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Board of Directors

Dave Eisenbraun, EqSD's Treasurer currently resides in Sioux Falls, SD with his partner Scott.  He grew up in Deadwood and Spearfish, SD where he attended Spearfish High School and Black Hills State University.   He is employed as a General Manager for Hegg Companies and has had a successful career in business for over 25 years in South Dakota and New Mexico.  Dave knows the struggles and hurdles LGBT individuals face in a rural state.  After 36 years in the closet and experiencing discrimination in employment, Dave became an activist for change in South Dakota.  Dave has testified on issues such as ENDA telling his personal story on how discrimination impacted his life.  Dave has also watched hearts and minds change among his family and friends and has been fortunate to have the support of those he cares for.

Don Frankenfeld lives in Rapid City, SD. A Republican, Don served as a state senator and chaired the senate tax committee. In 1990 he was the Republican candidate for South Dakota's single Congressional seat, losing to a now-Senator Tim Johnson. As a Bush Foundation leadership fellow, he earned an MPA at Harvard's JFK School of Government. Don often testifies in court as a forensic economist and financial expert. He testified nearly one hundred times on behalf of claimants to the Federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. His testimonial appearances on behalf of a gay survivor in California and a lesbian survivor in Missouri were personally transformational, and led him to become an advocate for gay marriage rights.

Rev. Wes Garcia has always been concerned and an activist when it comes to human rights issues. He serves on the Minnehaha County Diversity Committee and is co-founder of Divercity. Besides his interest in human rights issues, he is also an activist on the environment. He is now retired from teaching psychology and counseling classes and now spends his time working on human rights and  environmental issues, and serving on a number of boards.  Wes has an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and a M.Div. Wes has been married for 34 years and has three children and one grandchild on the way. More than ever, he is concerned with what his generation is leaving behind for the next generations to deal with. When not involved as an activist, Wes relaxes by being involved with his hobbies of photography and model trains.

Lawrence Novotny, Vice Chair of EqSD lives in Brookings, SD where he works as a quality assurance chemist with South Dakota State University. Besides having a long history of involvement in South Dakota's environmental and social justice movements, Lawrence has also been involved in various former & current LGBT organizations. He is also secretary-treasurer of SD Resources Coalition, treasurer of Brookings County Democrats and a regular writer for the Gayzette.  The Brookings Human Rights Committee presented the Dorothy and Eugene T. Butler, Jr. Human Rights Award to Lawrence in 2007 as someone who has shown outstanding commitment to the cause of Human Rights.

Amy Richards, EqSD and EqSD Institute's Chair, grew up on a ranch east of Sturgis, SD on the Belle Fourche River. She is the granddaughter of a Methodist minister, Reuben Tanquist, and a great uncle, Dr. Benjamin Rush, signed the Declaration of Independence. As a child she attended Farm Bureau, Stock Growers, and Meade County Republican meetings and learned about the power of organizations to create change. Amy graduated from Montana State University in 1990 with bachelor’s degrees in business administration and art, and received a master’s degree in nutrition from South Dakota State University in 2004. Amy, a registered dietitian, directs the University of South Dakota Dietetic Internship Program and lives in Sioux Falls.

Gary Snow resides in Pierre, SD where he owns Gary Snow & Associates, Inc. an environmental consulting and contracting company serving North and South Dakota. He currently serves on the PAC committee for NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota and was a board member of the Campaign for Healthy Families during the 2006 effort to overturn the South Dakota abortion ban. Gary was a member of the Pierre School Board, Missouri Shores Domestic Violence Shelter board of directors and has been an on-call chaplain at a local hospital for the past 25 years. He has testified at several South Dakota legislative hearings on various social issues over the past three decades and was a registered lobbyist in the early 1990s.

Sharon Ludwick Warner, Vice Treasurer of EqSD PAC, lives in Rapid City, SD. She is a third generation family owner of Rain Bird Corporation, a manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services. Sharon currently serves and has served on the boards of numerous local, regional and statewide public charities. She has extensive experience in grant making and administration as a member of the Ludwick Family Foundation. Sharon is a lifetime member of the American Association of University Women and longtime women's rights activist.