Our team members don’t just help associations thrive; they also help our communities. As these past months have brought unprecedented change to our daily lives, we continue to see our MHQ community leaders generously give of their time and energy.
Dr. Aida Martinez-Freeman – Managing Director
On top of helping MHQ thrive, Aida has also been making waves in the community. She has been working with the Frogtown Neighborhood Association to provide resources to young entrepreneurs of color. She recently donated a lawnmower and snowblower to a young Black entrepreneur so they could grow their own landscaping business this summer. Aida also supported a small business owner (woman of color) in purchasing masks so they can be donated to a local day care that is caring for children of first responders.
Mackenzie Kelley – Events Manager
Mackenzie, along with her brother, Charlie, and close friends, started the Memory Mixer eight years ago to honor their mother, Carla Hildebrand, who passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2012 at the age of 60. What started as a small fundraising gathering among family and friends has grown into an elegant evening that 450 guests attended in 2019.
All proceeds from the Memory Mixer go directly to the Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota Chapter.
Dollars spent at the event fuel the Alzheimer’s Association’s mission-related initiatives of care, support, and research. In addition, donors and attendees help to change the level of Alzheimer’s awareness in your community.
The Memory Mixer has raised over $315,000 over 10 years, including having raised $76,000 at this year’s event.
Stephanie Gandy, MA – Supervisor / Executive Administrative Assistant
As the new Vice President of the Minnesota College Professionals Association, Stephanie helps to organize events, support the board president and members, and improve relations with the state college professionals at various colleges and universities.
The University of Minnesota has also selected Stephanie’s artwork on Breonna Taylor and published her personal statement on the impact of the current racial climate on Black women in America.
Dara Rudick, CAE – MHQ CEO
Dara volunteers her time to support Immigrant Justice and combat Food Insecurity in our communities.
She is on the Board for MeetMinneapolis, an organization with a mission to market, sell and maximize the visitor experience of Minneapolis for the economic benefit of our community. She chairs the Diversity and Multicultural Action Committee, and sits on the Nominating and Executive Committees for MeetMinneapolis.
She is also on the Board of AchieveMinneapolis, which runs innovative career and college readiness programs, hosts public education events, and manage Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) funds and awards. She serves on the Governance Committee.
Errol De Jesus – Marketing Coordinator
Errol is a member of Women Who WordPress, a group that helps women bloggers share their stories and run their own businesses. She’s volunteered with WWWP to promote entrepreneurship and help women learn about freelance blogging and web design.
In her spare time, she like to help encourage BIPOC parents to raise their children multilingual. She was a guest speaker on the Sister Only Language Summit (SOLS).
Kent Fordyce – Accountant
Kent is a board member of El Colegio Charter Schools in Minneapolis where he serves on the school’s Finance and Executive Committee.
He’s also a Board Member and Treasurer for the Tonka Alano Society, an AA chapter and independent 501 c-3 nonprofit.
Leslie Johnson, Operations Manager
Leslie has been a Minnesota State Representative for the National Safe Haven Alliance (NSHA) for three years. This organization dedicates resources to raising awareness for providing an alternative to infant abandonment and has led to many babies finding forever homes.
NSHA works to promote the existence of Safe Haven laws across the United States (Minnesota’s law is named “Safe Place for Newborns”). NSHA supports states’ efforts to prevent infanticide and infant abandonment through our crisis response initiative which includes resources for parenting, adoption support and Safe Haven relinquishment.
Jen Newberg – Executive Director
Jen is currently a member of her worship community’s stewardship committee – they not only raise the operational funds to sustain the staff and building, but also raise funds to support immigration, clean energy and many other social justice causes through interfaith partnerships.
She is the Treasurer of a (Boy) Scout Troop and her family has partnered with a CSA farm in Western WI for the last 10 years. For the last 7 years, their home has been a drop-site host. Weekly in the summer months about 20 community members pick up their CSA shares of veggies, cheese, eggs and meat from our garage.
Jen’s family has invested in the Earth’s future by installing solar panels on their house. This was a way she could engage her whole family in efforts to combat climate change. Since their solar panels started generating power in December they have added 2.28 MWH of energy to the grid, the equivalence of 88.81 trees planted or 1 entire 42 gallon barrel of oil.
Jim Murphy – Executive Director
Jim believes that even during these times, it’s important to give back to the community. He’s part of a group called I Run 4 Michael. Runners and walkers get matched with those that can’t run or walk on their own and dedicate our miles to them through posts, pictures. When they race, many send their medals to the person they run for.
Jim has been doing this for 3 ½ years for a young man with autism who was 6 when he started and is now 10 years old. Jim has never met him, but shares experiences with his mother, who in turn shares those experiences with her son.
Jim also supports, Holiday Outreach, an organization that has provided more than 8,000 children with toys and gifts over the years and through work with area food cupboards and soup kitchens, has provided more than 5,000 meals to families in need for Thanksgiving and the December holiday season. He also supports Fairy Godmother Project, an organization with a mission to ease the burden of day to day life for families facing all phases of a pediatric cancer diagnosis.
Michelle Bjerkness – Executive Director
Michelle most recently volunteered at Washburn High School (WHS) in Minneapolis. She helped put together individualized bags of required books for students to pick up for their classes, given they all started the year virtually.
It was a major undertaking for the WHS teachers and staff, as they had to individually compile over 1,600 students’ materials based on each of their unique schedules! Michelle appreciated seeing all the amazing behind the scenes details and planning that our educators put into making the best experience possible for our students.
