~ New council will help connect all types of faith based organizations with available resources ~

St. Paul - Governor Tim Pawlenty today named 15 Minnesotans to his new Council on Faith and Community Service Initiatives. The Council will partner with state and local agencies and existing religious and community organizations to ensure that groups have a level playing field to access grants and will encourage greater cooperation to successfully serve those in need. Lee Buckley was named Special Advisor on Faith and Community Service Initiatives by Governor Pawlenty on November 8, 2005.

The Council on Faith and Community Service Initiatives includes leaders who represent the diversity of the State of Minnesota geographically, ethnically, by gender and faith.  Governor Pawlenty recruited leaders from faith, community, foundation, public, private and philanthropic organizations who have the influence and resources to "get things done." 

"Those appointed to serve on this new council have an excellent mix of ability and experience to pioneer this new initiative for the State of Minnesota," Governor Pawlenty said. "I am honored this high-powered group has agreed to serve the state in this capacity."

The Council will provide a single point of contact for organizations, eliminating duplication of effort and streamlining the process. It will convene in January to conduct a thorough current state assessment of:

• educational and training opportunities provided to faith and community organizations related to accessing public and private funds
• existing best practice models and services provided through faith and community organizations through public and private funds
• obvious barriers to existing public and private funding opportunities  

Additionally, the Council is expected to make recommendations on how to level the playing field for faith and community organizations and increase access to public and private funding opportunities.

A number of faith and community organizations, foundations and private entities who currently serve as providers of services or intermediaries for sub-grants have been identified as potential partners with the Minnesota Office on Faith and Community Service Initiatives. Additionally, departments within the State of Minnesota are identifying liaisons to work with the Office to maximize equal access to state funding opportunities to faith and community organizations.

Preliminary efforts are underway to launch the Minnesota Office on Faith and Community Service web-based directory of federal and state resources by the end of March 2006.

Members of the Governor's Council on Faith and Community Service Initiatives appointed today to two year terms include:

Bruce Robbins of Minneapolis is Senior Minister of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, a position he has held since 2004.  From 1990 to 2004, he served as General Secretary and from 1986 to 1990 Associate General Secretary for the General commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns for the United Methodist Church.  He holds leadership positions in the World Council of Churches, was an executive board member for the National Council of Churches of Christ, USA and the World Conference on Religion and Peace. 

Kim Jeffries of Maplewood hosts a daily talk show featuring Christian news and newsmakers heard weekdays on KTIS AM 900 Minneapolis/St. Paul. She hosted and produced "Life Redeemed" on KTIS AM and FM From 2004 to 2005, "WCCO Midday Live" weekdays from 2001 to 2004 and co-hosted a morning show on WCCO Television from 1998 to 2004 after reporting feature stories the prior year. Jeffries is active in lay ministry, leading a weekly Bible study at Washington County Jail through Missionary Evangelism to Corrections and has served at Sandstone Federal Correctional Facility through Charis Ministry.  She established the non-profit organization, "Tell Them I Love Them" Ministry in 2002 as an outreach to people hurt by abortion. 

Nancy Haapoja of Redwood Falls, is the Redwood Falls Youth for Christ Campus Life Director, a position she has held since 1989 where she provides spiritual life guidance for junior and senior high school, and college age students.  She is a charter board member of Redwood Falls Crisis Pregnancy Center and has been Vice President of the Redwood Ministerial Association since 1994.

Megan Doyle of Eden Prairie is co-founder of Hope For The City, a compassion organization that uses corporate surplus in society to help fight poverty, hunger and disease.  She is a founding member of Nehemiah Partners, a ministry to train and equip business people to recognize and answer the call of God on their lives.  Doyle has been published and is a contributing author in a book by Rich Marshall entitled God@Work.  She has also published articles in leading Christian magazines and is a contributing author in the Thomas Nelson "Women's Devotional Bible." 

Elsa Vega-Perez of St. Paul is Senior Program Officer for the Otto Bremer Foundation.  Previously, she worked in nonprofit organizational management, community resource development, served as the Minnesota State Equal Opportunity Director and as Special Assistant to the General Superintendent of Schools for the Chicago Board of Education.  She currently serves as a trustee to the St. Paul Foundation, and a board director to the National Urban Fellows, Inc. and the National Network of Grantmakers. 

