Public Policy Day 2007

Power Tools for Nonprofits:
Policy Information and Strategies

December 13, 2007
9 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Lakes and Plains Regional Council of Joiners and Carpenters,
700 Olive St., St. Paul 55101

MCN would like to thank the Northwest Area Foundation for their generous support of Public Policy Day 2007.

Marcia Avner is Public Policy Director with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and Assistant Professor at Hamline University where she teaches management, fundraising and lobbying courses. She serves on numerous community and nonprofit boards including Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest, Jewish Community Action, Lifetrack Resources, Inc., and Wellstone Action!. Marcia has a B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University and a M.A. from the University of Arkansas.

Mary Cecconi is the Executive Director of Parents United for Public Schools, an organization established to connect and inform local public school advocacy groups. She holds her Masters in Education and was a member of the Stillwater school board for 8 years, a member of the 916 school board for two years, a member of Schools for Equity in Education legislative committee for 8 years and a volunteer parent lobbyist. In 2006, she received both The Friend of Education Award by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts and The Distinguished Service Award from the Minnesota Rural Education Association.

C. Scott Cooper, Director, TakeAction Minnesota Education Fund. Cooper served as Executive Director of the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action for six years, and recently guided MAPA through a merger with long-time ally Progressive Minnesota, creating a new organization, TakeAction Minnesota. Cooper is a veteran of many issue and electoral campaigns, including Paul Wellstone's US Senate races in 1990 and 1996, and chairing It's Time, Minnesota, the successful 1993 statewide campaign for GLBT civil rights. Cooper also worked in Sen. Wellstone's US Senate office for five years. Cooper currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Joyce Foundation’s Midwest Democracy Network, and coordinates the Minnesota Voting Rights Coalition.

Michael Dahl, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless’ Executive Director since 1999, serves as the organization’s lead advocate regarding affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and supportive housing policy. He serves on the State’s Advisory Council for Ending Long-term Homelessness and Minnesota’s Homeless Management Information System Governing Council. As a board member of the National Coalition for the Homeless, Michael is deeply involved in federal homelessness policy advocacy. He has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota.

Rob Daves is director of polling and strategic research at the Star Tribune where he directs the company’s strategic market research, and the Minnesota Poll. He has written extensively about polling and methodology, most recently for Public Opinion Quarterly. Rob currently serves as president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Prior to his training in public opinion research, he worked in newspapers as a reporter, copy editor and news editor. He earned an M.A. in journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. in sociology (magna cum laude) at Western Carolina University.

Ann DeGroot has been the Executive Director of OutFront Minnesota since it’s founding in 1987. In 1993, she was instrumental in the organizing and lobbying that led to an amendment to the Minnesota Human Rights Act protecting individuals regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. She serves on the boards of the National Association of LGBT Community Centers, where she is the co-chair, and the Greater Minneapolis Girl Scouts. Ann is a founding member of the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action.

Brian Elliott is currently the Political Director for Clean Water Action Alliance of Minnesota (CWAA), as well as the Associate National Political Director for Clean Water Action, CWAA’s national organization. He is also involved with TakeAction Minnesota, an independent community/labor-based political organization that was formed from the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action and Progressive Minnesota, and has been a track leader and trainer at numerous Camps Wellstone, training on canvassing and non-profit elections work. Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan and his Master of Arts in Public Affairs degree with a focus on Urban and Industrial Environmental Policy from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.

Baris Gumus-Dawes is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, where she conducts and develops research projects. Before joining the Institute, she worked as a policy analyst and researcher for various for-profit and non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities. She has a Ph. D. in Sociology from Yale University and a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Eric Haugee is the government affairs specialist at Ready 4 K, where he will spend most of his time at the Capitol working on behalf of Minnesota’s youngest children. He cut his teeth on various Minnesota political campaigns, and has spent the past 8 years in the Minnesota Senate as a legislative assistant, a researcher for the DFL caucus, and most recently, as the Committee Administrator for the Senate Early Childhood Committee. He enjoys cycling, making beer and spending time with his wife and two children.

Ann Kaner-Roth is executive director of Child Care WORKS, a statewide nonprofit child care advocacy organization. She has served in this role since 1999. Child Care WORKS focuses on public policy development, legislative advocacy, grassroots organizing and communications, all supporting child care public policy initiatives leading to quality, affordable, accessible child care for all Minnesota families who need it.
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 is a 2006-07 Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow and serves on several boards.

Jay Kiedrowski is a Senior Fellow in the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center at University of MN’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. He retired from Wells Fargo in 2004 as the EVP of Institutional Investments after a 17 year career. Previously, he was MN Commissioner of Finance, Minneapolis Budget Director, and a MN Senate researcher. He has served on a dozen or more nonprofit boards over the last 25 years and is currently Treasurer of the Guthrie Theater. Jay holds BSME and MA degrees from the U of MN, and an EdD from St. Mary's University of MN.

Karen Kingsley is the Director of Organizing at Ready4K, a statewide advocacy campaign working to ensure that all Minnesota children are ready for kindergarten. Her job focuses on building grassroots support for policy change. Before joining Ready4K, Ms. Kingsley was the Director of the Affirmative Options Coalition, a welfare reform advocacy coalition. Ms. Kingsley has worked for a variety of nonprofit advocacy organizations to build partnerships to advance the well-being of Minnesota families through policy and systems change. She holds a B.A. in political science from Duke University and a Masters in Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

Frances Kunreuther is the Director of the Building Movement Project housed at Demos, in New York City. Before her current role, Frances spent five years at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University as a Practitioner Fellow focused on bridging the practice/academic divide. She has also served as an Annie E. Casey Foundation Fellow, Executive Director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute and various other nonprofit organizations in New York City addressing the needs of homeless youth, immigrant groups, domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, and crime victims and defendants in the criminal justice system.

