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2610 University Ave West, Suite 325
Saint Paul, MN 55114
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Meggie Wittorf is a marketing and strategy leader and a lifelong equity advocate, who has a passion for politics and improving our communities. Meggie brings nearly a decade of experience as a finance professional and brand manager at General Mills, where she managed P&Ls, developed strategic plans, and led cross-functional teams.
Meggie holds an undergraduate degree from Drake University and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. While at the U of M, she led the Women’s Mentorship program where she focused on addressing challenges in the opportunity pipeline, improving gender balance in higher-education programs, and securing mentors in underrepresented fields. Meggie is also a board member of OutFront Minnesota, where she works to protect and strengthen LGBTQ rights.
Meggie lives in Minneapolis with her husband Steve. They enjoy spending time with their family, trying new foods, and imagining that the Vikings will make it to the Super Bowl in this lifetime.
Jillia has extensive experience working as a community organizer and fundraiser as well as campaign experience on the local, state and national level. At Project 515 and OutFront Minnesota, Jillia advocated for the passage of marriage equality and the Minnesota Safe & Supportive Schools Act. Jillia served as the Finance Director for womenwinning-endorsed candidate Ilhan Omar’s historic 2016 campaign. In 2017, Jillia was the first woman to run for the Ward 1 Minneapolis City Council seat, challenging a two-term incumbent. She was endorsed by over 16 organizations—including womenwinning—and came within two percentage points of winning. Originally from Duluth, Jillia graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts and lives in Minneapolis with her partner Monica and their beloved mutt Romeo.
Liz Young has worked in politics for almost a decade and brings nearly nine years of fundraising experience with her to Women Winning. She has fundraising experience at all levels of government: federal, statewide, legislative and municipal. Most recently, she served on Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s transition team where she helped to organize his week of inaugural activities. Prior to that she spent five years with the MN Senate and served as the Senate DFL Caucus’ Finance Director in 2016.Liz has spent much of her career working to elect people of color and women to office. She served as Deputy Finance Director for Margaret Anderson Kelliher’s historic gubernatorial campaign when she became the first woman to be endorsed by a major party, a career highlight for Liz. An avid reader and baker, before working in politics she spent two years teaching English in Japan. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse University and holds a dual degree in Political Science and French.
Taylor grew up in the Twin Cities and thinks of herself as a champion for the great state of Minnesota. She discovered her passion for politics as a volunteer for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign for president and an intern for the Minnesota DFL. While enrolled at Mount Holyoke College, the first women’s college in the United States, she served as an intern for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign for U.S. Senate. She stayed involved in politics throughout her college career as a leader in student political groups. Taylor graduated summa cum laude from Mount Holyoke and was then employed as Curatorial Fellow and Guest Curator at the college’s art museum, where she gained valuable project management and communications experience. Upon her return to the Twin Cities, she joined the development department at Merrick Community Services, a social services nonprofit on the East Side of Saint Paul. At Merrick, Taylor oversaw the planning and execution of special events and fundraisers, cultivated and engaged donors, and contributed to the organization’s communications and outreach initiatives. As Advancement Associate, Taylor supports Women Winning's fundraising, marketing, and communications efforts.
Currently, Alana Petersen serves as Senator Tina Smith's Deputy Chief of Staff and State Director and coordinates the work of the Tina Smith for Minnesota campaign. Alana brings a wealth of knowledge and a sharp political instinct to Senator Smith's official and campaign operations through her 20 years of Congressional experience and through her involvement in every Minnesota election since 1998.
