Our Board & Team

Ken is a Finance Director for Corporate Services within UnitedHealth Group. He governs the P&L for UHG’s Real Estate, Procurement, and Risk departments, with operations and internal stakeholders located around the world.

Ken has over 20 years of experience in traditional FP&A support and I.T. project management. He has had success in growth-oriented, process improvement situations that called for establishing financial operations, department recovery, and/or M&A integrations.

Ken currently resides in Burnsville, MN with his wife and two children. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance & Accounting from Bethel University in St. Paul and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management. Ken enjoys cycling, traveling, attending his son’s baseball games and nights spent gaming with his friends.

Katie Berggren is a Total Rewards Manager for Digi-Key Electronics. In her role with Digi-Key, she serves as their benefits leader to design and an industry leading employee benefits program that attracts and retains top talent in the global technology distributions industry.  She has a record of success in project management, strategic employee benefit plan design, process improvement, and fundraising.

Katie is an active member of her community and is the current treasurer for the MV Girls Hockey Club. She is also a proud alumna of St. Catherine University, where she earned a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Marketing, Management and Finance, and Augsburg University where she earned a Master of Business Administration.

John currently oversees the payroll department at Land O’Lakes focusing on mergers and acquisitions, global payroll, compliance, and process improvement. Prior to Land O’Lakes, John has had roles of increasing responsibility at G&K Services, Ceridian, and Travelers Insurance. Before starting his career in payroll, John was a high school math teacher. He has his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics Education from the University of Kansas. John currently resides in Cottage Grove with his wife and two children.

Eric has 22 years’ experience in the financial services industry, most recently at Ameriprise administering an Oracle Service Cloud deployment. Prior to joining the MCFS Board, Eric served for as the Board Treasurer for East Side Neighborhood Development Company. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Minnesota and he has an MBA from the Carlson School of Management. Eric lives in Saint Paul with his wife and two children.

Bryan is a marketing expert who partners with business executives to grow their business and improve operations. After spending 15 years working in product development and marketing for a Fortune 500 company, Bryan knows how to work effectively across multiple groups and regions to develop strategic business plans that solve customer challenges, grow the business and drive operational efficiencies.

Currently, Bryan leads the Institutional Latin America marketing team reporting to the Latin America General Manager. In this role, Bryan is responsible for leading the development and execution of the strategic business plan, partnering with the leadership team to drive business growth initiatives designed to achieve goals in revenue and profit.

Prior to this role, Bryan spent time in multiple Global and North America marketing roles focused on strategic planning and development, business P&L management, product development and talent development.

Bryan holds a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.

Bryan and his wife, Sarah, have a young son named Sawyer, a young daughter named Parker, and a miniature Golden Doodle, Daisy. In his free time, Bryan enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, reading, exercising and playing recreational sports.

Christine Jackson is a Sr. Director in the Global Health Policy, Reimbursement, and Health Economics Department at Medtronic. In this role, Christine works to shape federal health policy for Medtronic devices, therapies, and services, with a specific focus on leading the policy analysis and development for value-based health care initiatives. In addition, Christine serves as a corporate liaison to the Latin American Reimbursement Leadership Council, providing coordination and guidance to the team in Latin America as part of the reimbursement function’s global strategy.

Christine joined Medtronic in August 1997 and has served in various health policy and reimbursement roles throughout her years with the company, including roles in the Neuromodulation and Cardiac Rhythm Heart Failure businesses. Christine has experience in strategic reimbursement planning, health policy and advocacy, reimbursement training and education, and clinical study reimbursement. Christine started her career with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota.

Christine graduated from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and is a graduate of Mitchell Hamline School of Law (formerly William Mitchell College of Law) in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she received her Juris Doctor in the spring of 2016. In October 2016, she was admitted to the bar and is now a licensed attorney in the state of Minnesota.

Nohal Mechelke is the Chief Growth Officer and a Managing Partner of ExperienceIT, a solution-based consulting firm focusing on digital transformation here in the Twin Cities.  He has over 17 years’ experience in business and IT working for Fortune 1000 companies in several industries including health care, retail, manufacturing, agriculture and financial services.  His areas of expertise are business/IT strategy, process improvement, transformation, business development, operations, revenue growth and executive-level leadership.  His passion lies in building successful teams through mentorship and collaboration with respect to maintaining existing cultures.

Nohal is a graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and currently resides in Elk River, MN with his wife and two children.  In his free time, he enjoys golfing, traveling, cooking, watching his kids’ events and enjoying time with his family and friends.  Nohal is an authentic and humble philanthropic leader who strives to make positive impact across all aspects of lives he touches.