Mary Lahammer is a program host and political reporter for Twin Cities Public Television. Since joining tpt in 1998 she earned unparalleled access to the world famous Governor Ventura and followed him around the world to Japan, China and Cuba. She has won several Emmys and numerous other awards in several states for her anchoring, reporting, producing and photography. Lahammer was named “Best Newscaster” by City Pages Magazine in 2002.

Christina Macklin spends most of her time analyzing tax and budget issues for the Minnesota Budget Project, an initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. She also assists in MCN’s other public policy work and produces the annual Minnesota Nonprofit Economy Report. Christina has a M.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and holds a B.A. in Political Science from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

Nan Madden has been the Director of the Minnesota Budget Project since July 1999. The Minnesota Budget Project is an initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits that provides independent research, analysis, and advocacy on budget and tax issues, emphasizing their impact on low- and moderate-income persons and the organizations that serve them. Madden is an active voice for tax fairness and a balanced approach to Minnesota’s budget, and the author of numerous publications on fiscal issues and economic self-sufficiency.

Diana S. McKeown has thirteen years of experience with Clean Water Action Alliance of Minnesota, where she is now Program Director. She holds a B. S. degree in Environmental Studies from the College of Natural Resources at the University of Minnesota. Some of the strategic campaigns and coalitions she has worked with including the Mercury-Free Minnesota campaign, Blue-Green Alliance, and Nuclear Responsibility Now.

Alberto Monserrate, Co-Founder, CEO & President of Latino Communications, moved to Minnesota in 1984 from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Alberto helps LCN develop success strategies for reaching Hispanic markets and communities through Latino Media. He has extensive experience in the financial industry and worked in the Minnesota State Senate for a year and worked at American Express Financial Advisors for six years. He is frequently quoted in the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, and Minnesota Business publications regarding the Latino community. He has served as President of the Board for La Oportunindad, and on the boards of El Fondo, Schoolstart, and the Green Institute. He is a member of the Minnesota Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Latino Economic Development Center.

Steve Morse has been Executive Director of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP) since March of 2006. Prior to joining MEP Steve served as a Senior Fellow in the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota. While there he developed and ran the Green Lands, Blue Waters initiative, a Mississippi basin wide, multi-scale, cross-disciplinary initiative to address the long term ecological impacts of agricultural practices in the basin. Steve is a former Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a former State Senator. He served in the DNR from 1999 to 2003. Steve was first elected to the State Senate in 1986, where he represented the Winona area. For most of his twelve years in the Senate, he served as Chair of the Senate Environment and Agriculture Budget Division. Prior to his legislative work, Steve managed his family’s apple orchard.

Brian Rusche has over 25 years experience in social justice advocacy, the most recent 17 years as registered lobbyist and executive director for JRLC. An ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Brian graduated magna cum laude from Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He also attended the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and received a Presidential Management Intern Award. Before becoming director of JRLC, Brian was Associate Director of the Mental Health Association of Minnesota. He has been an instructor at the Humphrey Institute, a consultant for both the Minneapolis Foundation and the City of Minneapolis, and has served on many community boards such as Jobs Now Coalition, Affirmative Options Coalition, Civic Leadership Institute, Early Care and Education Commission, and the Minnesota Health Improvement Partnership. He is a member of the National Association of Ecumenical Staff and served on the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations for the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Deborah Schlick, Executive Director – Affirmative Options Coalition
Deborah worked for 15 years in local government – first for the city of Saint Paul and then almost ten years for Ramsey County Human Services. At Ramsey County, she was a planner working on the county’s implementation of its welfare reform and child care programs. The work at Ramsey County gave her the opportunity to witness the many layers of welfare reform reality – the frontline implementation, the management struggles, and local and state policy deliberations. Her early work experience was as a reporter for a daily newspaper in southwest Minnesota and as a new media relations specialist for a children’s hospital.

Sheila M. Smith has been Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts since 1996. She also recently served as a Public Policy Consultant for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and is part of MCN's Public Policy Cabinet. Before joining MCA, Smith served as staff at the Minnesota State Senate and lobbied local governments for Continental Airlines in Houston, TX. Smith serves as Vice-Chair of the State Arts Action League, part of Americans for the Arts. Appointed by the Governor in 2002 to the Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board, she is Chair of the Friends of the Minnesota State Capitol, advocating to preserve the state’s most important historic building. She also received a Master's degree in Arts Administration from St. Mary's University and has a B.A. in Shakespeare from St. Olaf College. She teaches and lectures, both statewide and nationally, about the arts, grassroots advocacy, and other issues.

Carrie Thomas joined the JOBS NOW Coalition as Policy Director in July 2001. In addition to guiding JOBS NOW¹s policy advocacy at the Minnesota legislature and with state agencies, she co-chairs the board of directors of Child Care WORKS, and serves as vice-chair of the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Board which oversees the state¹s dislocated worker and customized training programs. She has over 15 years of advocacy, direct service and research experience that includes developing, implementing and evaluating services for children and families in Chicago. Thomas has a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, as well as a B.A. in Linguistics and an M.A. in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.

John Tschida is vice president of public affairs and research at Courage Center, where he leads the organization’s public policy and advocacy initiatives. Prior to joining Courage Center, Tschida served as a research fellow at the National Rehabilitation Hospital Center for Health and Disability Research in Washington, D.C. Tschida also spent seven years at the Minnesota Legislature, including the position of assistant director of the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Office. Tschida holds a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College and a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University, where he also earned a health services research certificate.

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