Chair
Carl "Buzz" Cummins, President and CEO, Workers Compensation Reinsurance Association. He has practiced law, served as legal counsel to Governor Al Quie and was responsible for government, regulatory and community affairs at Minnegasco. Buzz has been a leader in public service and civic engagement in Minnesota, and has served as Chair of the Citizens League, United Hospital, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and numerous other non-profit and community boards. He currently serves on the board of the Coalition for Impartial Justice, which supports adoption of a system of judicial retention elections in Minnesota.
Vice Chair
Cyndi Lesher, retired CEO of Northern States Power, an Xcel Energy Company. Cyndi, who served as President of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Host Committee for the 2008 Republican National Convention and as chair of former Governor Tim Pawlenty’s Workforce Development Council, was recognized as the 2008 Woman of the Year by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce. She has been lauded by CityBusiness as one of the Twin Cities’ most innovative women. She has also been awarded the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal’s Lifetime Career Achievement Award. Cyndi serves on the Boards of Children’s Hospital, Drake University, the American Red Cross, the Animal Humane Society and JetE, LLC, a St. Paul company that facilitates the cost-effective distributed production of on-spec green jet and green diesel fuels.
Treasurer
Roann Cramer, Project manager and business analyst at Ameriprise; Chair, Senate District DFL 60; volunteer for the 2006 Minneapolis Better Ballot Campaign and 2009 voter education campaign; worked on several candidate and issue campaigns.
Secretary
Ken Bearman, Editor/Writer for Minnesota Department of Human Services. Ken Bearman is politically independent.
Directors
Stacy Bee, President of ESBEE Public Relations and Marketing. Stacy is the founder of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce’s Emerging
Leaders Program and has served as project manager of the St. Paul Capital City
Partnership. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers and
Big Sisters, and has held various positions with the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
Ellen Brown, retired owner and President of Brown Partners, Ellen currently consults in the areas of strategic analysis and public policy. Former Executive Director, Greening the Great River Park; Former Vice President, Control Data Corporation; and Assistant Commissioner for government and Community Relations, MN Department of Transportation. Active volunteer, currently serving as Director Emeritus of the Great River Greening; Reader for the MN State Services for the Blind and board member of Northland College. Past board member of Citizens League, Hmong-American Partnership, MN Museum of Art, CommonBond and Responsible Credit Partnership.
Robin Garwood, City Council Aide; Former Steering Committee Member, Minneapolis/5th District Green Party.
Roger Heegaard, CEO of medical device firm Enova Medical Technologies and former president/CEO of MedTreo Inc and HomeStyles, a home design and architectural publishing company (1988 – 2002); former attorney, ESL teacher in Latin America and high school English in Minnestoa; current board member of the United Theological Seminary and former board member of the Pangea World Theater and Lowry Hill Neighborhood Ass.
John Hottinger, former Minnesota state senator and majority leader; executive committee chair, Sierra Club - Northstar Chapter; board member, Northwest Midwest Institute; consultant in deliberative democracy processes, early childhood education and environmental issues.
Carol Veldman Rudie, Self-Employed Writer/Lecturer; Vice President, CRC Publications; Board of Trustees Member, Dordt College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota); Past Board Member, Center for Public Justice; Past Board Chair, Citizens for Educational Freedom; Past Board Chair, Pathways International. Carol Rudie is politically independent.
Tim Penny, former United States Congressman and Minnesota Senator; 2002 gubernatorial candidate; current President of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation; Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute and professor at Winona State University; serves on the board of several public policy related organizations, including the Concord Coalition, the ACDI/VOCA (an international development agency) and the University of Minnesota's Institute of Law and Politics and Energy Literacy Advocates; co-author of three books, Common Cents, Payment Due and The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics, and regular public speaker, radio commentator and editorial writer. He lives in Waseca, Minnesota.
Wy Spano, former government and nonprofit lobbyist, cofounder and longtime editor of Politics in Minnesota, and regular guest on Minnesota's public affairs program Almanac on public television. He currently directs the Master of Advocacy and Political Leadership Program at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and provides frequent commentary and analysis in local, regional and national media. He lives in St. Paul.
Bao Vang, President and CEO of the Hmong American Partnership and former board member of the Professional Hmong Women Association. Bao is a frequent speaker on issues relating to the Asian American Community. She lives in St. Paul.
Bob Wahman, retired physician and medical director of St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth, past board chair of the Duluth-Superior Symphony, a former board member of the Minnesota Medical Foundation and a current member of the Depot Foundation.