Amy Arcand

Amy Arcand is the Executive Director of the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization in south Minneapolis. She is running for the 9th Ward Minneapolis City Council seat in the 2009 election cycle. Her daughter, Piper, was born in June 2008.

 

Rebecca Burch

Rebecca Burch works in Washington, DC as a policy analyst for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, working on advancing proactive public policy to expand access to reproductive health care. Her issue area focuses on state health care delivery and services.

 

 

Jen Cornell

Jen Cornell recently retired from the Minneapolis Fire Department at the rank of Battalion Chief after 15 years of service. She now teaches the management and administration class for fire chiefs at Hennepin Technical College and is attending law school at the University of Minnesota. She is particularly interested in practicing Employment Law after graduation.

 

Sarah Doire

Sarah was a summer research intern at the Center for Women Policy Studies, a multiethnic feminist organization in Washington, D.C. Sarah's primary project was to develop a survey for an impact evaluation of a national women's volunteer organization. After graduating from the Humphrey School, Sarah accepted a full-time policy associate position at the center, researching the sexual trafficking of women and girls and efforts to combat such trafficking.

 

Tressa Feher

Tressa Feher is the Director of Leadership Network at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute; the nation's leading organization that identifies trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials. She is responsible for creating and managing professional development and political programs for LGBT candidates, as well as elected and appointed officials.

 

Vinita Jethwani

Vinita Jethwani is a Research Administrative Manager at the Guttmacher Institute in New York City. The Guttmacher Institute advances sexual and reproductive health worldwide through an interrelated program of social science research, public education and policy analysis.

 

 

Emari Dimagiba Lavine

Emari worked for the Center for Policy Alternatives in DC between her first and second years at the Humphrey. She worked on Women's Voices, a national bipartisan survey of women's economic concerns, in which she coordinated partnerships with five states to conduct corresponding state-specific polls. She also participated in grant writing, and attended a planning session with women state legislators in Michigan.

Upon graduating from the Humphrey School, Emari accepted a position at the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting where she applied her expertise in the policy areas of comprehensive sexuality education, adolescent reproductive health care, and youth development. Emari now works for the Minnesota Department of Health in assisting community organizing efforts to coordinate statewide media for two government-funded teen pregnancy prevention initiatives.

 

Katie Peacock

Katie Peacock lives in Minneapolis and works on civic engagement initiatives and community involvement at the University of Minnesota. She currently serves on the board of One Yoga and recently ended her term on the board of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. She is also involved in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, particularly around issues of safety.

 

 

Melissa Schmisek

Melissa interned for the Program Against Sexual Violence (PASV; now the Aurora Center for Advocacy & Education) at the University of Minnesota, which provides 24-hour crisis advocacy for victims of sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking. As an intern, Melissa developed a client intake form for PASV and studied client case files to compile data on client demographics, types of services received, and length of time clients spent with PASV.

After completing her degree, Melissa started to work as the legal advocate and direct services coordinator for PASV, and she supervised sexual violence advocates and led training sessions. She also wrote restraining orders for clients.

Sarah Taylor Nanista

Sarah Taylor-Nanista is the Executive Director of womenwinning, a Minneapolis-based organization organizations dedicated to leveling the playing field between men and women seeking elected office. Prior to joining womenwinning, Sarah served as Director of the StreetWorks Collaborative where she led a collaboration of ten nonprofit, youth-serving member agencies in the Twin Cities. In 2005, she served as acting director of the Humphrey School’s Center on Women and Public Policy, where she planned and implemented training for prospective women candidates, and in 2006 she received her master’s in public policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Sarah also earned a master’s in social work from the University of Minnesota with a concentration in community organizing and advocacy.

 

Jessica Webster

Jessica Webster is a full-time lobbyist for Legal Aid. She represents low-income Minnesota families at the Legislature regarding welfare, hunger, and unemployment issues. She also advocates for clients with Minnesota's state agencies. Jessica is working toward a J.D. at William Mitchell (expected 2010). She also serves on the board of directors of the Minnesota Environmental Fund.

 

CWPP Alum: Please add your information! Send to dfitzpatrick@umn.edu