LEADERSHIP

STAFF

Jordan Elton Foster

Alyse Maye Quade

Emma McBride

Karen Velez

Brittany Wallman

Marnie K. Wells

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Emma Faris, Vice Chair

Luchelle Stevens

Ashleigh Leitch

Dr. Alice Mann

KaYing Yang

Kathy Murphy

Jackie Statum Allen

Cynthia Bauerly

Kathy Heltzer

Makeda Zulu-Gillespie

Betsy Sitkoff

Babette Apland

Kim Isenberg

Suzan McGinnis

STAFF

Jordan Elton Foster

Alyse Maye Quade

Emma McBride

Karen Velez

Brittany Wallman

Marnie K. Wells

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Emma Faris, Vice Chair

Luchelle Stevens

Ashleigh Leitch

Dr. Alice Mann

KaYing Yang

Kathy Murphy

Jackie Statum Allen

Cynthia Bauerly

Kathy Heltzer

Makeda Zulu-Gillespie

Betsy Sitkoff

Babette Apland

Kim Isenberg

Suzan McGinnis

Alyse Maye Quade

Political Director

Alyse Maye Quade is an accomplished political operative and organizer who joins Women Winning after more than four years at the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) Party. As the DFL Political Director, Alyse strengthened relationships among partners, allies, and activists to continually build the progressive, pro-choice movement and position for electoral victories in the next election cycle. As the Director of the DFL Coordinated Campaign, Alyse managed winning Minnesota field programs and supported voter protection, Get Out The Vote, and Coalition teams.

Alyse was raised on a farm in Southwest MN, and attended the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, where she got her start in politics, working on a local house campaign. From there, she worked at various non-profits and electoral campaigns, including for the U.S. Senate and for Everytown for Gun Safety / Moms Demand Action. Outside of campaign work, Alyse enjoys golfing, cooking, and drinking in taprooms all over Minnesota to find the best local IPA. She lives in Apple Valley with her wife and their two rescue dogs.

Emma McBride

Political Director

Emma McBride is an experienced electoral strategist and organizer. Emma comes to Women Winning having managed the campaigns of two pro-choice women. She also has experience in non-profit electoral organizing. Most recently, she served as Minnesota Political Director at America Votes where she managed a coalition of 40+ organizations and built and executed campaigns in support of progressive candidates.

Emma is a lifelong Minnesotan and received a degree in Social Justice and Political Science from the University of Minnesota. Emma is passionate about building a more representative democracy because she knows first-hand that the fiercest advocates for reproductive justice are the people who are most impacted and come to the decision making table with lived experiences. She is excited to help pro-choice women build winning campaigns using creativity, community, and data-driven strategy. In her free time, Emma can be found curled up in her sunroom with a book, puttering around her garden and plants, or trying new restaurants around town.

Karen Velez

Operations Manager

Karen Velez is an accomplished organizer and immigration advocate whose passion for human rights earned her the distinction of being named “40 Under 40: Latinos in American Politics” by the Huffington Post. Before joining Women Winning, Karen worked at the Minnesota DFL, where she managed grassroots fundraising programs and organized successful donor events as Deputy Finance Director. Her own immigration story and frustrations with America’s broken immigration system helped drive her efforts as the face of DACA Sin Miedo, a Minnesota awareness campaign for DACA recipients, while she was still a high school student.

Karen grew up in the suburbs of Minnesota surrounded by a large and close-knit family and eventually moved to Washington D.C. While in D.C., she majored in Political Science at George Washington University and worked as a paralegal at the nationally renowned, full-service immigration law firm, Benach Collopy. Karen’s experience in D.C. helped her build well-rounded experience managing various teams and legal research. Despite her love for the nation’s capital, Minnesota is home. She returned to be closer to her beloved family and to help Minnesota maintain its status as the Midwest’s progressive firewall.

Outside of her busy work life, Karen loves trying new, locally-owned Twin Cities restaurants, listening to her favorite podcasts, and of course, you can always find her spending time with her close friends and family.

