Meet the IACP Board of Directors

DAVE COMSTOCK, ChildServe 
Past-Chair

Dave joined ChildServe in 1996 and has served there in various roles, including Program Manager, Director, and Vice President. He transitioned to Senior Vice President in July of 2018, and his current responsibilities include Regional Operations, Autism, Community Services and Homes. Throughout his career, Dave also served in the Iowa National Guard, retiring after 26 years as a Chief Warrant Officer 3. He has participated in the Iowa Association of Community Providers (IACP) for more than six years, serving as Children’s Chair, Finance Chair, Board Chair Dave recently began serving as Past Board Chair. Dave has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from William Penn University.

MARCY DAVIS, Candeo
Chair 

Marcy spent eleven years in hotel and restaurant management in Dallas Texas before transitioning into the Human Service industry. While working on her master’s degree, she worked at Dallas MHMR (now the Dallas Authority) as an Employment Specialist. This was her first experience supporting adults with disabilities to find and maintain employment in the community. Her work as an employment consultant took advantage of both her business background and her passion for people. During the five years at Dallas MHMR, she later worked with the Employment Services Director to redesign the entire county wide employment programs and later was selected as a Regional Team Leader over one of the five newly formed regional employment teams.

At the same time as her employment at Dallas MHMR, Marcy provided contract work on the Texas Sheltered Work Conversion Grant. This work involved traveling around Texas to sheltered workshops to provide training to sheltered work staff to prepare them to provide supported employment services and to work with leadership to develop employment services. Under a private contract, Marcy worked with Kevin Edwards to provide employment services consulting to the state of North Carolina and again, they traveled to employment providers to train staff and consult on workshop conversion efforts.

After completing the master’s degree, Marcy relocated to Ankeny, Iowa (1996) as the CEO at Candeo (then Creative Community Options). At this time Candeo served approximately fourteen (14) individuals and employed seventeen (17) staff and, over time grew extensively, adding BI and Habilitation to the existing ID services.  In 2023, Candeo added our IRSH services.

During her employment at Candeo, Marcy also worked for the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) for several years. For this work, she traveled around the nation providing either Personal Outcome Measures Training (POM), recertifying POM interviewers or serving on accreditation teams. This work was done between 1988 and 1992.

Marcy is married to Terry; they have three adult daughters and two granddaughters. Terry and Marcy enjoy gardening, biking trails, camping and hanging out with family.

At Large Director

Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Services from Iowa State University. She joined Friendship Ark as the Executive Director in 2014. Prior to that, she had worked in community-based services for individuals with disabilities since 2001 at Genesis Development.  Throughout her career, she has held many different positions, working directly with individuals with disabilities as well as in administration. She is passionate about helping others to reach their full potential through servant leadership. Jennifer currently serves on the Adult Advisory Committee for the CICS Region.  She is a member of the Ames Rotary Club and has been on the board since July 2022.  

Jennifer and her husband of 19 years, Paul, live in Ogden, IA, and have two daughters and their black lab, Ace. Jennifer enjoys spending time with family and friends, being outside working in her yard or garden, traveling, and watching the Iowa State Cyclones.

Vice Chair

Treasurer 

Dr. Richard Whitaker began his career in the Quad Cities in 1994 as a doctoral intern at the historic Marriage and Family Counseling Service in Rock Island, Illinois as part of his Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University. Since that pivotal year, Dr. Whitaker has pursued a career in community mental health, providing services, supervision, and executive administration at community mental health centers in Grand Island, Nebraska (9 years) and Jasper, Indiana (12 years as CFO). Since January 2017, Rich has served as the CEO of Vera French Community Mental Health Center in Davenport, Iowa.  In addition to serving as a Board member and Treasurer for the Iowa Association of Community Providers, Dr. Whitaker also serves as a Director of Region 7 on the Board of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, as a Board member of Churches United in the Quad Cities, and as a member of the Eastern Iowa MHDS Regional Advisory Committee.

Rich and Miriam are the parents of 3 daughters and one son and the proud grandparents of a growing number of highly-intelligent and multi-talented grandchildren. In his spare time, Rich enjoys family time, all types of exercise, vocal performance, and service in the church and community.

At Large Chair

Kendalyn Huff started as the Executive Director of Heartland Management Alliance in 2013. Before answering the Board’s call to lead the Alliance, Kendalyn served as the Director for Support Services of South Central Iowa for 8 years. The field of serving those “at-risk” has been the lead area for her entire professional career-from her roots with the YWCA to today.

The Huffs have lived in three of the four corners in Iowa; LeMars, Tabor and then Muscatine County before returning to their childhood home area in southwest Iowa, residing in Greenfield. Kendalyn and Dave, her husband of over forty years, have six children who have given her destinations to vacation and see the grandkids. Life has been an adventure with this group that continues to grow, but life only grows sweeter with all of them.

Serving as the CEO for Heartland Management Alliance also continues to be an adventure. The organizations of CARE dba Wm Eadie Residential Services, Innovative Industries Inc., Southern Iowa Resources for Families, and Support Services of South Central Iowa make up the Alliance that began in 2010. The organizations combined have decades of experience and they have built a stronger network over the past decade together.  Having the combination of professionals who work with residential at several levels to the expertise of staff in the job training area makes this a complete, strong team.