Alana was born and raised in Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Morris in 1991, she moved to Washington, DC to work on Capitol Hill for a Minnesota House member, David Minge. In 1998, Alana returned to Minnesota to run his re-election campaign. She followed this by a U.S. Senate campaign in 2000, and a congressional recount in the fall of 2000. To broaden her political experience, Alana served as Executive Director of a statewide non-profit organization, Target Market. With an annual budget of $6 million dollars, Target Market promoted an anti-tobacco message to high school students. In 2002, when Minnesota used their tobacco endowment as part of a budget fix, Alana began consulting for a national political consulting firm, Grassroots Solutions. There, Alana worked with national labor unions, congressional candidates, and the pro-choice community to develop plans for the 2004 election cycle. After having her first son, Alana took a job closer to home in northern Minnesota. She worked for Minnesota Congressman, Jim Oberstar, and ran his congressional re-election campaign in 2006, and joined Al Franken’s U.S. Senate campaign in September of 2008. After the election, Alana served as a Director for the 2008 statewide hand recount. In July of 2009, when Al Franken was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, Alana joined Senator Franken’s staff as the State Director. In the 2010 election cycle, she was asked to serve as Field Director for Mark Dayton’s recount for Governor. In 2014, Alana served as Senior Advisor to Senator Franken’s re-election campaign where she oversaw the Organizing Department of the campaign. The Organizing Department had a political, field and training sections with a total of 87 employees. Senator Franken had the largest paid organizing team in the state in the cycle and was recognized as being a well-run campaign. “I’ve got to give the award for best [campaign] to Al Franken because guess who we’re not talking about today. Closest Senate election six years ago - Al Franken, recount all of those things. How did this guy survive? Six years of a well-run campaign.” –Chuck Todd, MEET THE PRESS 11/2/2014
Alana and her husband Thom reside in Pine City, Minnesota with their two sons Dylan and Waylon. The Petersen’s play and watch a lot of baseball, and raise and show both miniature and large horses at county fairs across the state and in the Minnesota State Fair. The family is active in local Farmers Union where Alana serves as the County Treasurer. She also serves on the East Central Regional Arts Council Board.
Emma Faris was born and raised into a political family that taught her that “showing up” was the duty of every woman. She has been attending Women Winning events since she was a little girl and understands the importance of putting her strengths to work. Since 2010 (when she became one of the first members of Women Winning's LAUNCH Committee), she has simply continued to put one foot in front of the other, showing up to support all of the powerful and impactful things Women Winning does to protect our reproductive rights in the state of Minnesota and beyond. She has been a Realtor for 18+ years and is very honored to be in a leadership position with this organization! Emma is currently a Real Estate Agent with Re/Max Results.
Luchelle Stevens is a senior strategist and advisor to national and local campaigns. She has led winning progressive issue battles at the state and national level including healthcare reform, comprehensive immigration reform, raising the minimum wage, and voting rights. An expert political and community organizer, Stevens served as the Campaign Manager of Our Vote Our Future, the coalition campaign that helped Minnesota become the first state in the nation to defeat a voter ID constitutional amendment.
Stevens previously served as chief of staff for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Prior to that, she held numerous leadership roles with Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Earlier in her career, Stevens served in the U.S. Navy as an air traffic controller and as an aerographer’s mate (meteorology). Stevens is a Gulf War Veteran.
Julie Strother is the Government Relations Director at the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Prior to working at the Secretary of State's office, she was an attorney at Lockridge Grindal Nauen in Minneapolis. At the 2013 DFL Women's Summit, Julie was inducted into the DFL Women’s Hall of Fame as a “Rising Star."
Ashleigh is a lawyer at Best & Flanagan LLP and focuses on labor and employment law, appellate advocacy, and general civil litigation. She has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the Minnesota Supreme Court. She was recently recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers. Ashleigh graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and the College of Saint Benedict. She got her start in politics by interning in the White House during the Obama Administration, for Senator Amy Klobuchar, and for the City of Minneapolis. Ashleigh also serves on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Justice Foundation.
Kate Bryant has served as Chair of the Minnetonka Public Schools Foundation and her community work has earned her many recognitions including the Minnetonka Public Schools' Spinnaker Award.
Elizabeth Olson works as the Chief Financial Officer of Grassroots Solutions, an advocacy and political consulting firm with offices in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and New York. She is responsible for planning, budgeting, reporting, strategic analysis, bank relations, and human resources for the growing company. Previously, she worked for Slocum & Associates as an investment consultant and for the former Northwest Airlines as Director of Cash (her own personal favorite job title). Elizabeth is a Minnesota native, but received her B.A. in English and Economics at Oberlin College and her MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. In addition to working and trying to keep her household from sinking into chaos, Elizabeth loves to travel, read, cook, ride her bike when she can, volunteer as treasurer for a community orchestra, and she enjoys doing anything but crafts with her two young and most wonderful children.
Mallory Mitchell is a Major Gift Officer at Metropolitan State University where she raises critical funds to advance the university's mission. Originally from Alabama, Mallory earned her bachelor's degree in business from the University of Montevallo and her Master of Public Policy degree from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Mallory is active in the community as a board member for YWCA of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Chef Lucia Watson was the proprietor of Lucia’s Restaurant, Wine Bar, and Lucia’s To Go, one of the Twin Cities’ favorite neighborhood establishments for 30 years. After earning a BA in French from the University of Minnesota, she pursued her cooking in numerous restaurants with diverse instruction, including her first level Master Sommelier certificate. Chef Watson has written two books: Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland with co-author Beth Dooley, and Cooking Freshwater Fish. Lucia has been honored with many awards over the last few years, including a James Beard Nomination for Best Chef in the Midwest in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Lucia served a four-year term on the Organic Advisory Task Force to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. She is also a former board member of the Chef’s Collaborative, and has served as board chair for the Youth Farm and Market Project, as well as the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. In 2013 Lucia was honored with a Charlie Lifetime Achievement award.
