Board of Directors

Sue Counterman

Board Secretary and College Scholarship Program Director

Sue has been teaching science in the Denver area for the past 27 years. Through her work in the middle school social justice program, she came to know Arok Garang, the founder of Seeds of South Sudan. Sue is privileged to know Arok, and through him to gain a deep understanding of his trials as one of the original Lost Boys. Sue stated, “not only is Arok a remarkable, resilient individual, he is a leader in supporting orphans from South Sudan, as recognized by the Dinka leaders of the Kakuma Refugee Camp. For me, it is a privilege to contribute in a small way to helping these most marginalized children in the world.” Sue has been a board member since 2012, supporting SOSS as board secretary, and has developed the College Scholarship Program. Sue traveled with Arok and another supporter to visit the SoSS program and the Kakuma Refugee Camp in the summer of 2017 where she saw firsthand the positive impact of the Seeds of South Sudan program. SoSS is changing lives for children that otherwise would have no hope for an education or healthy meals to sustain their bodies. The support of the caring SoSS community is providing all the necessities for a productive life and giving students the opportunity to develop their capabilities.

Byron Flateland

Vice-President

Byron is a retired technologist who has a keen interest in issues of developing countries and how to help each human reach their full potential.

During his career, Byron served as an officer in the US Air Force in communications and satellite systems and held various positions in technical marketing with start-up companies in the Boulder, CO area. He went on to co-found with his wife, Jill, a company in the healthcare software industry from which he retired to pursue volunteer and other activities.

Byron and his wife are natives of Minnesota and today live in Arvada, CO. They have two lovely married daughters living in Colorado, a wonderful granddaughter adopted from Ethiopia and a giggling grandson born in 2022.

They enjoy traveling the world in their retirement, and have done volunteer work in Africa and India. Byron especially enjoys the challenges of photography and racquetball and occasionally still dabbles in technology. He has been a financial supporter of Seeds of South Sudan since 2015 and strongly believes in the power of education in helping to build a strong, stable civil society in South Sudan. He has served on the Board for several years, created the database used to coordinate students and sponsors, and works closely with Arok in nurturing and educating students to become the seeds of change for South Sudan.

Tim Sielaff

Assistant Treasurer

Tim Sielaff met Seeds founder Arok Garang at dinner a few years ago. He heard Arok speak of his work with the refugees. He also learned about Seeds’ need to find a replacement bookkeeper and administrator, and the difficulties of making sure that all the students in their care are sponsored sufficiently.

Tim had worked as an administrator and bookkeeper his whole career. First as the Office Manager at Crown Hill Cemetery, where he helped to keep track of where all the bodies were buried and what land was still available. He also developed an interest in carving stones.

Later Tim worked for Fringe Benefit Services, which handled employee benefit services for labor unions and groups as a Third Party Administrator. He also supported his family’s efforts to adopt their daughter Elsa from Ethiopia in 2012-3. Finally, he worked for Transamerica Life Insurance Company, helping them to set up new retirement plans for employers of small and medium sizes.

In retirement Tim needed to choose, whether to go back to school or finish many projects he started. One of those projects was stone carving. He had collected many stone blocks in various sizes. “I knew I could help Arok with his bookkeeping duties, but I said “No.” because I wanted to focus on carving stones,” Tim explained. For many months, Tim continued “to play with rocks while Arok continued his search for a new bookkeeper.” Then one day while listening to a friend discuss her problems, her grief, and grievances, ” Tim had an epiphany that:

“People are more important than rocks!”

With this new paradigm, Tim reconsidered. Balancing Seeds’ “infinite needs and wants against what we have graciously been given, and then ensuring those gifts are accurately deployed against the needs they were intended to combat seems a worthy cause. So, I said “Yes.”

And then my life changed….”