Policy Fellows: 2006-2007 Policy Fellows

Each year, 25 to 30 individuals are selected from the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota to participate in the Policy Fellows program at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. The program offers practical training in public affairs leadership for emerging leaders seeking new experiences and skills. Policy Fellows come from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds and political affiliations, and have demonstrated leadership in their careers and communities.

Eric Ahlness is government relations officer for the Minnesota National Guard, communicating the requirements and priorities of the Minnesota National Guard to congressional and legislative officials. In 2003-2004 he was deployed to Bosnia, where his efforts focused on returning the country to civil control by elected officials. Ahlness is also a lieutenant colonel in the Minnesota Army National Guard and served three terms as a planning commissioner in Maplewood, Minn. He earned a bachelor's degree in history and geography and a master's degree in political science.

Yasin Alsaidi is director of operations and student services for the University of Phoenix's Minneapolis/St. Paul campus, which he helped open in April of 2004. He has been with the University for more than seven years, starting in Tuscon, Ariz., before moving to Northern Virginia to open a campus there. Alsaidi also serves on the board of Lighthouse Academy of Nations, a charter high school serving immigrant students in the Twin Cities.

Scott Arneson is county administrator for Aitkin County in north-central Minnesota. Prior to his appointment in 1996, he held administrative and managerial positions with government and private sector organizations. Arneson is a graduate of Concordia College-Moorhead and earned master's degrees from Hamline University and the University of St. Thomas. He is currently working toward a doctorate in leadership at the University of St. Thomas, is an active member of Rotary and the Lions Club, and works on various community projects. He lives in Aitkin with his family.

Alexander Beeby is a manager at Just Food Co-op, a new community-owned natural-foods store in Northfield, Minn. A recognized "rising star" in Northfield, Beeby promotes the importance of local community through his involvement in the cooperative and various community organizations, boards and commissions. In addition to serving as a head election judge, a member of the Northfield Charter Commission and in other capacities, Beeby serves on the board of Northfield Citizens Online, a technology-focused non-profit that runs the citizen-journalist Web site Northfield.org.

Jodi Boyne is director of public affairs for the Minnesota House of Representatives Republican Caucus where she serves as a key advisor to the House Speaker and Majority Leader on legislative strategy and public relations. She has more than 16 years of experience directing public relations campaigns in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining the Minnesota House, she worked for United HealthGroup and Shandwick International, and was a partner in a public relations firm. Boyne is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas. She lives in St. Paul with her family.

Charissa Bryant is a supervisor with Hennepin County's Human Services and Public Health Department, where she is responsible for shelter and intake of foster children, and recruitment and licensing of foster parents. She earned master's degrees in public administration and social work from the University of Minnesota, and is currently working on an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. She is vice chair of Hennepin County's Project Diversity, and is involved in the DFL Party, St. Paul's Summit University Planning Council, and the Minnesota Women's Political Caucus.

Andrew Calkins has worked in membership-based organizations throughout his career. For the past 18 years he has served with the Minnesota Nurses Association, first as a labor relations analyst and currently as the director of planning and information. Calkins attended Carleton College, and studied extensively with Paul Wellstone. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Organizational Leadership Program at the College of St. Catherine, and lives in Roseville with his wife and son.

Nichelle DeCora is an American Indian community specialist for the Hennepin County Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement Department. Her previous experience includes community development and community organizing. DeCora is currently attending Minneapolis Community and Technical College, working toward a bachelor's degree in education. She and her son live in Minneapolis.

Ben Golnik is executive director of the Republican Party of Minnesota. In this role, he is responsible for the organization's day-to-day operations, including managing the budget, political operations and staff, and interacting with the national party and committees. Previously, he served as campaign manager for Brian Hamel for Congress (Me.) and as executive director of the Vermont Republican Party. He also worked as a legislative aide in the Washington, D.C., office of Sen. Mike Crapo (Id.). From 2000 to 2001, he lived in Voronezh, Russia, as a Russia-U.S. Young Leadership Fellow for Public Service, in a program administered by the U.S. State Dept.