Brittany Wallman

Director of Advancement

Brittany Wallman has nearly a decade of events, communications, and marketing experience in the Twin Cities. Prior to joining Women Winning as the Director of Advancement, Brittany consulted with various Minnesota nonprofits, including Women’s Advocates, ArtistryMN, Trademark Theater, and The Ordway Center for Performing Arts.

Brittany is most passionate about work that centers building connections between people and their spaces, while helping them find the resources they need. In her free time you can find her baking from scratch, finding a fun class to take around town, or trying her hand at sailing across Lake Harriet.

Marnie K. Wells

Interim Executive Director

Marnie Wells is a cross-sector leader who builds community solutions for the common good. Partnering with leadership teams, Marnie creates innovative and scalable business models that increase accessibility while growing sustainable revenue. Most recently, during her tenure as CEO of Camp Fire Minnesota, Marnie raised more than $24 million, including a multi-million dollar capital campaign which doubled Camp Fire’s ability to serve young people year-round.

Marnie is known for her love of fundraising, relationship building, and visionary leadership and joins Women Winning eager to maximize the organization’s resources to achieve the mission in electing more pro-choice women to office. Marnie brings extensive non-profit leadership experience and a passion for electing pro-choice women leaders. She is proud to join the Women Winning community at this pivotal moment in time, as the important work of encouraging pro-choice women across the state to run for office continues alongside organizing Minnesotans to support and elect pro-choice women leaders up and down the ballot.

When Marnie is not hard at work raising the visibility of Women Winning, you can find her out on a long run around the chain of lakes in Minneapolis or traveling to warm beaches with her husband.

Luchelle Stevens

Board Member

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.

Ashleigh Leitch

Board Member

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.

Dr. Alice Mann

Board Member

Dr. Alice Mann is a board-certified family physician, who has spent years serving underserved communities all over the world, including Haiti, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Zimbabwe. She provided medical relief in both Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and in Kos, a Syrian refugee camp in Greece.

While practicing medicine in Minnesota, she witnessed first-hand the inequities within our healthcare system, which inspired her run for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2018. She won her race for District 56B, defeating a two-term incumbent, and was able to pass the biggest healthcare accountability bill of the biennium by licensing and regulating the practice of pharmacy benefit managers in Minnesota. She also passed bills that fully funded Minnesota's Tobacco QuitLine, expanded MetroMobility services in her district, established the state’s Rare Disease Advisory Council, and more. Because of her work in women's health, she was awarded the National Organization of Women Victoria Mastrobuono Award for Women's Health.

She currently works as an emergency room physician and also as the Primary Care Director at Wayside Recovery Center, an organization focused on breaking the cycle of addiction and trauma for women and their families.

Alice was born in Brazil and lives in Minnesota with her husband Elliot, and her three sons: Max (8), Alex (6) and Marcelo (4).

KaYing Yang

Board Member

KaYing Yang is a social justice advocate who has built and led community development efforts in the US and in Asia. Over twenty years ago KaYing began her career as a community organizer and nonprofit leader providing social services and advocacy to refugees and immigrants. Nationally and globally, KaYing worked in coalition with civil rights groups and international development agencies to address educational, economic and gender inequities. In 2013, she became the co-founder and President of RedGreen Rivers, a social enterprise working with women and girls in the Mekong Region to build sustainable communities. Today, she is the Director of Programs for the Coalition of Asian American Leaders. She is also a recipient of a 2019 Bush Fellowship from the Bush Foundation.

Kathy Murphy

Board Member

Kathy Murphy is a retired business consultant with Andersen Consulting and Accenture, and a former account representative for a software company based in Silicon Valley. Kathy holds a BS in Economics and Statistics and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.

With a passion for community, Kathy is an engaged leader and volunteer. Kathy has assumed leadership roles with University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Minneapolis Institute of Art Friends Board, and the Wayzata and Minnetonka Garden Clubs.

Kathy has two adult daughters and lives in Woodland with her husband, Norm Rickeman.

