Board of Advisers

As a professional speaker, certified executive coach, corporate board director, corporate attorney, business/leadership consultant, and former CEO and COO, Sarah has been described by another CEO as a “leader who thinks strategically… and combines an out-of-the-box way of seeing things with clarity and determination toward measurable outcomes and impact.”

Beyond her speaking engagements, Sarah also works with top executives, management teams and tribal entities to enhance leadership capacity, improve accountability and create goal-oriented action plans that get results. She has coached numerous executives and business leaders to improve and enhance their lives in the areas of productivity, management, career satisfaction, and personal and professional development.

Her diverse background makes her especially qualified to provide motivation to her audiences and meet her client’s organizational and management consulting needs. She combines her ability to quickly assess and understand issues with her wide span of experience in law and business to create the most effective solutions for her clients and to inspire resolute action towards desired goals.

Sarah serves on the board of directors for several companies, as well as board finance committees where she provides strategic oversight, governance, employee engagement, and vulnerable leadership that help organizations grow and transform.

As founder and CEO, he is building Praxis to address these issues on a national basis. Glenn earned an M.A. in business from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., along with a B.S. in business and a B.S. in economics from Eastern Illinois University. He has held senior executive positions with PepsiCo, American Hospital Supply, Scientific Products Division, Indiana National Bank, and Electronic Data Systems (EDS), and has been involved with other entrepreneurial business and venture funded entities.

Glenn believes that existing business norms and economic models have failed inner city communities and that new approaches rooted in business creation is the most aggressive means to improve conditions. Canvassing industry sector possibilities, he concluded the best choice if you want to help residents of an urban community is to evolve the food industry. He believes that food should not only nourish our bodies, but it should also nourish the viability of the communities where it is consumed. In essence, he believes that combining leadership and helping hands from those who have backgrounds like his own can create sustainable livelihoods for inner city residents in underserved communities. Even more, he believes that all of this can be accomplished out of food consumption purchases already present in those communities. He has a plan that will make suppliers and producers out of neighborhood citizens – starting with creating grocery stores and aquaponics facilities.

Glenn spent personal time and resources assisting recipients of Kellogg Foundation grants to better run their businesses utilizing food ventures as community builders. During the years he assisted the Kellogg Foundation, he devised methods to take farmers out of the commodity business by helping them build brands that went directly to retail shelves. Having realized the power of the food industry to employ people both domestically and internationally, he brings these key findings to inner city communities in an effort to provide much needed employment. With experience gained from teaching marketing at Concordia as an adjunct professor and teaching Fast-Trac to entrepreneurs at St. Thomas University, he plans to build more than 200 grocery stores in eleven major tier-one and tier-two cities throughout the country. He also plans to build 20 aquaponics facilities throughout the U.S.

With an extensive background in marketing, finance, and business development, his experiences gave him the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship efforts within large companies. His experiences include turnarounds, small businesses, non-profits, the food industry, pharmaceuticals, retail, manufacturing, and a host of outside projects. When consulting, Glenn has particular skills and interest in investment banking, sustainability, and healthy food systems.

A skilled executive, he has been successful in a number of positions and roles. He brings experience with the strategic and operational requirements of very large companies as well as new venture development.

Some of the positions that Glenn has held include:

• Founder and CEO of Praxis Marketplace
• Principal, Robin Hood Consulting Group
• President & CEO, Kottos Inc.
• President & CEO, Voyageur Software
• Vice President of Pharmaceutical Strategy and Operations, EDS
• Vice Present, New Concept Development, PepsiCo
• Vice President, American Hospital Supply, Scientific Products Division (Now Baxter Healthcare)
• Director of Marketing, Scientific Products
• Investment Salesman, Indiana National Bank

Glenn has also held seats on the boards of 20 small companies until most recently, where he has chosen to focus solely on Praxis. He continues to be on the board of NEON, Goodwill/Easter Seals, Wholesome Wave, and Appetite for Change. In his spare time, Glenn is currently mentoring small companies in Minneapolis and indulging his new hobby of photography.

He is currently serving as Strategic Advisor for Bloch/Reed Association Advisors.

During his career he has served on the board of directors of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), as president of the AMC Institute (the trade association for association management companies), and as chairman of the ASAE Association Management Company Section. He also served as founding member, treasurer and on the executive committee of Kids in Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S), a charity that gives children and teens impacted by poverty and tragedy kid-essential products that are vital to life and self-esteem.

Bill received his bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College. He is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and earned an MBA from Florida Atlantic University.

Under Jennifer’s leadership, the combined companies are the preeminent source for marketing resources in this region, with over 250 marketing consultants supporting and growing businesses for their clients.

Under his direction, the company expanded annual sales from $1 million to $100 million. During his tenure, he led a management buyout of the company, four acquisitions, and the eventual sale of Gerry Baby Products to Huffy Corporation. He is currently a member of the boards of Pacific Market International, Brock International, and Balfour Senior Living.

Since joining Meet Minneapolis, Tennant has overseen convention sales and marketing programs that bring a direct economic impact of $900 million to the area. With an annual budget of $10 million and a staff of 55, his team played an integral role in laying the groundwork and implementing logistics for Minneapolis Saint Paul’s successful hosting of the 2008 Republican National Convention. Tennant and his team worked closely with the Minnesota Vikings and other organizations as a member of the Minnesota Super Bowl LII Bid Committee to secure the National Football League’s Super Bowl for Minnesota in February 2018. The Meet Minneapolis team also worked alongside the Minnesota Twins to secure the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Tennant and Meet Minneapolis launched an affiliate organization, Sports Minneapolis, in May 2014 to market and sell Minneapolis as a site for amateur and professional sporting events, sports-related conventions and related activities.

Additionally, Tennant has also been CEO since 2007 for Internet Destination Sales System (iDSS), a private company that delivers a complete web-based series of software applications for destination marketing organizations, associations, hotels and corporations, where he oversees the company’s management and operations. iDSS is a for-profit subsidiary of Meet Minneapolis.

Tennant has proved himself a leader in the travel industry. Currently, he is chairman of the board for Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA), and is the first supplier to serve in this position in the organization’s 42-year history. Tennant most recently served on the RCMA board as vice chair.

Additionally, Tennant has previously served on the boards of the U.S. Travel Association, American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Center for Association Leadership, Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the MPI Foundation, and is a past chairman of the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). He currently serves locally on the boards of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, Minneapolis Downtown Council and YouthLink, an organization that strives to build healthy relationships with youth and the community to address youths’ urgent needs so that doors of opportunity are opened to futures of empowerment, connectedness and self-reliance.

During his career Tennant has received many accolades, most notably the RMCA’s President Award, MPI’s Chapter Legacy Award – Carolina Chapter and Black Meetings & Tourism magazine’s APEX Award.

Tennant received his bachelor’s degree from Rice University, master’s degree in Christian Leadership Studies from Liberty University and holds an Association Executive Certification from ASAE.