Operating Support

Jeffrey Adams: Adams is the founder and artistic director of the Icebox Radio Theater in International Falls. He has written, directed, and produced more than 300 radio plays under the organization?s banner since 2004. Originally from Oregon, Adams graduated with a bachelor?s degree in history from the University of Oregon. He relocated to International Falls in 2003.; John Brost: Brost is the founder of Wirehair Advisory LLC, where he helps organizations with strategic planning, operations, and information technology. Prior to founding Wirehair, Brost worked with global consulting and industrial firms planning, budgeting, and funding investments in organizational and technical transformation. Brost has a BA in Asian studies from St. Olaf College and an MBA from the University of South Dakota.; Nicola Carpenter: Carpenter currently works as the director of people operations at Fractured Atlas where she helps better align tools and processes with the organization?s purpose. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas, Carpenter worked for a variety of arts organizations including MoMA PS1, Walker Art Center, and Heidelberger Kunstverein. Additionally, as of January 2023, she serves on the Fireweed Woodshop board of directors. Carpenter graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a BFA in art.; Cynthia Demers: Demers is a retired visual and graphic arts instructor for junior and senior high schoolers and worked as a community education director for 23 years. She has written grant proposals for school age childcare, poetry, and visual arts with Native American speakers, summer theater, childcare resources, and field trips to art careers and art colleges. She developed Art Day with area art teachers for six schools averaging 180 art students and twelve artists. She has volunteered to review grant applications for Southwest Minnesota Arts Council. Living in Lac qui Parle and formerly Lake of the Woods counties, she brings a rural perspective to her work.; Sonja Jacobsen: Jacobsen is a 1974 graduate of Hastings College (Hastings, NE) receiving a BM in 1974. Jacobsen taught K-12 vocal/instrumental music in public and parochial schools in Nebraska and Minnesota. In 2015, she retired as office manager from Jacobsen Metal Fabrication, Inc., a company she cofounded with her husband in 1984. Jacobsen served three terms on the Mankato Symphony board of directors and during her tenure chaired several major fundraising events (Rockin' in the Quarry, Rockin' by the River, Music & Brews), served as development chair, and as board president.; Alfreda Juasemai: Daniels Juasemai, a Liberia native, arrived in the United States as a refugee in 2006. She has been an organizer for twelve years, focusing on education, economic justice, immigration reform, racial and social justice, housing, and transportation in the northwest suburbs of the Twin Cities. Daniels Juasemai is one of the cofounders of Black Immigrant Collective, an organization focused on elevating and amplifying the voices and stories of Black immigrants in the struggle for immigrant justice. She has been a member of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, Minnesota State Board of Electricity, Brooklyn Center Planning Commission, and the board of African Career Education Resource, Inc. In 2020, Daniels Juasemai was an expanded voice contributor for the When Home Won?t Let You Stay: Art and Migration at Minneapolis Institute of Arts. She attended St. Cloud State University where she studied political science, international relations, and human relations.; Deborah Karasov: Karasov is currently semiretired, helping nonprofits advance their mission through part-time consulting with Access Philanthropy. She was previously director of adult programs at the Walker Art Center, codirector of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Public Art and Design Institute, and consultant to the director of design arts at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). She has also served on several grant application review panels for the NEA. She has a PhD from the University of Minnesota and a master in landscape architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design.; Linda Sloan: Sloan is the executive director for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage where she leads a team whose mission is to ensure that people of African heritage can participate and benefit in all that the state has to offer. She was the former director of career development and employer relations for the University of St. Thomas. She spent fifteen years at Target in broadcasting, events marketing, and human resources. She is an executive coach and mentor. Sloan was a founder of the now defunct Freedom Jazz Festival. She is on the board of directors for the Stairstep Foundation, where she has served as its secretary for the past ten years. Sloan holds an MBA in marketing and strategic management from Purdue University and a bachelor of science degree in marketing from the University of Illinois Chicago.