Jackie Statum Allen

Board Member

Jackie joined the Bush Foundation as the Education Portfolio Director in 2018. She manages the strategy, programs, and partnerships for the Foundation’s education initiative, which focuses on making education more relevant for students in terms of who they are, how they learn, and where they want to go.

Prior to the Bush Foundation, Jackie spent over a decade working in public school district administration. Most recently, she led the Office of Strategic Planning, Policy and Grants Development for Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS). In that role she led several high-impact projects including developing and implementing multiple district strategic plans, developing inclusive policies, and managing informational campaigns for two successful referendum ballot issues. Prior to SPPS, she worked in operations and budget management with Chicago Public Schools. She also has experience working in brand marketing and manufacturing engineering.

Jackie currently serves on the board of Genesys Works - Twin Cities (GWTC). GWTC works with over 350 high school and college students, most of whom are from low-income households and/or are first gen college students. The students receive training and are placed in year-long internships in information technology. She is also on the Executive Committee for Generation Next, which uses a collective impact model to improve outcomes for students at SPPS and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS.)

Jackie is originally from St. Louis, Missouri. She has a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a master's degree from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two young daughters.

Cynthia Bauerly

Board Member

Cynthia Bauerly has extensive experience in law, management, and public policy, serving in key public sector leadership and management roles in Washington D.C. and in Minnesota. She has also worked and volunteered for national, state, and local campaigns and recounts for over thirty years.

Most recently, Cynthia served as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Revenue from 2015 to 2020. She led over 1,400 employees as they helped Minnesotans access the economic opportunities of the tax code and collected over $23 billion annually to fund state services. Prior to joining Revenue, she served as Deputy Commissioner of Workforce Development at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) where she led the department’s work of providing economic security for transitioning workers and workforce training and readiness.

From 2008 to 2013, Bauerly served as a Commissioner of the United States Federal Election Commission and as Chair of the agency in 2011. She also served as Legislative Director for Senator Chuck Schumer developing and implementing a broad policy agenda that included working with the Senate Rules, Judiciary, and Finance Committees and the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. She has also worked in private practice in both Minnesota and Washington, D.C.

Bauerly earned a B.A. from Concordia College in Moorhead, a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington, and a M.P.A. from Indiana University’s School of Environmental and Public Affairs. She grew up in central Minnesota and now lives in Minneapolis with her husband and their dog, Kiko.

Kathy Heltzer

Board Member

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.

Makeda Zulu-Gillespie

Board Member

Makeda Zulu-Gillespie is the University of Minnesota Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center’s (UROC) chief executive officer. She provides executive oversight of strategic planning, revenue generation, financial stewardship, organizational development, staff management, and operational activities. She has been a part of this University-community place-based innovation since 2006.

Over the last 25+ years Zulu-Gillespie has served her community personally and professionally. She has served on boards of Juxtaposition Arts and Towerside Innovation District. Makeda is a former Senate District 59 party chair, and has been instrumental in a few campaigns for office. She is currently a board member of Parents in Community Action Head Start and Black Storytellers Alliance. Her impact spans work in youth development, childcare and family programming for almost a decade with the Twin Cities YMCA, then added community development, as an organizer for the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council. The University awarded her the Outstanding Community Service Award (2014).

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Grambling State University and a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Makeda believes in Ubuntu – I am because we are; self-determined people who work collaboratively in purpose and creativity to make positive change. She lives in North Minneapolis.

Betsy Sitkoff

Board Member

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.

Babette Apland

Board Member

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.

Kim Isenberg

Board Member

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.

Suzan McGinnis

Board Member

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.

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Peggy Flanagan

Lieutenant Governor

Peggy Flanagan is a qualified and effective leader. She is Minnesota’s 50th Lieutenant Governor and a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She is the first Native American elected statewide in Minnesota and the highest-ranking Native woman elected to executive office in the country. At the center of all her work is advocating and making progress for children, working families, communities of color and Indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented. She served on the Minneapolis Board of Education before becoming one of the original trainers of Wellstone Action’s signature program Camp Wellstone, where she trained thousands of progressive activists, community organizers, elected officials, and candidates – including Governor Walz. In 2015, Peggy was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, serving her own community of St. Louis Park, as well as Golden Valley, Plymouth, and Medicine Lake. Peggy brings her experiences of building coalitions and advocating for children and families to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office as she works in close partnership with Governor Tim Walz to build One Minnesota. Peggy lives in her beloved community of St. Louis Park with her husband, Tom, her daughter, Siobhan, and their dog, Reuben.

