NEWS IN OUR COMMUNITY
February 2, 2012

Board & Staff Update August 2011-February 2012

Board update

At its August 2011 meeting, the Bush Foundation Board of Directors elected Curtis Johnson as its new vice chairman. Johnson joined the Board in 2009. A former teacher, since 1995 Johnson has been president of the Citistates Group, a national communications firm known for its reports on regions. He also serves as managing partner of Education Evolving, an organization that is active both in assisting state leadership in designing policies that facilitate a more innovation-based approach to K-12 change, and in assisting local educators in the effort to design new schools.

Staff update

The Foundation welcomed two participants in the Public Allies program in October 2011 to work on the InCommons team:

• Richard Bidmead is a native of Helena, MT, who later moved to Chicago. He earned a degree in arts, entertainment and media management at Columbia College (Chicago) where he was involved in the school’s GLBTIA and Asian Student Organizations, and Join The Impact Chicago. Bidmead also interned with the digital music marketing company Platform One Entertainment.
• Shoshana Gurian-Sherman recently graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul with a degree in anthropology, minoring in biology and Hispanic studies. Originally from Washington, DC, she has worked with adults with severe developmental disabilities, as an election judge and as organic farm intern (most recently with Frogtown Gardens).

Mandy Ellerton joined the Bush Foundation in October 2011 as the project manager for the InCommons initiative. Before coming to the Bush Foundation, she worked as both a project manager and an organizer at Grassroots Solutions, a national grassroots organizing consulting firm. There she specialized in grassroots engagement training and working with clients to crowd-source innovative ideas to solve community problems. Ellerton is a licensed social worker and holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota, with a concentration in community organizing, and a BA from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

The Foundation welcomed John Fetzer in November 2011 as associate on the Native Nations team. A Minnesota native who grew up in Bemidji and is enrolled at White Earth Nation, his most recent position was as a legislative assistant in the Washington, DC, office of U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (North Dakota). He holds a degree in political science from North Dakota State University.

Brian Fier joined the Foundation in August 2011 as a member of the InCommons team working as an online engagement specialist. A native of Iowa, Fier is a recent graduate of North Dakota State University with a BS in sociology and emergency management, and an MS in natural resource management. While studying at NDSU, he founded and developed Campus Dakota, an online community that allows students in North Dakota and South Dakota to collaborate on projects.

In December 2011, Mary Friedmann left her position as Educational Achievement team coordinator with the Foundation to join the Children’s Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota Foundation.

Peter C. Hutchinson left his position as president of the Foundation in January 2012 and will serve in an advisory role on select Foundation initiatives.

Rebecca Martin joined the Educational Achievement team in January 2012 as team coordinator. The majority of her background has been in the nonprofit world, whether giving pesticide safety trainings to migrant farm workers in rural Iowa, conducting basic health check-ups with a traveling clinic, or assisting individuals and families in applying for the Minnesota Public Health Care programs (MNCare/MA, etc.).  Martin has a BA in Spanish and international studies from Iowa State University and has completed coursework for a master’s in public health degree at the University of Minnesota.

The Foundation welcomed Molly Matheson Gruen to the InCommons team in August 2011 as a relationship engagement specialist. From 2001 to 2007 she was the director of volunteer services at Open Arms, and from 2007 until joining the Foundation she was consultant to several nonprofits working locally and in Argentina, Haiti and Tanzania. She holds a BS in psychology from Taylor University (Indianapolis) and an MBA in nonprofit management from the University of St. Thomas.

Victoria Tirrel’s title changed recently to Communications Manager. She joined the Foundation’s communication department in 2003.