Abdullah Hared has worked for Somali Community Resettlement Services in Rochester since 2000, and became director in 2003. SCRS was founded by Minnesota's Somali immigrant community in 1999 and provides services including classroom and job training, health education, youth sports, interpreting and translation, and orientation for newly arrived refugees. Hared left his home in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1989, and later completed a bachelor's degree in computer engineering technology at Seneca College in Toronto. He previously worked for Unisys Canada as a systems network engineer.

Frank Jossi is an independent journalist, editor, consultant and educator. Currently, he is a principal in two businesses -- Featherly-Jossi Consulting, a health care content provider, and Jossi + Associates, Inc., which offers marketing consulting and writing. His award-winning articles have appeared in more than 50 publications, including Minnesota Monthly, Wired, The Los Angeles Times, The Star Tribune, Minnesota Technology and others. His career includes serving three years as program director of the World Press Institute at Macalester College and teaching in Pakistan and Albania on Fulbright scholarships. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.

Ann Kaner-Roth is executive director of Child Care WORKS, a statewide not-for-profit child care advocacy organization. She has worked on public policy issues relating to children, families, HIV/AIDS and GLBT issues over the past 10 years in Boston, San Francisco and Minnesota. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a master's degree in social work and public policy from Boston University. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three children.

Melinda Maher is an attorney working in the employee benefits and healthcare field. For the past three years, she has worked for PreferredOne, a non-profit Minnesota health plan, and its related for-profit entities. Prior to joining PreferredOne, she was with the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney advising employers on their healthcare benefits. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin and a law degree from the University of Minnesota. On a pro bono basis, Maher represents children in foster care through the Minnesota Children's Law Center. She lives in Mendota Heights with her husband and their three children.

Uri Neren is director of development for The Minnesota League of Conservation Voters and a volunteer fundraising consultant for Jefferson Community School and several local nonprofits. He recently helped to establish the LEAD Project, which aims to civically engage young professionals. Neren has worked with nonprofits and businesses in the areas of international development, construction, wilderness expeditions, conservation, media, and scientific research. He holds a bachelor's degree in international relations and biology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and will soon begin an MBA program.

Jessie Ostlund is an account executive at Himle Horner, Inc., a leading Minnesota public affairs and public relations firm. Previously, she served as communications coordinator for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, working on health care, public safety and transportation-related issues and producing the Governor's weekly radio show. She also held policy research and communications positions in the Pawlenty Administration's Office of Strategic Planning and Results Management, and at the Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety. Ostlund earned a bachelor's degree in English with honors from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

Traci Parmenter is associate director of Admission Possible, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit that works with low-income students to help them prepare for and earn admission to college. She has worked in the field of education for over 10 years, as a high school teacher in Houston, Tex., and for Caliber Associates, where she conducted research for and provided technical assistance to federal and state government agencies. She has also worked on local, state, and national campaigns throughout the country. Parmenter earned a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government.

Ruth Parriott is a community philanthropy officer at the Minneapolis Foundation, where her responsibilities include policy and systems-change grant making and working with donors to match their philanthropic interests with community needs. She is currently managing projects to advocate for state funding for full-day kindergarten in Minnesota and to promote youth violence prevention strategies in Minneapolis. Previously, Parriott directed local, state, and national legislative advocacy campaigns for public health and health care organizations. She earned master's degrees in social work and public health from the University of Minnesota.

Karen Peterson is director of business strategy for Thomson FindLaw, a leading provider of products and services that help small law firms market themselves. She is also a member of the board and chair of the Public Policy Committee for Family and Children's Service, a Twin Cities nonprofit that provides counseling, prevention, intervention and systems change programs that focus on building strong families, vital communities and capable children. Peterson holds a bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr College, a master's degree from the University of Chicago, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Sondra Reis has worked for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) since 1997. As associate director, she supervises many of MCN's internal and external functions, including membership, publications, workshops and conferences, financial management, and communications and marketing. She also serves the nonprofit sector through membership on various boards and committees, and is currently a member of the board of directors for the Minnesota Real Estate Foundation and treasurer and a founding board member of LegalCORPS. Reis earned a master's degree in nonprofit management from Case Western Reserve University.