Lisa Byrne is a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services. She has been with UBS for 4 years, and was previously with Merrill Lynch. She has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and holds certifications in several specialties including non-profit management and financial mediation for divorce. She has served as the Chair of Zenon Dance Company for six years and served on the board of The Ordway Circle of Stars. Previously, she was very active with Planned Parenthood and served as silent auction chair, gala chair, and on several other committees.
In her role as the Director of Corporate Affairs for Carlson, Natalie is responsible for the company’s government relations and corporate grantmaking functions. She co-chairs Carlson and Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s Global Anti-Trafficking Task Force and recently served in a leadership role on the Super Bowl LL2 Anti-Trafficking Committee.
Natalie has an extensive background in political strategy, campaigns, and political action committees. She served as the Executive Director of WIN Minnesota Federal PAC, the Political Director for both Al Franken for Senate and Midwest Values PAC, and the Director of Women’s Outreach for Sen. Franken’s 2008 campaign. She also served as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator Al Franken where she managed and directed the legislative portfolio for his work on the Senate Judiciary Committee as it related to sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, and GLBT issues. She worked on judicial nominations, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination hearing.
Natalie earned a bachelor degree in philosophy from the University of Minnesota and her law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. Natalie lives in Saint Paul with her husband Steve and two stepsons Avery and Will.
Laura Bishop is the Commissioner of Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency. Previously, she was Vice President of Public Affairs for Best Buy Co., Inc., There, she was responsible for the strategic direction and management of global government affairs, corporate responsibility, and environmental sustainability and compliance. In her role, Laura worked with stakeholders on public policy and broader business issues impacting customers, employees, shareholders and communities in order to reach Best Buy’s business objectives while mitigating risk and enhancing opportunities through responsible business practices. Central to the corporate responsibility efforts of the company, Laura led efforts and policy on electronics recycling, advancing sustainable products, and reducing the company’s carbon footprint. In 2003, Laura joined Best Buy as a manager to establish and grow the Best Buy Government Affairs Department. Since that time, she held roles in government affairs, influencer outreach, privacy, environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility. Prior to coming to Best Buy, Laura spent much of her career in the public sector where she served in public affairs and political assignments for The White House, The U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland, and The State of Minnesota. Laura began her career working on Capitol Hill in the United States Senate. Laura’s active community and professional involvement is highlighted by her dedication to the boards and councils on which she currently serves; including the Public Affairs Council Board of Directors and Ford’s Theatre Board of Governors in Washington, DC and a number of Minnesota non-profit boards including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, The University of Minnesota – Hubert Humphrey Institute’s Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, and Stages Theatre. Laura is a Minnesota native and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan.
Mary is Executive Director and Co-Founder of Giving Voice Initiative, a community chorus movement for people with dementia and their care partners. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging, Director of Aging Programs at the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, and Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Association MN-ND Chapter for nearly nine years. Mary served on the Alzheimer’s Disease Working Group formed by the Minnesota Legislature in 2009 which led to a call to prepare Minnesota for the impact of Alzheimer’s disease and the creation of ACT on Alzheimer’s collaborative - she is former chair of ACT’s Executive Leadership Council. Mary is a founding member of the Women Against Alzheimer’s, a national coalition of women focused on increasing research and awareness for Alzheimer’s.
Andrea Mokros has spent a career in communications, strategic planning, and event production at the local, state, and national level. Currently, she serves as Senior Vice President in Weber Shandwick’s Minneapolis office. Previously, she served as Vice President of Communications and Events for the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee, hosting one of the world’s pre-eminent sporting events in Minnesota – creating and promoting Minnesota’s brand as ‘The Bold North.’
Prior to returning to Minnesota, Andrea served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Planning for the First Lady. In this role, she oversaw the strategic planning process for all aspects of First Lady Michelle Obama’s engagement, including managing an active scheduling and advance team that took all of Mrs. Obama’s events from inception to completion. During her tenure, Andrea led the First Lady’s trips to China, Africa, the 2012 Olympics, as well as countless other domestic and international events; created programming for the spouses of world leaders at U.S.-hosted summits, including NATO and the UN General Assembly; and produced major national tours on behalf of the First Lady’s Let’s Move!, Joining Forces, Reach Higher and Let Girls Learn initiatives.
