Staff Bios
Joellen Gonder-Spacek is the founding executive director of the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota (MPM). Since 1994, she has led the strategic direction of one of the original mentoring partnerships in the United States. Gonder-Spacek has provided leadership to the mentoring movement and brought together a multitude of community leaders around the issue of more mentoring for children, youth, and families in Minnesota. Recognized as national leaders, Gonder-Spacek and her staff, board of directors, and volunteers have recruited 44,000 thousand mentors, generated over $4 million dollars, provided training to over 5,000 mentors and 300 mentor organizations, assembled mentor networks for 400 mentor programs, and developed an award-winning multi-media public education to action campaign. Gonder-Spacek has twenty years of experience in resource development, community mobilization, partnership development, strategic planning, marketing communications, and social entrepreneurism. Gonder-Spacek has a degree in organizational communications from Creighton University and has completed master’s level work in business communication at the University of St. Thomas. This year she was chosen to receive a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship, which has given her the opportunity to pursue a master's degree at the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute in public affairs and non-profit leadership. She currently mentors as a basketball coach.
Polly Roach leads the delivery of services to support youth-adult mentoring programs around the state, providing resources and technical assistance to strengthen their efforts to reach all youth in need of caring adult mentors. Before joining MPM in 2004, Roach directed a one-to-one mentoring program for girls at the YWCA of St. Paul for over 16 years. In that capacity, she was a founding member of the Metro Mentor Network and one of the first recipients of the Angel of Mentoring Awards. Roach received a master of social work degree from the University of Minnesota, focusing on services to children and families. She is actively involved in initiatives that promote meaningful youth-adult partnerships and advocacy for girls developmental needs. She is currently mentoring in the Longfellow United for Youth & Families-FUNdamentals tutoring program.
In her role with MPM, Mai-Anh Kapanke oversees all aspects of marketing communications and has helped launch public policy efforts around youth mentoring. Kapanke most recently worked for the YMCA Mentor Duluth program. In that capacity, she managed all public relations and marketing efforts and co-directed the Mentor Duluth program, the largest mentor program in Northeastern Minnesota. Kapanke graduated from Michigan State University with a journalism degree. She has worked in television news as a news reporter and weather anchor for six years prior to her work in the mentoring arena. She has served as a mentor with both Mentor Duluth and Kids 'n Kinship.
April Riordan manages MPM’s Training Institute, which offers technical assistance, consultation, resources and training support to help start, maintain and sustain quality mentoring initiatives, and to prepare both mentors and mentees to make the most of their mentoring relationships. Riordan is an experienced trainer and presenter, having delivered training and presentations for many organizations before joining the Mentoring Partnership. She also developed and managed two unique and award-winning mentoring programs while working in the fields of youth development and camping. She has also volunteered as a mentor for many years, building relationships with young people through Best Buddies, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, the St. Paul Jewish Community Center and Bolder Options of Minneapolis. Riordan has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Hamline University.
Mindy
Twetten first became involved with MPM in August 2009 as an AmeriCorps
member serving the Marketing & Communications department. In August
2010, she completed her AmeriCorps term and became MPM's Marketing
Coordinator. She works with the VP of Marketing & Public Policy to coordinate MPM's
marketing communications, delivers marketing benefits to stakeholders,
and supports the Quality Initiative for mentoring programs. Prior to
coming to MPM, she graduated with honors from Iowa State University with
a Bachelor of Science in marketing and advertising. She has worked in
marketing capacities in the higher education, hospitality, small
business, and retail industries. Twetten has coached youth volleyball
and is currently an e-mentor.
Brad Jacobson came to MPM in fall 2008 with over a decade of work and experience in the nonprofit world of academics and the arts. His previous tenures include time at William Mitchell College of Law and most recently as Programs and Event Planner for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where he was responsible for designing and managing large-scale meetings, private events and exhibition openings. Jacobson has served in a mentoring role in his work with the GLCAC (now
Out Front Minnesota) and Como Park High School’s Health Start Clinic,
which focused on the unique needs of today’s GLBT youth. Jacobson graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1998 and is currently pursuing a degree in Graphic Design and Visual
Communications at Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
Alicia Freeman is MPM's AmeriCorps Promise Fellow for 2010-2011. As this year’s Promise Fellow, she will work to create and maintain partnerships with school and community mentoring programs by providing technical support and resources, assisting with the development and delivery of training resources through MPM’s Training Institute, collaborating on MPM’s quality mentoring initiative, and supporting youth engagement through MPM’s Executive Youth Board. Prior to coming to MPM, Freeman graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Sociology. She has worked with youth for the past five years by coaching high school basketball and has helped raise money for Juvenile Arthritis through her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi.
Courtney Erickson is MPM’s True North AmeriCorps Technical Assistance & Training Specialist for 2010-2011. She will work to create and maintain partnerships with Greater Minnesota mentoring programs by providing technical support and resources, assisting with the development and delivery of training resources through MPM’s Training Institute, collaborating on MPM’s quality mentoring initiative, and supporting regional networking opportunities for mentoring program staff. Erickson recently graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. She is also the head debate coach at Lakeville North Senior High School and volunteers as a youth group leader at Eagle Brook Church.