Dara Rudick, CAE, brings nearly three decades of experience serving associations that are determined to thrive. As CEO and founder of Management HQ (MHQ), an AMCI-accredited, woman-owned association management company she launched in Minneapolis in 2013, she has engaged dozens of team members to serve 10,000+ members. She has also implemented the vision of more than 60 boards of directors, supported hundreds of volunteers, and delivered more than 1,000 events.
MHQ serves scientific, academic, government and public-sector, and risk and insurance associations across the U.S. and internationally, including academic societies dedicated to teaching and research. The MHQ team provides the infrastructure boards rely on: conferences, financial reporting, governance support, and membership systems. That frees volunteer leaders to lead with vision. Rudick facilitates strategy sessions for association boards and makes each client’s goals her own.
Rudick knows the volunteer experience firsthand. She has served on boards of directors and committees for more than 25 years. She currently serves as board member and treasurer of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. She has served on the board of AchieveMinneapolis, where she formerly co-chaired the governance committee. She is past board chair of Meet Minneapolis, where she also chaired the Diversity Multicultural Action Committee, and of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association. She has served on the boards of the Better Business Bureau, where she co-chaired the governance committee, and The Aliveness Project, as well as the One Heartland advisory board.
Inclusion runs through her leadership. She founded and co-chaired the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for Associations North (formerly MSAE). She was also a founding member of the Commercial Real Estate Diversity Collaborative, a group of trade associations committed to diversity, inclusion, and equity in Minnesota’s commercial real estate industry. She has presented her approach to hundreds of association industry peers. Her view is that inclusion begins with organizational values and requires a hard look at bylaws, board composition, and nomination processes.
Associations under Rudick’s leadership have been named Top 100 Places to Work by Minnesota Business magazine. She has received numerous Awards of Excellence from MSAE, including Volunteer of the Year. She also received One Heartland’s Heart of Hope award for her leadership on behalf of children in need.
Before launching MHQ, Rudick spent seven years as the top executive of a group of commercial real estate trade associations and their for-profit technology provider. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal named that group a Top 25 Trade Association.
She is an active member of Associations North, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce, and the Association Management Company Institute (AMCI). Rudick earned her bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and completed master’s-level coursework in the University of St. Thomas MBA program. She enjoys hiking, cooking, and connecting with family, friends, and community. She and her husband are proud parents of an adult son and live in Minneapolis’ Powderhorn Park neighborhood.