with her drive and can-do attitude led Gale to ITNAmerica, and ultimately, to the process of establishing a local affiliate.

Working in a non-profit environment is new to Gale, but her past experience with forming companies, negotiating and revising contracts, making decisions, giving presentations and maintaining high levels of customer service has been critical in the startup of ITNBluegrass.

Though a Kentucky native, Gale graduated from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and for about ten years after that lived in Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta.

Laura Dake
Deputy Director

Laura Dake has been working with Executive Director Gale Reece since November 2006, first as a grant writer and fundraiser, then – since July 2007 – as deputy director of ITNBluegrass. She particularly enjoys writing, planning events and speaking to groups about the possibilities for improving quality of life for older adults in Central Kentucky.

In addition to her work with ITNBluegrass, Laura is a contract trainer with Bluegrass Community and Technical College's Corporate and Community Development office, where she has developed and taught courses for Toyota, Sekisui, Neogen Corporation and Kentucky Utilities, among many others. She has more than a decade of training facilitation and course development experience in both corporate and educational settings and specializes in courses on leadership development, verbal and written communication and customer service. She loves helping individuals improve their abilities to work effectively within their organizations.

Laura is both AchieveGlobal and DDI-certified and holds advanced degrees from the University of Michigan and George Mason University.

Barbara Warburton
Dispatcher

Dispatcher Barbara Warburton first heard of ITNBluegrass when Laura Dake spoke at an AARP career fair, but knew of Gale Reece through Gale’s family’s company Highbridge Springs, a water vendor Barbara purchased from in her position as a commercial buyer for Donaldson Co., Inc., a manufacturer of filtration and air cleaning systems. Barbara was intrigued by the work ITNBluegrass was proposing to do and eager to do something productive after her retirement from Donaldson. In her work as a dispatcher, Barbara loves speaking with members and volunteers on the phone. She says that she has "a heart for seniors, therefore, working with them is such a delight." Barbara is a 2008 graduate of the Citizens Leadership Academy and a 2009 graduate of the Lexington Citizen Police Academy.

Holly Wethall
Community Outreach Coordinator

With a background in occupational therapy, Community Outreach Coordinator Holly Wethall knows about many of the challenges that come with aging. Holly first heard about ITN when it was nothing more than a great idea. She says that she has enjoyed watching the idea become reality and has been struck by how well thought out the program is. She enjoys working at ITNBluegrass because she loves discussing the program with seniors and visually impaired individuals who are in need of transportation. Holly is the proud mother of two and over the years has been involved in volunteering for Meals on Wheels, her children’s schools, and Bible Study Fellowship.

Alison Marcotte
Intern

Alison Marcotte has been an ITNBluegrass college intern since August 2009 and has been focusing on marketing our service. Some of her responsibilities include designing and creating business cards, newsletters, display items, and constant contact emails to raise public awareness; leveraging social media to market organizational events; and writing annual appeal and membership renewal letters to reach out those people already in the database. In addition to these tasks, Alison has become a volunteer driver and gave her first ride on January 15! Alison is originally from the Northern Kentucky area, but has been living in Lexington for the past four years while attending the University of Kentucky. She will graduate in the spring of 2010 with a double major in Marketing and Spanish and is applying to law schools.