2022-23 Board of Directors
Board Chairs
Sarah Waite Sarah Waite is the Chief People Officer for Second Harvest Heartland. Sarah’s 25+-year career as a talent and human resources leader is defined by a singular dedication to trust-building and an understanding that best practices in people management are only “best” when they uplift an organization’s unique culture, mission and strategy. With deep experience supporting professionals across the Twin Cities and around the globe, Sarah’s work is imbued with her passion for building inclusive teams. During her respective tenures with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, ABRA Auto Body, Target and Medtronic, Sarah drove robust business results and created strong cultures through a steadfast commitment to bringing diverse voices to the table. Sarah authors the blog the Business of Talent and has a daily blog LeadHRShip. Sarah is the current HREF President and long time member. |
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As the Leader of HR for Thrivent’s Commercial Division, Sherrie is responsible for a large workforce across the U.S. footprint. Strategic accountabilities include directing the organizational design, talent, and change management plans to align with an enterprise-wide transformation and growth strategy. In addition to leading an HRBP Team, Sherrie serves as consultative partner to the Chief Commercial Officer and the Senior Leadership Team. Sherrie’s portfolio in human resources runs broad and deep including leadership development, organizational health & culture change, talent management, performance consulting, and employee and labor relations in service-related industries. Sherrie has held HR leadership roles at the University of Minnesota, Comcast/NBC Universal, and SUPERVALU. No matter what the role, her core passion is for optimizing cultures where leaders and employees are enabled and inspired to do their best work. When not working, Sherrie enjoys spending time with her family and is a fan of all things water related – including boats, paddle boards and jet skis along with snowmobiling and winter sports. |
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 Patricia M. Jesperson, MBASecretary Board term expires in 2023 Patricia Jesperson is Chief Curiosity Officer, EmployeeEXP, co-Author of, Reversing the Ostrich Approach to Diversity: Pulling your head out of the sand, and international speaker on the value of integrating the tenets of DEI with key organizational functions. As the curious type, she has spent the majority of her career exploring how to maximize the talent experience. Her drive for exploring “what if’s” enables her to create innovative new learning solutions related to talent attraction, development, and engagement--she particularly values the opportunity to partner with her clients to imagine and explore the possibilities when organizations embrace inclusive practices. Her virtual and in-person presentations include integrating DEI with Leadership practices, Total Rewards, Safety, Project Management and more. She pursues her passion for life-long learning through her faculty position in Augsburg University’s MBA program—a point of personal achievement is receiving the 2022 Distinguished Contribution to Teaching Award in this role.
As the VP of Talent Management for Agiliti, Janis leads the recruiting, training and talent practice areas. Janis is a strategic and execution-focused leader with a proven track record of designing and implementing integrated talent solutions to ensure an organization has the capabilities needed to achieve results and improve engagement. She is intrigued by people, their potential and what gets in the way. With over 25 years of HR experiences, she has led teams and impacted leadership development in a number of different industries including Target, Accenture and Heitman Financial. |
Heidi is currently the SVP/Human Resources Officer for Northmarq, a Pohlad Company, since 2020. In her current role, Heidi is responsible for leading the development and execution of HR strategy, aligned with business priorities. Heidi leads all aspects of the HR function, including talent acquisition and management, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy, HR operations, and the overall employee experience. Heidi is an active member of the local MSP HR community, serving on the Board of HR Executive Forum (HREF) and involved in various HR professional groups. She has a BA in Psychology and MS in Human Resources Development and Training.
Dale Fruehauf, M.S., SPHR Dale is passionate about translating business needs into people solutions, through strategic and operational excellence. He regularly helps others via career coaching (pro bono) and enjoys volunteering in the senior living community.
Kevin brings a practical point of view to his work where academic meets action. In the organizational design sessions he designs and hosts each year, he is always seeking to transfer practical, impactful approaches. In his books, including The New Workplace: Performance Through Virtual and Hybrid Teams and Organization Design Made Easy he similarly writes about how all leaders and teams can adopt these powerful mind sets and tools.
Throughout a career spanning nearly two decades, Angela Christman has been driven by a bigger purpose – taking care of people and providing more fulfilling experiences for the team members she supports. A self-described “non-traditional” HR leader, Angela prioritizes people over policy, constantly imagining new ideas that help people enjoy happier, healthier living. In her most recent role as Senior Director, HR Strategy at Marvin, Angela led teams focused on talent and the team member experience. Prior to joining Marvin, Angela held multiple leadership roles in Human Resources with Walmart, where she helped impact talent and engagement for associates across the business. Angela holds a B.A. in Psychology from Coe College and an M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato. When not working, Angela enjoys reading, traveling with her husband and spoiling her two springer spaniels.