Tobias Spanier is an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota Extension Service at the Marshall Regional Center, providing youth development research, education and strategic advice to individuals and organizations. Spanier has worked abroad on educational program development, and with cities, counties, school districts and universities on questions of quality, inclusion and intentionality in youth development. He holds a bachelor's degree in public administration and political science, and a master's degree in education, from Towson State University in Baltimore. He lives in Pipestone with his wife and four daughters.

William Tenney is group manager of Business Intelligence and International Supply Chain Security for Target Corporation's Assets Protection directorate. Prior to joining Target, he served as a foreign service officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York and at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. Earlier in his career, Tenney served as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer in Japan, the United Kingdom, and at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of St. Olaf College and earned a master's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He and his wife live in Edina with their three children.

John Thorson is a political representative for the AFSCME Council 5, a union of 52,000 state, local government, health care and non-profit workers, and licensed home day care providers. He works with tax policy, budgets, hospital governance, and child care issues at the legislature and with local governments in the Twin Cities and Arrowhead regions. Thorson is a founding board member of TakeAction (formerly Progressive Minnesota) and serves as treasurer of the League of Rural Voters and the Main Street Project, both dedicated to increasing participation of rural people in elections, economic policy decisions and public dialogue.

Diane Tran is a community organizer with the Dakota County Smoke-Free Communities Partnership. Her background in tobacco control includes previous work with Target Market, Minnesota's grassroots anti-corporate tobacco youth movement. Tran received the 2002 Dakota County Youth Public Health Achievement Award and was recognized that same year by then-Minnesota State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm for her youth tobacco prevention work. She earned a self-designed bachelor's degree in international social policy from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.

Rachel Tschida is communication and community relations director for AXIS Healthcare. Prior to joining AXIS in 2003, she held a similar position with the Center for Victims of Torture. Tschida has 15 years of strategic communications and policy development experience and has held leadership positions at the Minnesota Dept. of Education and the Washington-based U.S. Institute of Peace. She has also worked to advance the interests of underserved communities for the Bush Foundation and the Spanish-Speaking Affairs Council. In 2003 she was named a German Marshall Fund International Fellow.

Wendy Underwood is chief lobbyist for Mayor Chris Coleman and the city of Saint Paul. Previously she served under Gov. Jesse Ventura as Minnesota's coordinator of federal relations in Washington, worked in the Washington office of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, and was part of the government relations team at Winthrop & Weinstine. Underwood was an early member of Civics, Incorporated, an organization that empowers young professionals to become tomorrow's leaders, and helped found The Gray Space Performance Company, a theatre organization bringing together human rights and the arts.

Brad von Bank is a product manager for General Electric. He has launched a number of technology products and recently certified the first ecomagination service offering in GE, aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions for a portfolio of nearly 1.5 million vehicles globally. von Bank has also been active in creating a number of outreach programs in North Minneapolis and is the founder of the Digital Divide, which brings together public and private sector partners to bridge the digital divide. He earned master's degrees in international strategic management and information systems from the Carlson School of Business.

Mark White is manager of the structured finance group at GMAC-RFC, where he leads a team of mortgage and investment bankers who provide capital to the U.S. residential mortgage market. He previously worked for Deloitte and Touche, and is a graduate of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He lives in St. Paul with his family.

Renee Worke has served as an associate judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals since June 2005. Previously, she served for nine years as a trial court judge on the Third Judicial District, with court chambers located in Waseca County. She was elected Chief Judge of the Third Judicial District and vice-chair of the Conference of Chief Judges, and held both positions until her elevation to the appeals court. Worke has chaired the finance committee of the judiciary and has served on numerous procedural and rule-making committees by direction of the Supreme Court. She lives in Owatonna with her family.

Emily Zweber is special programs coordinator for the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, where she trains members to hold leadership positions in their county, state and national Farm Bureau organizations and to be advocates for the agricultural industry. Zweber is an active member of Minnesota Agri-Women, the Minnesota Food and Nutrition Network, and the Agriculture Science and Food Academy Advisory Board. She holds a degree in agriculture and resource economics from South Dakota State University, and lives in Elko where she and her husband are active partners in a 100-year-old family dairy operation.