Kade Medd, Strategic Growth Manager at Benchmark Digital Partners LLC (renamed from Gensuite LLC on 1-Jan-2021), has over a decade of experience and leadership in the technology sector and digital solution field, with roles as a Workforce Development Manager establishing partnerships to provide technology-based trainings and internships; and as Marketing Director for a Fintech software solutions firm specializing in capital markets. In his current role at Benchmark Digital, he partners with cross-functional teams to leverage advanced technologies and deliver best-in-class ESG solutions to Benchmark’s subscriber community.

In 2008, Kade received his B.A. in Sociology from Augsburg University (Minnesota) with emphasis in Structure of Organizations, Crime & Deviance, and Studio Art & Design. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Presidential Service Award for his two-year service in AmeriCorps where he held various roles including Safety Officer and provided aid to the Red Cross, Anchorage Boys and Girls Club, Kids Against Hunger and many educational programs around the country. In 2018, he graduated from St. Lawrence College (Ontario, Canada) with a Marketing & Communications Certificate.

Today, Benchmark ESGTM | Gensuite® supports 260+ subscriber companies globally of its cloud-based, best-practices-driven Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) digital business transformation software solutions for operational risk and compliance, sustainability/ESG reporting, and product stewardship. Together, these solutions enable global Benchmark ESGTM | Gensuite® users to foster safe, sustainable work environments and high-performance functional programs worldwide. With best-in-class Mobile capabilities, multi-lingual interfaces, and integrated analytics, Benchmark ESGTM | Gensuite® serves over 1.5 million users in 30+ industry sectors and 120+ countries, supported by a global team located in 11 offices and 9 countries, and headquartered in Mason, OH, USA.

Kristen is currently the Education Director at the Minnesota Department of Corrections – Shakopee Women’s Prison. There, she supervises and coordinates academic and career technical education, library and the law library, and other educational programming in accordance with established administrative philosophy. She also manages the DOC Education Unit mission, vision and strategic plan to insure adequate, updated and pertinent options are available for – and will meet the education needs of – the incarcerated individuals within their custody.

Kristen’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a double major in Psychology and English from Gustavus Adolphus College, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Minnesota School of Business and a Doctor of Education – Higher Education and Adult Learning degree from Walden University.

Bill Richard was most recently the Global Head of IT Operations Service Delivery with MoneyGram. Prior to MoneyGram he served as Director of Information Technology at UnitedHealth Group and was responsible for Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence in the areas of Development and Operational support. Preceding this, he served as Sr. Manager of Information Technology at UnitedHealth Group and was responsible for the Mergers and Acquisition Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence areas from December 2007 to 2012. From 2002 to 2007 Mr. Richard served as Managing Partner at Creative Storage Solutions, a custom closet and wine cellar distributor. From 1996 to 2001 Mr. Richard also held a variety of information Technology positions at HealthPartners. From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Richard served as a Director of the Boys and Girls Club of St. Paul.

Mr. Richard serves on the Habitat for Humanity board of Directors for St Croix Valley. He is the board chair and a member of the executive committee and the former treasurer. He recently led the Search Committee for the selection of a new Executive Director at SCVHFH. Prior to SCVHFH, Bill was a member for the MSHA Minnesota Saddlebred Horse Association Board of Directors additionally, he has served on the product advisory Board of Directors at Rockler Woodworking and Hardware.

Mr. Richard holds a Master of Art degree in Organizational Leadership from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, CPM certified project management from the University of St. Thomas and a Bachelors in Education and minor in Computer Science from St. Cloud State University.

He and his wife, Karen, recently relocated to Lake Elmo, MN and have two adult sons: Patrick, who is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota; and Tucker, who is attending the University of Minnesota.

Clive is an experienced general manager, executive, and entrepreneur. Currently, Clive is the Senior Business Director for the 100/200/400 Series businesses at Andersen Corporation (Andersen Windows & Doors). In this role, he has Profit and Loss responsibility for 3 large product businesses. Prior to his current role, Clive was co-founder and Principal of a food distribution holding company that had 300 retail outlets in 5 countries. Previously, he has led finance, strategy, marketing, and sales functions in the construction industry, food sector, and for an advisory firm, on three continents.

Clive has been active in the communities where he has lived, particularly in education, serving on advisory boards for schools and most recently on the board for an early childhood development school – Morning Glory Montessori, in Minneapolis.

Clive holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.  He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Peter is a Senior Manager with Grant Thornton LLP (GT), a global audit, tax, and advisory firm with its US entity headquartered in Chicago, IL. He is currently part of GT’s Transformation Advisory group and Technology Strategy team. Prior to joining this role, Peter had been an independent consultant, a Partner at a boutique consultancy, and spent over a decade with Accenture’s technology strategy practice in both Germany and the US. His areas of expertise are business and IT strategy, enterprise architecture, as well as project and change management. Peter has served clients in various industries with a special focus on Financial Services and Consumer Products. He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science for Business Administration from the Technical University of Chemnitz, Germany. Peter lives in Woodbury with his wife and three children. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, cooking, and having game nights with family and friends.