Our People

Pete MacFadyen is a founding board member and executive director at the Rieschel Foundation, a private family foundation focused on finding and developing partners to better serve their communities. Pete oversees the day to day operations of the foundation.

Prior to the Rieschel Foundation, Pete founded Big Sky Youth Empowerment where he worked as its executive director for 18 years.

Pete holds a MA in Mental Health Counseling from Montana State University and received his undergraduate degree from Boston College. While he continues to hold his license in professional counseling he is no longer in private practice.

Pete lives in Bozeman, MT with his wife and daughter where they spend an abundant amount of time outdoors.

Katie DiBerardinis joined the Rieschel Foundation as Program Officer in fall of 2021. Katie is responsible for supporting the foundation’s annual grant cycle, scholarship program, and establishing, updating and maintaining foundation operations in partnership with Pete and Lauren.

Previously, Katie was a Director at Big Sky Youth Empowerment and prior to that, enjoyed 10 years as a middle school counselor. She holds a M.Ed. in School Counseling from Montana State University.

A recent move with her husband to western Washington finds her exploring the outdoors, gardening, surfing, and volunteering in her new community.

Lauren's primary focus within the Rieschel Foundation is in connecting with its grant applicants and awardees. Her lifelong love for wildlife conservation has also helped shape the Foundation's interest in Africa.

Lauren graduated from Seattle Central College and splits her time between Seattle and Bozeman.