Meet our Team

Our Staff

Nancy Van Maren

Executive Director

Nancy helped found Nations to Neighbors Montana in 2021 as a Sponsor Circle to welcome Afghan evacuees to Billings. With tremendous volunteer support and 100% community funding, she coordinated the resettlement care for four families. With the opening of a resettlement agency in Billings, Nancy pivoted Nations to Neighbors to become a nonprofit in support of refugees over the long welcome – the many months it takes to build community and learn daily life skills in this foreign context.

For a season, Nancy worked for the International Rescue Committee, supporting US communities to sponsor refugees. She holds three masters degrees—in public policy, social work, and humanitarian and disaster leadership. Previously, Nancy was the first director of the non-partisan Legislative Office of Performance Evaluations for the State of Idaho (1994-2002), overseeing performance audits as the “State Watchdog.” Nancy has lived and studied in France and England, and worked in Rwanda and Madagascar. She and her husband have four amazing, grown children.

Lacey Stovall

Youth Services Coordinator

Lacey grew up in Montana. She graduated from Seattle Pacific University (SPU) in 1997 with a degree in Religious Studies. While at SPU, she went on a Semester at Sea, a study program that circles the globe on a ship porting in 10 countries, an experience that ignited her love of culture. Following graduation Lacey followed her new passion to World Relief, where, in partnership with Seattle-area churches, she resettled refugees from a variety of countries. Those were joyful days learning about the world.

A few weeks after 9/11, Lacey served for six months in Israel/Palestine with YWAM. During that time she visited Gaza and gained an understanding and relentless burden for Palestinians, the largest refugee group in the world. Returning to Billings she worked for five years as a private investigator, specializing in criminal defense. The next two decades were spent as a case manager assisting women transitioning out of incarceration at Passages and supporting her sister as she raised four lively kids. Lacey is thrilled to join the N2N team, feeling like she is returning to her roots of loving refugees.

Beth Epley

Parent Connections Coordinator

Beth joined Nations to Neighbors Montana in 2024. She received her Bachelor’s in Public Administration from Evangel University. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation for seven years prior to her move to Billings. In that role, she assisted rural communities with community and economic development projects in both the private and public sectors.

Beth was raised in eastern Montana but has lived in both Missouri and New Mexico. No matter her location, she was always drawn back home to Montana. Beth and her husband have two precious little girls. As the N2N Parent Connection Coordinator, she oversees the Refugee Peer-Parent Program, facilitating refugee and peer parent involvement within local schools.

As the Adult ESL Coordinator at Nations to Neighbors, Liz manages and supports programs that help adults gain confidence in English and build meaningful connections across cultures. She earned her M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from Inter American University and has taught English in a variety of settings around the world. Before joining Nations to Neighbors, she served as the Coordinator of the Intensive English Language Program at Montana State University Billings.

After taking time away from full-time work to raise her three boys, she continues to stay engaged through volunteer teaching. She’s grateful to now be part of Nations to Neighbors, where she can combine her love of language, education, and culture to help newcomers feel at home in Billings.

Adult ESL Coordinator

Liz Troyer

Michelle Moore

Administrative Assistant

Michelle joined Nations to Neighbors Montana in January 2025. She grew up in Southern California and received a Bachelor's degree in Communication from UC Santa Barbara (1995). After college, she worked corporate distribution support with large apparel and car accessory companies. She is married with two wonderful daughters. Michelle homeschooled their children and has been involved in community volunteerism with organizations like Montana Music Institute (board member), St Andrew Community Garden and Billings Gem & Mineral Club (secretary). Michelle enjoys rock hounding, listening to music, hiking and biking, and watching spectacular Montana sunsets.

Laura Thaut Vinson

Program Advisor

Laura joined Nations to Neighbors Montana in January 2024 as the Program Developer and now serve as the Program Advisor. She received her PhD (2013) in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and had a 10-year career in teaching and research at Oklahoma State University and Lewis & Clark College. Her background includes teaching and research on the history, politics, and dynamics of major humanitarian crises, including international and domestic responses to the global refugee and displaced persons crisis.

Prior to earning her PhD, she was a 2005-2006 Fulbright student research fellow to Lithuania, interned with the U.S. State Department in D.C., the U.S. Embassy to Lithuania, and the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe. She also was a U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security post-doctoral fellow at Dartmouth College's Dickey Center for International Understanding. Her studies have taken her to Africa (Nigeria and Kenya), Eastern Europe, and Central America. In 2023, she moved with her family back home to Billings. In Fall 2025 she will join the Political Science Department at Rocky Mountain College in Billings.

Our Board

  • Kevin Freeman

    Kevin Freeman joined the board in May of 2024. He is married to Karen Freeman and they have four children. Kevin is the chief legal officer of a Billings-based engineering and construction company. He lived in China with his wife for several years and has traveled to several countries to support humanitarian efforts.

  • Austin Reay

    Homegrown in the Magic City of Billings, Austin is a proud Montanan who ventured across the world to live among the Sasak people of Lombok, Indonesia, serving in community development and ministry. During his time there, he studied the Indonesian language and cultural studies at the University of Mataram and grew a love for the nations. After returning to the States, he completed his Master of Divinity at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. 

    Now he's back home in Billings, filling his time with reading books, floating down rivers, hanging out with Nations to Neighbors kids and families, and serving his home church, Faith Chapel. 

  • Judiann McNulty

    A native of Eastern Montana, Judiann McNulty is retired in Billings after spending 45 years working around the world in public health and nutrition. She brings to N2N her familiarity with many cultures as well as extensive experience in program design, evaluation, grant management, and proposal writing.  

  • Dianne Kimm

    Dianne is retired after many rewarding years serving as a neonatal nurse in Billings. Her concern for immigrants and refugees is rooted, in part, in her own family history—her father immigrated to the Gallatin Valley from the Netherlands following World War II. In recent years, Nations to Neighbors has played a significant role in deepening her awareness of the challenges refugees face, as well as the opportunities to support their adjustment as new neighbors in the community.

    She has been part of the Nations to Neighbors prayer team for about a year and recently joined the organization’s Board of Directors.

N2N Staff Alumni

Friends of Nations to Neighbors who have served our community for a season!

Michaela Dowen - Refugee Services Coordinator

Rachel Milliron - Summer Program Coordinator

Rolf Meintjes - Summer Program Coordinator

Alyssa Guerrero-Nelson - Summer Program Coordinator

Yalita Brogan - RAMP Coordinator

Kristen Stewart - RAMP & Transportation Coordinator

Agata Gazal - RAMP Coordinator

Volunteers

We rely on an active network of volunteers and community partners to help support and empower our new neighbors.

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Community Partners

  • Billings Community Foundation

  • Montana Audubon Center

  • Yellowstone Art Museum

    Yellowstone Art Museum

  • Billings Parks and Recreation

  • Poly's Place Coffee

  • Bright 'n Beautiful

  • Billings YMCA

  • Community Leadership and Development Inc.

Special thanks to Corbin Skinner for being a consistent supporter of our N2N youth programming, and to Chick-fil-A Billings for providing a complimentary meal for one of our youth game nights.