Prior to joining the White House, Andrea served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the office of Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, where she led communications and outreach efforts; serving as spokesperson, crafting and executing communications strategies in support of the Governor’s initiatives, and leading major events from the State of the State address, to press conferences and bill signings. She has also served as Deputy Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); as lead advance for Senator John Kerry’s Presidential campaign; and as Director of the Executive Offices at the Washington, DC, offices of Kissinger McLarty Associates. Andrea also headed her own consultancy, Mokros Strategies LLC, providing strategic and communications guidance to non-profit and political organizations.
Andrea is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota. She currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Christine Lindblad is a trial lawyer with Fox Rothschild LLP, a national Am Law 100 firm. She specializes in complex commercial disputes, insurance coverage disputes, and lender liability lawsuits and remedy enforcement procedures. She is the Fox Women’s Initiative connectivity liaison for the Minneapolis office. She was recently recognized as The Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation – 2015 Edition. She and her husband have three children, ages 14, 12 and 2.
Betsy Sitkoff is a consultant with Process for Peace, LLC, a practice she founded in 2013. Process for Peace provides leadership to organizations, community groups, and schools addressing a broad range of needs including support for immigrant and refugee families, and family and community violence.
Betsy is community activist and a past board president of the National Council of Jewish Women MN.
Betsy holds a BS in Child Psychology and a Parent Education License from the University of Minnesota, and a MA in Public Administration from Hamline University. In 2016 Betsy completed her 230-hour yoga teacher training certificate.
Betsy has two children and lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Steve.
Melissa Rahn is a Senior Government Relations Specialist at Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Melissa uses her legislative and political experience to effectively build partnerships and coalitions to promote client agendas at the Capitol. While she has experience working on a broad array of issues, Melissa specializes in state legislative efforts around renewable energy policy, tax policy, and affordable housing and is a disability advocate at the state, local and county level. Melissa puts her extensive legislative and political background to work in building strategic goals for positive client results. She advises clients on strategic planning, communications, coalition development and grassroots efforts. Prior to joining Fredrikson in 2008, Melissa served as the Executive Assistant to the Speaker of the House, where she was a valuable resource to business, non-profits, labor organizations, agency representatives and advocates. Melissa was best known for her leadership as the House DFL Caucus Campaign Director where she managed the election efforts that saw record fundraising and brought house democrats to the majority and sustained that majority over four years. She has advised and volunteered on statewide and local campaigns. Melissa has also served as U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Political Coordinator. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
Babette Apland is a senior executive with a proven track record in launching new and innovative health care solutions. Her passion is creating patient-centered health care and developing successful strategies for organizations to grow and succeed in complex and changing marketplaces. Babette began her career building new and innovative health care delivery services. After studying international health care systems in Sweden, she joined HealthPartners, an integrated health care financing and delivery system serving 1.5 million members and 1 million patients with over 1,700 physicians. During her career at HealthPartners, Babette launched and grew several divisions including provider relations and partnerships, population health and behavioral health. Most recently Babette joined American Public Media Group to lead a new national initiative to measurably raise the American public’s and key stakeholder’s awareness and understanding of mental health. Her goals include activating public conversation and creating a platform for change through leveraging APMG’s innovative media and convening capabilities including new on-air programming, on demand programming, digital content, civic engagement and live events.
Susan Shields is the President and co-owner of The Airtex Group, a $23M home textile and OEM manufacturing Company. Through her vision and leadership, she has developed an organization which has become a leading name in the private label home textile industry among the most trusted national retailers. As an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader, Susan has created opportunity in the whitespaces of her industry – spotting trends, visualizing saleable concepts, and bringing them to life in a way customers will buy. Susan’s innovative ideas have helped change the retail landscape nationwide. Susan is a savvy business leader in decorative home textiles with years of experience in sourcing and manufacturing. She has built business partnerships in China, India, Pakistan, the U.S. and Europe, and developed strong and lasting relationships with textile mills and weavers, textile printers, fabric converters, and factory owners. Her relationships and reputation with some of the most prestigious home retailers in the U.S. have opened opportunities for exceptional growth for her company. Throughout her career, Susan Shields has brought thoughtful leadership and entrepreneurial vision to startup companies and has a passion to help and guide young women who want to start their own businesses. Prior to The Airtex Group, she created a successful women’s travel accessories company, Bags and Baggage, and grew it to a multimillion dollar brand with both national and international distribution.
