INHF Board Spotlight: Brenda Mainwaring

This blog series highlights and acknowledges our dedicated board members. Lending their time and talents on a volunteer basis for the protection of Iowa’s land, water and wildlife, INHF’s board members show an incredible amount of dedication and expertise. Our board members come from every region of the state, connecting our work with communities, landowners and organizations that help to make more conservation happen. See a full list of board members here and learn more about Brenda Mainwaring below!

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Brenda Mainwaring, CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, enjoys a distinction as a two-time INHF Board member. Her first round of service came during her tenure at Union Pacific Railroad, before her public affairs responsibilities required Mainwaring to relocate out of the Midwest. She returned to the board in 2024, not long after a Foundation collaboration on Little Sioux Scout Ranch reunited her with INHF leadership. 

Mainwaring, who grew up on an acreage east of Council Bluffs, connects her conservation-minded attitude to a childhood spent immersed in nature. 

“My parents both came from agricultural backgrounds, and as soon as they could afford it, they moved to a place where they had some land,” she says. “I spent most of my young life exploring the Loess Hills with my family. That connection to the land has always been fundamental to how I think of myself.”

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology from the University of Iowa, Mainwaring began her career as an intelligence analyst in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, she spent 23 years at Union Pacific, focused on legislative, governmental and community issues and came to know INHF through the Rails to Trails Program.

“The High Trestle Trail is my absolute favorite project because I know it from both sides,” Mainwaring says. "It is an absolute perfect representation of how INHF always finds a way to win for the community and for nature, because it was not an easy process.”

Now, as a philanthropy professional dedicated to making a lasting impact on the region, Mainwaring says she must be strategic about where she invests time and resources. She serves as an Iowa Economic Development Authority commission member, Advance Southwest Iowa board member, and on the Greater Omaha Chamber as an advocate for Council Bluffs. 

Mainwaring says she considers INHF’s board a ‘benchmark’ for good governance, where ‘every shade of politics is represented’ and collaboration promotes collegiality.  

“INHF does such a good job of focusing on the mission in a way that keeps everyone aligned,” she says.