Meet our Team
Board Secretary: Marguerite Herman (Wyoming)
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Marguerite Herman has worked in education, communication, and advocacy for many years and maintains an interest in all three. She reported for The Associated Press in Columbia, S.C., and later in Cheyenne, and is author of A Look at Wyoming Government (League of Women Voters, 2006.) She has been the federal legislative chair for the Wyoming PTA and is the legislative lobbyist for the League of Women Voters in Wyoming. She lives in Cheyenne
Founder/Board President: Margaret Bird (Utah)
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Margaret Bird was born in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Vanderbilt University in math. She later earned an MS in economics at the University of Utah and completed all coursework for a PhD. She was distracted by how little school trust lands generated for schools in Utah in 1989. Margaret was one of the founders of ASTL. She is a passionate advocate for school trusts for schools.
She has been recognized for her advocacy on school trust lands by the Utah Bar, Best of State for Community Advocacy, and Utah’s education community. Her persistence on school trust lands have earned her the nickname “Junk Yard Dog.”
Board Treasurer: Barbara Smith (Utah)
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Barbara has been advocating for School Trust Lands in Utah since 1994. She helped draft the legislation that created the mechanism for millions of dollars to flow directly to Utah’s schools. She has been involved with Advocates for School Trust Lands since the beginning.
Barbara served on her local school board for 24 years and as a state-level PTA officer for eight years.
She was the Director of the Utah Family Partnership, a nonprofit that works with parents and schools for children’s success and served on the Utah’s First Lady’s Uplift Families Board of Directors.
Nationally, she has been a board member and president of the Advocates for School Trust Lands and the National Federation of Urban/Suburban School Districts. She has presented nationally on such subjects as leadership, gifted education teaching practices, school and personal safety, parenting skills, and building resilience in children. She currently serves on the board of Resilient You, Davis Technical College Foundation, and Advocates for School Trust Lands.
She has a BS in Communications and an MBA.
Board Member: Corey Fairholm: (Utah)
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Corey Fairholm | Board Member
Corey Fairholm brings over two decades of dedicated advocacy and a deep understanding of the educational landscape to the Advocates for School Trust Lands board. As the Immediate Past President of the Utah PTA, Corey represents a constituency of over 77,000 members, serving as a vital bridge between the technical management of school trust lands and the classroom beneficiaries they support.
Corey's journey in advocacy began more than 22 years ago as a volunteer when her eldest daughter entered kindergarten. That grassroots commitment evolved into state-level leadership, where she has been a tireless champion for student well-being and teacher support. Her perspective is rooted in the belief that every student deserves the resources to succeed, a conviction fueled by the transformative impact teachers have had on her own family’s life.
A seasoned legislative strategist, Corey has been instrumental in advancing policies that protect the "corpus" of the permanent fund while maximizing its benefits for current students. Her focus on perpetual stewardship ensures that school trust lands remain a sustainable, high-impact resource for this generation of students and those to come.
At Advocates for School Trust Lands (ASTL), our mission relies on a dedicated, passionate network of leaders who believe that a robust public education system starts with proactive stewardship.
Learn more about service on the board and explore how you might get involved.
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The ASTL Board of Directors serves as the core steering committee for our national advocacy efforts. Together, our directors set organizational policy, conduct critical nonprofit business, and collaborate directly with state chapters to ensure state enabling acts and trust land mandates are fiercely upheld for public schools.
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Our bylaws specify that our board thrives on a diverse set of viewpoints. We actively look to include perspectives from every corner of the trust community, including:
Parents & PTA Leaders looking to maximize classroom funding.
Local School Board Members & Administrators navigating district budget needs.
K-12 teachers seeing the direct impact of school distributions.
Natural Resource Professionals (foresters, ranchers, land managers) who understand the lands.
State Chapter Officers & Government Officials guiding trust land administration.
High School or College Student who represents the immediate beneficiaries of the trust.
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Per our bylaws, the intent is to have at least seven directors. With six active directors currently serving and others on the board looking to retire, we are looking to fill vacant seats now to bring our committee to full strength. Our bylaws also allow us to expand on that number as needed.
While our official, formal board elections are held each December in accordance with our bylaws, vacancies can be filled at any time, and we are using the energy of this conference cycle to gather interest and build our leadership pipeline. Serving on the board is an uncompensated volunteer commitment that gives you a national platform to defend intergenerational equity and protect the sacred compact that funds our schools.
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You don't need a corporate resume or a complex legal background to make a difference—just a commitment to protecting the trust. If you are attending the conference or following our work online and want to explore how your voice can help steer ASTL's mission, we want to hear from you.
Please email or call us to ask questions or express interest. You can also fill out our brief, open-ended Board Interest Form to let us know who you are, what background you represent, and why you care about school trust lands. Once submitted, ASTL will reach out to connect!
Board Member: Dave Sullivan (Oregon)
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Dave Sullivan is the founder and president of Oregon Advocates for School Trust Lands, an organization established in August 2021. He has been instrumental in leading legal efforts to hold the State of Oregon accountable for its attempt to sell the Elliott State Forest from the Common School Fund without securing market value, ensuring that school trust lands are protected for the benefit of Oregon’s public schools.
Dave brings a wealth of professional experience to his role. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Administration (Systems Science) from Carnegie Mellon University and has an emeritus appointment from the College of Business at Oregon State University, where he spent 25 years teaching and researching information systems. He has authored numerous textbooks and holds two patents for innovative software tools.
Dave’s career also includes serving as Division Finance Manager and Accountant at Tektronix, where he provided financial oversight and participated in management planning. In addition to his work with school trust lands, Dave has served on the boards of both the Corvallis School Board and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association.
Dave can be reached at 541-791-6470 or drdavesullivan@gmail.com.
Board Member PTA: Sheri Mattle: (Utah)
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With extensive service and experience in K-12 public education Sheri Mattle comes to the board as a representative of the Utah PTA, where she serves as the Trust Lands specialist.
CEO: Tonia Day (Utah)
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A strategically-minded and accomplished leader with a Master's in Strategic Communications, Tonia currently serve as Chief Executive Officer. Her 30-year career as a leader in K-12 and higher education define her ability to lead organizational revitalization, translate high-level strategic objectives into actionable plans, and drive organizational awareness.