Visit Peggy Flanagan’s website here.

Jordan Elton Foster

Marketing Director

Jordan Elton Foster is a marketing and digital strategist, passionate about developing creative solutions to connect people to the issues they care about. Her experience comes from both nonprofits and political campaigns, most recently serving on U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s back-to-back winning Senate campaigns. As Digital Director for the 2020 election cycle and Deputy Digital Director for the 2018 special election, she had the opportunity to build and grow digital engagement, messaging, and fundraising strategies.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Jordan earned her undergraduate degree from Concordia College before beginning her career in the digital space at The ONE Campaign in Washington, DC. Jordan later attended the Humphrey School, where she studied data and policy analysis and graduated with her Master of Public Policy. Striving to engage communities around social justice issues and movements, Jordan brings data-driven strategic creativity to her work. Jordan lives in Minneapolis with her husband Barry and dog Otto. She enjoys reading, gardening, and exploring Minnesota’s state parks with Barry and Otto.

Terese Tomanek

Duluth City Council, At-Large

Councilor Terese Tomanek is a Duluth At-Large City Councilor, having been unanimously appointed to that position by her fellow Councilors. She was re-elected in November 2021. Tomanek is employed as a chaplain at Essentia Health. She is President of the Lake Superior College Foundation, serves on the Public Utilities Commission, Duluth Sister Cities International, Glensheen Advisory Council and the Great Lakes Aquarium Advisory Council. Tomanek was author of the Duluth mask mandate in June, 2021. She serves as head of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee of the Council, working on regional issues with representatives of the county and school board. Tomanek's issues include housing expansion, pandemic relief and support for families, all approached through an equity lens.

Visit Terese Tomanek's website here

Emily Koski

Minneapolis City Council, Ward 11

Emily Koski was elected in 2021 to the Minneapolis City Council in Ward 11, which includes the Diamond Lake, Hale, Keewaydin, Page, Northrop, Tangletown, Wenonah, Windom, and Field neighborhoods. Emily Koski worked at Target Corporation, owned and operated a small business based in Minneapolis for 13 years, and is currently a Director of Client Development at Antenna. Emily Koski is currently a member of the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Leadership Council, a Site Council Member at Hale Elementary School, and a Member of the Minneapolis Public Schools Parent Legislative Committee. Emily Koski was previously a Board Member of 261 Fearless, a Council Member of the Waite Park Community Council, and a Site Council Member at Waite Park School. When elected, Emily Koski will partner with members of the community, leadership city-wide, organizations, and experts to work together to find solutions to the issues we face.

Visit Emily Koski's website here

Katie Roche

Chisago County Board, District 3

City Council Member Katie Roche is running for Chisago County Commissioner representing District 3, which includes Lindstrom, Chisago City, and south Chisago Lake Township. Council Member Roche is a licensed teacher who began serving her city in 2017 as a planning commissioner and a member on the economic development authority. In her role as a city council member, she has strongly advocated for transparency and collaboration with other governing bodies to address the goals of our community and county. The priorities that she would like to address when elected to the County Board include incentivizing economic development in the area with the intention of broadening our tax base, promoting the necessity of accessible and reliable broadband, initiating communication with the local school boards to address future planning and growth, advocating for veterans and workforce housing in order to meet the needs of District 3 residents, collaborating with county staff to enable accessible and affordable child care, and ensuring transparency and collaboration amongst the county, cities, and township. When elected County Commissioner of District 3, Council Member Roche will continue to connect with voters in her District and work hard to find solutions to issues that we all care about!

Visit Katie Roche's website here