Kim has significant political, policy and advocacy experience. She works with healthcare advocacy organizations to maintain open access to life saving therapies for people living with rare disease. Kim’s career began in youth leadership development. Her passion for working to make a difference led her to a career in public policy. Kim was a candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1992. Her past positions have included roles in federal and state government, the University of Minnesota, pharmaceutical associations, biopharmaceutical manufacturers and public relations firms.
Kathy Heltzer serves as the Director of BSW/MSW Field Education in the Department of Social Work at the University of Minnesota Duluth where she has been on the faculty since 1998. Prior to this Kathy was a social worker for the Professional Association of Treatment Homes (PATH) working with children and families in the foster care system. Kathy grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota and moved to Duluth after spending a year in New Zealand as a Rotary Exchange student. She graduated from UMD with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Development and then worked two years in child protection before attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where where earned a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW). She is active in the Duluth community and was recognized in 2014 for her community work with the Chancellor's Award for Public Service by UMD. Prior to this she received the College of Education and Human Service Professions Outstanding Service Award. Non-profit board work has included serving as the President of the Duluth Family Area YMCA, a trustee for the Duluth Area YMCA Foundation/Board of Trustees and the Human Development Center. She received the Albert and Louise Ordean "Making a Difference" Award in 1991 for her volunteer work as a long-term mentor with the Mentor Duluth program. She is a graduate of the Blandin Community Leadership Program. More recently, she is working on a collaborative effort, "Dementia Friendly Duluth" and has been involved in launching an initiative for people with dementia and their care partners to participate in the "Victory Chorus". She can often be found emceeing community events and helping raise money through live auctions for a variety of non-profit organizations.
Suzan McGinnis is the Director of the Ethics Team at Target Corporation. Suzan is responsible for the design, implementation, and management of the company’s ethics program, and related processes, including the creation and maintenance of relevant policies and procedures. Before joining Target, Suzan worked in ethics and compliance at another large retailer based in the greater Minneapolis metropolitan area. Suzan currently serves as a Steering Committee and an Advisory Board Member for the Program in Organizational Ethics & Compliance at University of St. Thomas School of Law. She also serves on the Executive Team and Board of the Friends of the Hennepin County Libraries. Suzan has a B.A. in English from Augustana College, a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from UW-Milwaukee, and a J.D. from Hamline University School of Law. Suzan lives in Minneapolis with her partner and their two Siberian huskies.
Amanda is a second-generation American Guyanese. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Social Science, a Master of Social Work (MSW), and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota. Her professional career has been rooted in social and racial justice, and has included work around promoting economic security and housing stability, reducing shame and stigma surrounding mental illness, and working to end domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking. Amanda currently works as a director at Hennepin County coordinating their anti-sex trafficking initiative; No Wrong Door and she is the co-founder of the People of Color Employee Resource Group. Amanda serves on the board of the Domestic Abuse Project, Women for Political Change, and the Women Winning LAUNCH committee. Amanda was recently named a 2018 “40 Under 40” by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
Malika Dale is a consultant at Bay Area consulting group that uses design thinking to inform business strategy. She previously worked in CRISPR research and e-commerce. Malika got her start in politics by interning for NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota and Advocates for Youth in Washington, DC. Malika was recognized by the State of Minnesota's Young Women's Initiative with the Young Woman Leadership grant for her work with the Abortion Care Network.
Jessica Bigirindavyi recently finished her role as a Field Organizer for the Minnesota DFL for the 2018 midterm election where she created two strategic, district-wide, door knocking and phone banking plans to turn out voters .Born in Burundi, East Africa, Jessica immigrated to Minnesota at the age of 6 and earned her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from State Cloud State University. In compliment to her professional work, Jessica enjoy being on the board of Open Your Heart and Born After Roe through Planned Parenthood.
Susan Earle is the Chief Budget Analyst for the City of Saint Paul. Originally from Wisconsin, she received her undergraduate degree in political science from Boston College. She moved to Minnesota in 2007 to pursue her Masters in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Since receiving her degree in 2009, Susan has worked in public service at both the state and local level.
Beau Fike is a 3rd year law student at Mitchell Hamline School of Law who is also pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative writing because they are a poet first and always. Most recently, Beau has served as a student attorney both with the Ramsey County Attorney's office and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services. Beau also volunteers with Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners (LAMP), a clinic through their school. When Beau is not practicing law or writing poetry, they enjoy aerial circus arts.