Volunteering is Kendalyn’s favorite pastime. From helping with youth sports to volunteering at the public school to being an American Red Cross Volunteer to being there for Brain Injury individuals and their families, it is what keeps life interesting and fulfilling. Serving on the IACP committees and Board makes the picture bigger and better.

At Large Chair

Mark is the CEO of One Vision, based in Clear Lake, Iowa.  One Vision serves approximately 300 individuals in communities across north central Iowa operating intermediate care facilities, daily and hourly supported community living services, employment services, and host homes.  In addition to these core services, One Vision operates three thrift stores, a textile & hardgoods recycling business, and a 55+ independent living community.

Mark began his career in behavioral healthcare in 1987 and has worked in a variety of roles from entry-level direct care to executive leadership, always with a focus on helping individuals live their best lives.  He has served on various boards, committees, and workgroups to promote the advancement of behavioral healthcare over his career.

Mark is married to Shannon, and they have three grown daughters.  His interests include Iowa Hawkeyes sports, canoeing, beekeeping and reading.

Secretary

Diane has more than 40 years of experience working as a nurse and leader in the non-profit world in a variety of leadership roles and currently serves her organization as the Executive Director of Nursing. In her role, she has been instrumental in the development of and expansion of services for individuals living with brain health conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities and brain injuries as well as supporting all aspects of programs from a nursing perspective.  She has helped her organization and the communities in which she has worked develop new and innovative services especially in the rural communities. She has relentlessly worked to educate communities and legislators on the need for services and funding supports so that all people can live in the community of their choice. 

Diane has been a part of the development and expansion of crisis services in Eastern Iowa.  Working collaborative with other community partners to develop the Linn County Mental Health Access Center and GuideLink Access Center in Johnson County. This collaboration has provided a new access point with no wrong door for individuals in crisis and has helped to reduce barriers to access to services for not only the local communities but across the state.  Her next project is opening intensive residential services homes in the community to serve individuals with complex needs.

Diane continues to work hard at creating programs to fill the gaps in our system of care. She currently serves as the Chair of the Mental Health and Disabilities Services Commission and also chairs the East Central Region Advisory Committee.  She is dedicated to reducing the stigma of brain health conditions and dedicated to the continued development of services for individuals in need.

Diane first joined the IACP Board as chair of the Residential Advisory Committee in 2015 and 2016.  She was elected to a 3 year at-large position in 2017. She was elected again in 2021 to serve as the Residential Advisory Chair. She has been a member of the IACP Membership Committee and is also a member of the IACP Nominations Committee. Diane was awarded the Executive of the Year Award from IACP in 2021. 

Diane’s personal lived experience with family members struggling with brain health conditions and suicide creates an intense desire to change the way that brain health care is treated.  She believes that we need to provide health care for brain health in the same manner that we do physical health.  We need to ensure that anyone living with brain health conditions receives the care they need in a respectful and caring manner and we need to create environments where it is OK to talk about it.

Diane has been married to her high school sweetheart, Pete, for 47 years.  One of her greatest joys is spending time with her 9 grandchildren and looks forward each summer to Grandma Camp where parents aren’t allowed to interfere with Grandma and the camp events with all the grandkids. 

CYNTHIA STEIDL BISHOP, Eyerly Ball Community Mental Health Services 

At Large Chair

Cynthia Steidl Bishop is the Chief Executive Officer at Eyerly Ball Community Mental Health Services.

TIFFANY MARLETTE, Imagine the Possibilities

At Large Chair

Tiffany Marlette is the President of Strategic Growth and Chief Operating Officer at Imagine the Possibilities and has been named as the successor to the current CEO come January 2025. Tiffany began her career in 2011 as a Direct Support Professional and HCBS Coordinator at DAC, an organization providing services to individuals with disabilities with a purpose to help them live life to the fullest. This organization was one of three that later merged together to form Imagine the Possibilities, taking the idea that living life to the fullest meant being empowered to reach individual achievement. Since, she has worked in many facets of the industry, including direct care, compliance, strategic planning, and operations. Tiffany has been instrumental in organizing other mergers and acquisitions for the company, helping to expand its reach across the state of Iowa. In addition to a fulfilling career, Tiffany has served on many local and state committees, helping advocate for individuals with disabilities. 

As someone passionate about strategic growth and change implementation, it is always Tiffany's goal to have a positive impact on every team she encounters. Her career is dedicated to empowering people to live their best, which means she thrives in dynamic environments where she can collaborate with others to solve complex problems. The skills she has acquired have led her to value strong program development, operations management, and even highly strategized organizational mergers and acquisitions. She is a lifelong learner, always looking for new ways to grow her current skills and discover new opportunities! 

Tiffany and her husband, Nick, are parents of three children - two boys and one girl. Of course, the family isn't complete without including their 2 boxers! The Marlette family loves summer camping trips, live music, and spending time with one another. Their time is spent doing all they can to positively impact those in their community.