Navigating Conflict: Planned Parenthood's Strategy in South Dakota

Sarah Stoesz

Sarah Stoesz has been president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota since June 2001. Her career has included time in senior management at Allina Health Syste, serving on the staff of US Senator Paul Wellston, and as assistant commissioner for Research and Public Affairs at the Minnesota Department of Jobs and Training during the administration of Governor Rudy Perpich. She began her professional life as an organizer with Local 17 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union in Minneapolis. A veteran of many political campaigns, Sarah also worked as a political analyst for Minnesota Public Radio and TPT (channel 2); and was an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University where she taught both Women in Politics and U.S. Public Policy. Sarah holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from The Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, where she also earned a B.A. She recently ended a 6-year rotation on the board of directors for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, where she served as board Chair. She currently sits on the Board of the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis; is on the Advisory Board of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs; and the Advisory Board of Wellstone Action, and is active in many other community activities.