Operating Support

Mary Bensen: Bensen is the former foundation and grants director at Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge in Minneapolis. For more than 20 years, Bensen initiated and designed a corporate and foundation grant program for Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge, a $40 million dollar faith based nonprofit. In addition, Bensen is a professional pianist and organist in the community. Benson earned a BA in organizational management and communication at Concordia University with a minor in performing arts focused on organ and piano.; Sarah Clark: Clark is the founder of Clark Squared, LLC, a nonprofit consulting firm specializing in communications, development, and management services. From 2013-2022, she worked at Fresh Energy; as deputy executive director, she oversaw organizational management, fundraising, communications, and program development. Previously, Clark was the contract director of the Lower Phalen Creek Project, a community based initiative focused on transforming a contaminated brownfield site into the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, a restored natural area that is home of Wakan Tipi, a Dakota sacred site. Clark has a BA from Macalester College and a MA in journalism from the University of Minnesota.; Heidi Droegemueller: Since 2015, Droegemueller has served as executive director of the Luther Seminary Foundation in Saint Paul. In this role, she is responsible for board relations, fundraising, marketing, and communications for both the Foundation and Luther Seminary. Her primary areas of professional expertise include governance, strategic planning, transformational philanthropy, grant writing, annual fund, and crisis communications. Droegemueller is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, with a bachelor of music degree in music theory. She holds professional certificates in nonprofit management (Arizona State University) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (Augsburg University). She has served as a volunteer board member for multiple entities of the Association of Fundraising Professionals since 2002. She has also served as a grant application reviewer for the Minnesota State Arts Board and Metropolitan Regional Arts Council in the past.; Anne Dugan: Dugan is an independent curator and educator living on an organic farm in Wrenshall. She teaches art history at The College of St. Scholastica and the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Dugan is the director for the Kruk Gallery on the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus and the curator for the Northshore Bank of Commerce in Duluth. Dugan is the founder and codirector of the internationally recognized Free Range Film Festival, which she founded in 2004.; Ivete Martinez: Vaz de Castro Martinez has been a professional artist for the last 20 years. She was born in a small border town between Brazil and Uruguay to Portuguese and Galego parents. Vaz de Castro Martinez has two master?s degrees: one in philosophy (Oxford University, England) and another in psychology (Stanford University, CA). It was only when she quit her job at Mayo Clinic and became a full-time mom that she started to learn art. She?s a board member at Gallery 24, executive director of Med City Art Festival, and a Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council panelist. Vaz de Castro Martinez tries to be involved, not only in making art but also in the administration and participation of nonprofit organizations.; John Neveaux: Neveaux is a theater artist, educator, and attorney who acts, directs, and designs shows with several local theaters in the metro area. Neveaux has also been proudly involved with the Delano High School and Westonka High School drama programs. He has served on the boards of Skylark Opera Company, Chain Reaction Theatre Project, 4 Community Theatre, and is a member of the Delano Area Council for Arts and Culture. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in theater and is a law school graduate with more than 35 years of legal experience including work with arts and other nonprofits.; Kyla Rathjen: Rathjen is pursuing a master of human rights at the University of Minnesota?s Humphrey School of Public Affairs and College of Liberal Arts. Her graduate interests are in effective philanthropy, social change leadership, and nonprofit management. She is a committed nonprofit professional, with more than eight years of experience in program management, community led development, board management, grassroots fundraising, and digital communications on global teams. She recently served as vice president of the board for the Minnesota International NGO Network (MINN).; Linda Rother: Rother has been creating her personal imagery with passion for more than 48 years. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BFA in studio arts, with an emphasis in painting and photography. She has received several grants from the Jerome Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, Intermedia Arts, and the East Central Regional Arts Council. She has displayed her work extensively in one-person shows and juried group shows. Her current photographic work reflects a spirit of place. The planet?s light, smells, and sounds have a texture of earth and plants. Her intimate images are about her relationship with the planet, the animals, and her personal environment. She currently has her work at Gallery North in Bemidji.; David Schmidt: Schmidt has more than 40 years serving communities as a city/county manager, administrator, and planner. He obtained his BA in urban and regional planning, and a MPA in government management. Schmidt has served on many local, regional, and state boards and commissions in North Carolina, New York, Maine, and Minnesota. He is an arts supporter and has an interest in photography, theater, public art, and music. Schmidt recently retired and currently serves his community as an organic farmer.