Maria Maixner
Board President
Leads board governance and long-range program direction. Her standing responsibility is to test whether the field practice matches the evidence presented to donors, and whether the evidence is being collected at all.
Leadership & Board
A volunteer board of research agronomists, soil scientists, and engineers governs the organization without compensation. Board members review program design, approve expenditures, and inspect field sites directly.
Governing board
Board of directors
Each member holds a defined responsibility. Roles are listed so that a reviewer can see which person is accountable for finance, agronomy, engineering, and international program oversight.
Jim Maixner
Treasurer
Holds the organization's financial controls: quarterly reconciliation of disbursements against bank records and the microloan register, preparation for the annual review, and oversight of the Form 990 filing.
Dr. Brian Meese
Agronomy Lead
Research agronomist responsible for field protocol design, the paired demonstration plot methodology, and the yield and cost-benefit data the organization publishes. Approves release of plot-level data to research partners.
Tracy Blackmer
Soil Science & Inputs
Reviews soil testing practice, fertilizer recommendations, and input cost assumptions against field results. Responsible for the input optimization tables and for challenging any recommendation that cannot be justified with a measurement.
Doug Wibholm
Engineering & Infrastructure
Civil engineering oversight for borehole siting, pump installation, and water point construction. Reviews contractor deliverables and uptime reporting against the operational assumptions in the project budget.
Placeholder biographies
The narrative biographies and portrait tiles on this page are demonstration placeholders written to the required structure and length. Replace each with the confirmed biography, credentials, and photograph approved by that board member before publication.
Accountability
Who is responsible for what
Oversight fails when responsibility is shared. Each area below has one named owner and a defined review cadence.
| Area | Responsible | Review cadence | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program design & field protocol | Dr. Brian Meese | Quarterly | Protocol revision memo |
| Soil & input recommendations | Tracy Blackmer | Before each planting window | Updated input tables |
| Financial controls | Jim Maixner | Quarterly | Reconciliation & Form 990 |
| Infrastructure & water sites | Doug Wibholm | Per project milestone | Site acceptance record |
| Strategy & board governance | Maria Maixner | Annual | Annual plan & review |
Board members serve without compensation. Reasonable travel expenses to program districts are reimbursed at cost.
Field operations
Program delivery team
Field delivery is run by Zambian staff and accredited local trainers, with university support arriving as technical assistance rather than as management.
14 accredited trainers
Local agronomists certified to deliver the ZIAP curriculum after a supervised teaching practicum and an assessment. Six trainers are currently completing practicum requirements.
41 village savings groups
Farmer-managed groups that hold the loan register and the repayment obligation, with treasurer training delivered by field staff each planting season.
Academic support
University partners contribute protocol review, data analysis, and evaluation design. Technical input is advisory; field decisions remain with the program team.
The board's job is to make sure the numbers survive contact with a question. If a figure cannot be traced to a plot or a ledger, it does not go in the report.
Board governance principleZambia-Iowa Agricultural Partners
Common questions
For reviewers and applicants
Use EIN 99-2864574 on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. The classification is 501(c)(3) public charity, and the annual Form 990 is available on request.
No. Board service is voluntary. Only documented travel costs for program district visits are reimbursed, and those are reported in the annual financial statements.
Disbursements require two approvals, conflicts are declared and recorded in the minutes, and no member is involved in an award decision affecting an associated institution. Related-party disclosures appear in the annual report.
Email info@ziap.org with "Board contact" in the subject line and a brief note on the topic. Academic reviewers requesting a technical briefing should mention the methodology involved.
Put the data to work
If you are a researcher, a university group, or an analyst looking for a field dataset with a method attached, we would like to hear from you.