Operating Support

David Hanson: Hanson has been a professional musician, photographer, recording engineer, producer, and advertising agency owner during his career. His work in advertising has won awards both regionally and nationally. He owns and operates EchoBayart.com and EchoBayProductions.com, which include his line of photography products and commercial audio production. Hanson serves as vice chair of the board of directors of North Dakota Assistive, a state organization that distributes assistive technology to the disabled and elderly. He previously served a four-year term as a board member of the Plains Art Museum (Fargo, ND).; Valorie Klemz: After a career in strategic marketing, Klemz left the corporate world in 2013 for a meaningful second act in grant writing. She serves as grant specialist at Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners, contract grant writer for Tubman, and has a track record of successful proposals and program evaluation. She earned her MBA from the Carlson School of Management, her nonprofit fundraising certificate from the University of St. Thomas, and served on the board of directors for Minnesota Computers for Schools.; Sherrie Pugh: Pugh recently retired from a thirty-five-year career in community economic development. During her career she volunteered and worked on numerous community based cultural events and projects. She serves as an adviser to the Aurora Saint Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation on its cultural integration concepts for the old home historic rehabilitation project. Pugh has worked in philanthropy as executive director of the Headwaters Fund (Minneapolis), the Fund for Community Development (Chicago), and the Foundation for the Mid South (Jackson, Mississippi).; Germaine Riegert: Riegert is a retired postmaster and worked more than eighteen years as the chief financial officer for the White Earth Reservation Business Committee (RBC), prior to becoming employed with the United States Postal Service. She has a bachelor?s degree in accounting and business administration and has spent many years in public administration. While employed at the RBC, she was involved in the administration of nonprofit grants from many sources. She has served as a volunteer on the Region 2 Arts Council and was elected to serve as treasurer for the board. She is an enrolled member of the Minnesota tribe and the White Earth Nation. Her artistic accomplishments center around working with thread and yarns.; Laura Savinetti-Moberly: Moberly relocated to Ely over 25+ years ago and immediately became involved with the only local arts organization at that time, Northern Lakes Arts Association (NLAA). Over the years, Moberly has served as a board member, treasurer, chair, as well as chairing many committees and answering the call for volunteers wherever needed. She has also choreographed for the Ely Community Spring Musical first in 1999, intermittently throughout the early 2000s and subsequently choreographed every show since 2011. Moberly currently serves as the NLAA board secretary and is finishing up her tenure with the Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust, where she spent two terms as chair. In the past, she volunteered with the local Comprehensive Arts Planning Program (CAPP) within the Ely schools and served on the board of the youth theater group, Ely Little Players. Moberly graduated from the University of Redlands in California with a BA in business management; she brings 15 years of corporate experience to the volunteer posts she has held.; Christi Schmitt: Schmitt is a program coordinator in the office of multilingual learning at the Saint Paul Public Schools. She has worked as an English language learner teacher in Saint Paul for fifteen years. During her tenure, she has written and received more than fifty local, state, and national grant awards toward enrichment partnerships, opportunities, and resources for English language learners and their families. She has served on the board of the United Nations Association of Minnesota and was a top ten finalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Schmitt has master?s degrees in education and public affairs from the University of Minnesota.; Samuel Van Cook: Van Cook is the founder and president of Button Poetry. He is a recipient of the 2012 Verve Grant, a National Poetry Slam champion, and a decorated college slam coach. Van Cook has worked with students nationwide as a poetry instructor and performance poetry coach. He helped found and establish spoken word poetry programs in colleges across Minnesota including Carleton, the University of Minnesota, Hamline, and Macalester. Most notably, Van Cook spent four years as an instructor for Macalester College, coaching and coordinating its championship College Union Spoken Word Invitational (CUPSI) Poetry Slam program. Van Cook was the director of the two-time national champion Saint Paul Soap Boxing Poetry Slam (2009 & 2010) that ran for many years out of The Artists Quarter in Saint Paul. He also helped bring the national poetry slam to downtown Saint Paul in 2010.; Kalia Vue: Vue is a PhD student at The Ohio State University in the department of teaching and learning in the multicultural and equity studies education area. She received her BA in international studies at the University of St. Thomas (Saint Paul), and her MA in East Asian studies at St. John?s University (New York, NY). Her research interests include informal teaching and learning, culturally responsive teaching, and multicultural education. Her prior work experience consists of the Science Museum of Minnesota, Museum of Chinese in America, and Camp Fire Minnesota. She has also served as a volunteer cochair for the youth leadership program for the Vue family of Minnesota.; Corrie Zoll: Zoll is the owner of Cultivate Consulting, where he has been primarily consulting with nonprofits serving commercial businesses. Previously, Zoll spent five years as executive director of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, and four years as development manager for Pillsbury House + Theatre. Zoll has served as board chair for Bedlam Theatre and Franklin Artworks and has served on the Minneapolis Arts Commission. Corrie holds a MA in arts and cultural management from St Mary?s University of Minnesota.