Binta Kanteh obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from DePaul University in Chicago where she studied International Studies concentrating on Immigration and Refugee Studies. After graduation, she served as a Policy Research and Outreach Intern for now Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Exposure to the Minnesota House of Representatives created a path to her current position as Legislative Assistant to the Majority Leader of the House. Binta is a second generation Gambian-American who hopes to help illuminate the voices and experiences of individuals and communities by cultivating empowerment through legislative advocacy and providing open channels of access and communication between Minnesotans and their government.
Gwenia Fiskevold Gould has been an organizer and political operative for nearly a decade. She spent the last year and half organizing in Northern Minnesota for the Walz-Flanagan campaign followed by the Keith Ellison for Attorney General campaign. She grew up in Detroit Lakes and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Political Science. Prior to her statewide campaign work, she was a legislative assistant for State Senator Susan Kent (Women Winning endorsed in 2012 & 2016) for five years and an organizer & Deputy Field Director for the the DFL Senate Caucus for three election cycles. Having worked on state senate races in rural Minnesota and all over the state has made her passionate about how to find ways to organize Greater Minnesota and connect women across the state.
Lindsey Krause is a lawyer at Nichols Kaster, PLLP, where she represents employees in discrimination, harassment, and whistleblower matters. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and the College of Saint Benedict, where she studied political science. Prior to going to law school, Lindsey interned for Senator Amy Klobuchar in her Washington D.C. office and on several local, state, and national political campaigns.
Theresa O'Halloran-Johnson is running for election in Duluth's vibrant 3rd District. She is a first-time candidate, having decided to bring her skills and talents as a social worker and community organizer to the table. Theresa has the knowledge and the ability to elevate those in our district who have no voice, speak truth to power, and will always walk the walk before talking the talk.
After more than 30 years living in St. Louis Park, raising two children who attended St. Louis Park schools, and participating in the community in a wide variety of ways, Deb Brinkman is running for St. Louis Park City Council, At Large A. Many St. Louis Park residents know Deb through her active involvement with the League of Women Voters, most recently serving as president. Deb helped start Kids Voting and led our city’s adoption of Ranked Choice Voting. As a small business owner with vast experience as a project manager, Deb knows how to actively listen while keeping everyone focused on a shared vision. She has a collaborative style, but knows how to advocate for a position she firmly believes in.
Lynne Penke Valdes is a first-time candidate running for School Board in Saint Anthony Village. As the mother of 16 and 8-year-old daughters, she has been actively involved in the school and community for a number of years and has an extensive background in education and policy. Lynne wants to make sure every child in her district receives a quality education and that students and their families feel valued and included in the community
Mia Olson is running for Bloomington School Board. Mia has served a substitute teacher in the district for 23 years and holds degrees in Child Psychology, Early Childhood Education, and Elementary Education. Mia and her husband David raised two children in Bloomington and each benefitted greatly from a Bloomington Public School education. As a member of the School Board, she will work to ensure every student has the same opportunities. Mia will combine her experience teaching throughout the district with her inherited passions to advocate for our students and our school community as a member of the Bloomington School Board.
Jane Prince is seeking reelection to the Saint Paul City Council, representing Ward 7. After her success in her first term, reopening recreation centers for kids and families in need in her ward, Jane is focusing her efforts on the affordable housing crisis, increasing housing development at deeply affordable levels. Jane is spearheading an effort to address family and youth homelessness in her ward. For her proven record of achievement and her ability to engage the whole community, she is the best candidate for this seat.
In St. Anthony, MN Nancy Robinett is seeking election as mayor as a first-time challenger. She is running on a platform of more transparency and accountability in city government. She is the best candidate because, although not yet serving in elected office, she has already succeeded over the past several years in bringing more transparency and accountability to St. Anthony in several areas of city government.
Nelsie Yang is running for St. Paul City Council Ward 6 as a first-time candidate and young progressive leader who's ready to build a future in East Side Saint Paul fighting for people across race, class, income, and age. Nelsie is a daughter of refugees and community organizer who works to create strong community-centered coalitions that are reflected of people's values. With a bold, responsive, and progressive campaign, Nelsie will advocate for the East Side community’s needs and biggest dreams, uniting all residents, and giving them a voice in City Hall.
Susan Carter is running for the Minnetonka City Council (At-Large Seat B). She was appointed to the seat on February 25th, 2019 and is running to return to the seat for the remainder of the term. Susan is bringing a fresh perspective to Minnetonka that focuses on resident inclusion.