Mariam Mohamed of Shoreview has been program officer in Grantmaking for Children and Families for the McKnight Foundation since March 2005.  Previously, she served as executive director of the Somali Parent Teacher Association in Minneapolis since 2002 and instructor at the Owatonna Workforce Development Center.  Mohamed has served on boards of directors for the Greater Minnesota housing fund and the United Way of Owatonna, among others. 

Susan L. Hilgart of Brainerd is Team Leader with a private non-profit employment and training service provider, Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Provider, Inc.  Previously she worked as a human resources professional from 1991 to 2005 in the public and private sector.  She currently serves as chair of the City of Brainerd Police and fire Civil Service Commission, co-chair of the Brainerd Area Job Service Employer Committee and as a member of the children's ministry to the Lakewood Evangelical Free Church. 

Richard H. Coleman of Eagan serves as Chief Operating Officer for Kingdom Oil, a Christian community foundation.  In September of 1979, he was ordained an Itinerant Elder through the African Methodist Episcopal church and has preached nationally and abroad in Nairobi, Mombassa and Kisumu in Kenya, Kigali Rwanda and Port Elizabeth in the Republic of South Africa.  He has served a number of organizations including as  board member and secretary  to Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches;  denominational representative to Minnesota Council of Churches; board member to United Way of Minneapolis, Hennepin County American Cancer Society, TURN and the African American Adoption Agency; Co-chair of the Luis Palau 2004 Twin Cities Festival; Commissioner of Hennepin County African American Men's Project and member of a number of other faith and community organizations. 

Yvonne Cheung Ho of St. Paul is the Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA), a position she has held since 1999.  She began as a director with MEDA in 1993, became vice president of business development and programs in 1995, and served as executive director of the Minnesota Minority Supplier Development Council for MEDA from 1993 to 1997. She is a board member to the Minneapolis Foundation, American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation, Children's Theatre Company, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and North Memorial Health Care. 

Windell "Clint" Calvert of Rochester is the Leadership Development Specialist to Mission Service Corps of the North American Mission Board. He was mission pastor to Emmanuel Baptist Church in Rochester from 1998 to 2004.  From 1988 to 1998, he served as pastor to Baptist Churches in Crandall, Sweetwater and Clyde, Texas.  He worked as development director at the Ability Building Center, Inc. from 1999 to 2003 and for Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLP in Houston Texas from 1995 to 1999. 

G. Paul Beaumaster of Faribault has been Rice County Attorney since 1999.  He is a member of the Faribault Rotary, Faribault and Northfield Chamber of Commerce, board member of the Rice County Historical Society, South Central Technical College Foundation - Faribault, Community Corrections and Womansafe. He serves as a volunteer to Meals-On-Wheels, American Red Cross, and the Minnesota Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. 

Andrew Parker of Minnetonka was founder of Smith Parker, PLLP before establishing the law firm of Parker Rosen. Parker was a co-founder of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and currently serves on the board of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation.  He was a member of Governor Carlson's Task Force reviewing public sector employment contracts and the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation. Parker is a member of the Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park and studies at the Minneapolis Community Kollel (Torah Education Center) where he received the Kollel Visionary Award in 2004.

Patricia L. Peterson of Bloomington is Coordinator for the Minnesota Faith Health Consortium, a position she has held since 2002.  Previously she was vice president of Twin Cities Urban Reconciliation Network (TURN) from 1996 to 2002 and Director of Family Ministries and Program Director for Hope Presbyterian Church from 1977 to 1996.  She currently serves on the board of the American Indian Community Development Corporation, the North Central Health Ministries Network and Wheels to Work.

Krishna M. Saxena of St. Paul is a retired associate professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Family Practice at the University of Minnesota and served as Director of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Children's Hospital of St. Paul.  Previously, he was Director and Associate Director of Medical Education at Children's Hospital of St. Paul Children's Hospital; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota; Chairman of Pediatrics at Irwin Hospital and Associate Professor at Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, India; pediatrician and lecturer in pediatrics at King George's Medical College in Lucknow, India; and medical officer for Provincial Medical Services in Bhowall, U.P., India.

Richard Ober of Dellwood is currently the vice president of operations at the Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities after serving as their director of development from 1993 to 2005.  For thirteen years prior to joining Union Gospel Mission, Ober was employed by Seagate Technology, Inc.   He is a member of the board of the Mardag Foundation and the Management Improvement Fund Advisory Committee for the St. Paul Foundation and was a member of the board for the Union Gospel Mission from 1989 to 1992.