Claire Edmondson For the past 23 years, Claire has coached, trained and consulted with clients in countries all over the world to deliver hundreds of assessments, coaching and customized training programs. She has built her reputation on delivering business insights combined with outstanding service and a heavy dose of humor. She brings her knowledge of people, processes and tools to help solve client challenges quickly. Claire’s background lends her a broad range of corporate industry exposure to draw upon, along with her personal experience as an entrepreneur and executive leader.
Carita is the Vice President, Human Resources at C.H. Robinson leading the areas of Talent Management, Total Rewards, HR Operations, HR Technology, Payroll, and Global Mobility. Additionally, I serve as the Executive Sponsor on our HR Digital transformation journey. I am considered a highly accomplished, strategic Human Resources professional with over 20 years of experience. Formally recognized for leadership, integrity, collaboration and an ability to establish and execute strategies while meeting company business objectives. Sharp business acumen in managing a broad scope of Human Resources functions, including operations, talent management, talent acquisition, performance management, succession planning, total rewards, implementing information/data systems, leadership, and coaching. Passion in designing rewards and recognition programs that align with organizational strategies. Strong ability to partner and collaborate with Executive Team Members, Board Members, and Senior Leaders to reach company goals and targets. Lastly, I serve as a member of the board of directors for Make-A-Wish Minnesota.
Christina Spriggle joined Constellation and its growing portfolio of medical professional liability (MPL) insurance companies in 2015. Prior to joining Constellation, Christina worked in leadership positions at UnitedHealth Group and Express Scripts. With over 25 years of experience working in human resources, Christina brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role as Senior Director, People Team. As the leader of Constellation's people operations, Christina champions the company's talent strategy and philosophy. She and her team partner with leaders across the organization to address and provide solutions to talent and resourcing needs. Christina also guides the company's suite of benefits, manages incentive and compensation plans, coordinates leadership coaching and training opportunities, and more. She enjoys working for Constellation and is inspired by the organization's purpose and vision. In her free time, Christina enjoys reading—particularly non-fiction and historical fiction—and learning about people and events from a variety of different perspectives.
Julie Thiel No matter what her role, you will find Julie helping organizations amplify their current talent and develop the next generation of authentic leaders. She brings her enthusiasm and personal stories to the podium and is a frequent speaker on the topics of authentic leadership and change management. Julie received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in human resources from University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. As an active member of the Ramsey County Workforce Innovation Board, Julie is fully engaged in local workforce development and providing an employer perspective on how to better connect candidates with great opportunities. She was recognized as one of the 2020 Top Women in Business by Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. When not at work, you will find Julie cheering on her daughter, Grace, at a fastpitch softball game or enjoying a long walk with her two labradoodles, Sam & Toby.
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Lori Wall is the SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer of Foremost Farms USA dairy cooperative. She is responsible for developing and executing the company’s human resources and communications strategy to drive and achieve the overall Foremost Farms business objectives and results through investing in people and culture. Prior to Foremost Farms, Wall was Chief Human Resources Officer of Restaurant Technologies, a leading provider of cooking-oil management and cooking oil distribution to more than 24,000 food service operators to make their kitchens safer and more sustainable. In that role, she redesigned and transformed the organizational structure to support 10-15% top- and bottom-line growth and aligned HR strategies to drive operations and sales objectives. Additionally, Wall served as the Business Human Resource Leader and member of the senior leadership team at Cargill for the Starches and Sweeteners business unit, where she was responsible for providing talent management strategy, workforce planning, employee and labor relations and change leadership to enable business-level transformation, coaching and development, and building culture to facilitate achievement of strategic business objectives. Wall’s experience also includes Taylor Corporation, where she held roles of increasing responsibility including Vice President of Human Resources; Chubb Insurance Group as an international property and casualty underwriting leader; and Minnesota State University – Mankato as an adjunct professor of business. Wall earned her MBA focused on leadership, organizational development and finance from the University of St. Thomas – Opus College of Business and her undergraduate – with a double major in marketing and management – from Minnesota State University – Mankato. She holds USC Organizational Design, HCI Workforce Planning and SPHR (senior professional human resources) certifications, a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation and has served as a director on the boards of Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota and Simpson Housing Services. |
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Christina Spriggle
