Creative Support for Organizations-Round 1

Gloria Brush is professor in photography at the University of Minnesota Duluth and earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Board, Bush and McKnight foundations, among others. Her work has appeared in exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, Lil Street Gallery in Chicago, and D-ART Gallery for the IV2020 International Symposium on Digital Art, and in Rosenblum?s book A History of Women Photographers. Prior to her university tenure, she was the first director of the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council.; Rebecca Colebank is a retired family law attorney with an interest in social justice issues. Colebank graduated from Bemidji State University with a degree in political science and then graduated from the University of North Dakota with a juris doctorate. Colebank has served on the boards of numerous civic organizations.; Elizabeth Heffernan has a BA from University of Texas El Paso in speech,language, and hearing pathology, an MA from University of Minnesota in communication disorders, and a specialist degree in education administration. Heffernan is a certified yoga instructor, has 20 years of classical ballet training, and is a dance teacher specializing in children and adult beginner students. In addition to teaching yoga and dance, Heffernan has spent 35 years as an educator in Saint Paul Public Schools and eighteen years as an elementary school principal. ; Elizabeth Kelly currently serves as the resource development and events director at United Way of Northeastern Minnesota, a nonprofit organization that strives to help children succeed, empower healthy lives, and stabilize families and individuals. In this role, Kelly coordinates workplace giving campaigns, writes grants and grant reports, and coordinates special event fundraisers. Kelly is the former development and special events director for the Twin Cities based nonprofit, BestPrep. She was also an intern with Bardins Communications where she worked closely with WomenVenture and at the Ann Bancroft Foundation, where she reviewed mini grant applications. Kelly volunteers her time as a grocery shopper for AEOA?s Groceries to Go program, delivering groceries to homebound seniors; with Feed My Starving Children; Hibbing Kinship Mentoring Program; and local school functions. Writing is a passion of Kelly?s; a poem of hers was published in the University of St. Thomas literary review and she has written countless articles and columns. Kelly holds a BA with majors in English literature and communication from the University of St. Thomas and a MA degree in nonprofit management from Hamline University. She is also a graduate of the Hibbing Chamber Leadership Program.; Michael Linnemann is a nonprofit development professional by day, raising support for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, from its advocacy to youth BWCA scholarships. He wears a second hat of art broker and dealer of fantasy and sci-fi art, selling through social media to clients worldwide online and in pop-up art exhibitions. Linnemann has a degree in art history from the University of Minnesota, created the Imaginative Realism Foundation to help BIPOC artists get support for joining the imaginative realism field, was a former gaming art director, and previously worked for the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum.; Kaitlyn Ortman: In her role as program manager for international initiatives at Arts Midwest, Ortman works to support programs that bring international performing artists and presenters to the Midwest, including Arts Midwest World Fest and Folkefest. Before returning to her hometown of Minneapolis in 2020 to join the Arts Midwest team, she worked in programming at the Des Moines Social Club, a multidisciplinary performance and art education nonprofit, as producer for the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project, and as a grant writer for the Des Moines Art Center. Ortman earned a BA in English from Drake University.; Steven Palmer graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2010 with a BA in history and is a guitarist and grant writer. Fusing the Americana and folk roots of the music of avant folk guitarist John Fahey with the cosmic experimentalism of 1970s German Krautrock, he has been termed "one to watch" by Aquarium Drunkard and ?a virtuoso player... well on his way to becoming a legend in his own right? by local music publication Reviler. Currently, a grant writer at workforce development agency Summit Academy OIC, he resides in south Minneapolis with his girlfriend and dog.