2013 Board Slate
At the 2012 Annual Meeting and Civic Celebration, Citizens League members will be asked to approve the following slate of nominees to the 2013 Board of Directors: Athena Adkins
Athena Adkins has worked in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector exclusively for more than fifteen years, with stops at the Minnesota Children's Museum, the Girl Scouts and the Travelers Foundation. Today she is a nonprofit and foundation consultant working with corporate and community foundations and social service nonprofits.
She co-chairs the Policy Advisory Committee at the Citizens League.
Brian Bell
Brian Bell is a third-year law student at the University of Minnesota Law School. In addition to his course work, he is a student legal-writing instructor, National Moot Court director, and third-year representative on Law Council. During his time in school, Bell has worked as a law clerk for the St. Paul City Attorney's Office and as summer associate at Dorsey and Whitney LLP.
Bell's involvement with the Citizens League includes serving as a co-chair of the Policy Advisory Committee.
Brian has served one term on the Citizens League Board of Directors, and is now up for reelection.
Emmett Coleman
Emmett Coleman serves as vice president of government affairs with responsibility for Comcast's Twin Cities Region. In this role, Emmett oversees a team that works closely with regulators, public officials and community organizations.
Emmett's interest in serving on the Citizens League Board stems directly from the unique nature of the organization. The Citizens League's history of bringing together a broad cross section of community and business leaders with elected officials, regardless of political ideology, has provided a critical forum that has continuously helped make Minnesota a better place to live and work.
Claudia Dengler
Claudia Dengler enjoyed 25 years in senior leadership at the Wilder Foundation, culminating with her role as the Vice President of Programs. In her various roles at Wilder, she provided leadership inside and outside the organization on a wide range of reform initiatives in housing, health, education, and human service issues.
After leaving Wilder, Claudia has developed a consulting practice working on sustainability and business planning with mission-driven entrepreneurs and organizations. Claudia's professional commitment to better outcomes has repeatedly led to work on large-scale public sector change efforts in corrections, education, affordable housing, children's mental health and family services.
Claudia has served one term on the Citizens League Board of Directors, and is now up for reelection. She serves as the Chair of its Development Committee and on its Finance Committee
Michele Engdahl
Michele Engdahl is the manager of government and community affairs for Thomson Reuters Legal, the world's leading source of intelligent information for legal professionals and the maker of WestlawNext. She works closely with federal, state and local officials on issues affecting the legal business. Michele's experience includes managing political campaigns and building grassroots coalitions.
Michele is the current board chair of the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce and is the chair of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Minnesota Program. She previously served on the board of Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services.
Michele has served one term on the Citizens League Board of Directors and is on the Development Committee. She is now up for reelection.
Kelly Groehler
Kelly Groehler is the Director of Operations for Communications and Public Affairs at Best Buy, where she builds and company positioning and reputation-building programs that support business goals and leadership by engaging employees and external stakeholders with the organization's story of continued, sustainable growth and differentiation.
She has worked at Best Buy since 2005. Before that, she was an account supervisor at Padilla, Speer, Beardsley. She was a Policy Fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and holds a B.S. in Mass Communications from St. Cloud State University.
She has served on the Citizens League Communications Committee since 2011.
Heidi Larson
Heidi is the Chief Financial Officer and Principal, Goff Public. Drawing on 17 years of experience in developing and managing broad-based public relations and public affairs campaigns, Heidi Larson helps clients engage and activate the people most important to them.
As chief financial officer, Heidi also manages Goff Public's finances. She oversees project budgets, making sure services are delivered on time and on budget.
Heidi has led the Citizens League's Communications Planning Task Force since 2011, helping advance the organization's mission, programs and priorities through comprehensive communications efforts. She also serves on the Citizens League's membership and communications committees.
Robert Longendyke
Rob Longendyke is responsible for marketing, public relations, communications and strategic planning, and is the executive director of the Medica Foundation. A senior communications executive with more than 30 years in the field, he has worked with four Fortune 500 companies in four different business sectors. Before joining Medica, he was vice president of Communications for Honeywell Home and Building Controls.
Rob is a member of the 2012 Citizens League 60th Anniversary Visibility Committee.
Returning board members whose terms continue in 2013
Bright DornblaserWard Einess
Rondi Erickson
Robert Josephson
Jeff Peterson
Zach Pettus
Lisa Piskor
Irene Quarshie
Nena Street
Diane Tran
Our thanks to board members ending their tenure in 2012
Abdisalam AdamDuane Benson
Jennifer Ford Reedy
Jennifer Godinez
Kevin Goodno
Peggy Gunn
Tess Hohman
Sheila Kiscaden
Tom Teigen
Donna Zimmerman