Session Details
Join us for this panel discussion, featuring women in senior leadership roles discussing the opportunities and challenges of attaining leadership in nonprofits. This panel will share their successes and hurdles in navigating to their current role and career in the nonprofit sector. Powerful, inspiring, and honest, these women navigated the path to the top and offer advice for other women looking to continue to advance in their nonprofit careers. Learn about their successes along the way and the challenges they overcame.
Agenda
8:30am - 8:45am: In-Person Registration Opens
8:30am - 8:45am: Networking Time for In-Person Attendees
8:45am: Session Begins (Virtual Attendees Log On Using Zoom Link)
10:00am: Session Concludes
Panelists
Irma Márquez Trapero is the Executive Director of LatinoLEAD, a nonprofit organization of Latinx leaders across all sectors who join together to create innovative strategies to drive and define policies and perceptions that advance Latinx collective influence, success, and power. Irma is an immigrant from Culiacán, México. At the age of nine, her family emigrated to St. James, a small rural farm town in Southern Minnesota. She is a proud DREAMer and former Deferred Action (DACA) recipient. She’s passionate about the advancement of Latinx in the state of Minnesota and believes in the opportunity that Minnesota has to ensure this continues to be a great home for the Latinx community.
Irma has over 10 years of experience serving in the areas of community organizing, policy and political campaign work, immigration and employment law, nonprofit, and education. Irma holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Gustavus Adolphus College. She was also a 2015-2016 University of Minnesota's Humphrey Policy Fellow Alum and serves as a member of Make It. MSP Leadership Council, an initiative to have our region become a Top 10 metro at attracting and retaining talent, especially people of color. Most recently, she was accepted as a 2022 participant into Harvard Business School's Young American Leaders Program.
She enjoys musicals, being with family, and exploring new places with friends. Her happy place is throwing down in the kitchen and you will likely find her exercising and biking outdoors in the summer.
LeeAnn Rasachak serves as CEO of WomenVenture, a non-profit organization, economic development agency, and certified community development financial institution (CDFI). Throughout her career, LeeAnn has focused on brand, digital, and enterprise transformations within Fortune 1000 companies while also leading multicultural and diversity employee resource groups and taskforces. LeeAnn is known for driving policy and cultural change to create opportunities for women and people of color in the workplace. She is highly passionate about WomenVenture and its long-term positive impact on the community. Supporting women business owners thrive and solving for better outcomes in childcare is deeply important to LeeAnn. In recent years, LeeAnn completed a Diversity & Inclusion certification through Cornell University and earned her MBA at Hamline University. She is also a graduate of the University of St. Thomas, where she earned degrees in Mass Communications & Journalism - Public Relations and General Business Management.
Shereese Turner has a strong history of supporting and advocating for people of color and underrepresented communities. Shereese is a widely respected leader who has led Twin Cities Habitat’s Programs and Services team since 2018. Before joining Habitat, she was Director of Programs and Operations at Twin Cities R!SE for 11 years, and Director of Reentry Connect.
Shereese is also a co-founder of the Stop the Violence Bring the Unity Movement, serves as the Chair of Haven Housing board and NAREB Twin Cities- National Association of Real Estate Brokers. She is also the Co-chair of Community Well-Being Pillar and a Steering Committee member of MBCRE (MN Business Coalition on Racial Equity). She has a degree in Public/Non-Profit Management from Metropolitan State University and a Master’s in Health and Human Services from St. Mary’s University. Shereese is married with three adult children and resides in the Twin Cities.
Moderator
Mala Thao, as the Associate Vice President of Major Gifts, Mala helps donors become smarter philanthropists and strengthens Greater Twin Cities United Way’s mission to advocate for social good and develop solutions to address the challenges communities face.
Mala started her career in philanthropy more than 20 years ago with Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and gained additional fundraising experience in various nonprofits and foundations, such as Washburn Center for Children, Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Indian Land Tenure Foundation and American Red Cross. Prior to joining GTCUW, Mala was a philanthropic advisor at Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation for 10 years.
Mala grew up on St. Paul’s Eastside and now calls the city’s Frogtown neighborhood home. She is a fierce advocate for social justice and has volunteered on boards and committees, such as Headwaters Foundation for Justice and Facilitating Race & Equity Conference (FREC). Mala has been appointed by the Mayor of St. Paul to serve as Commissioner of the Human Rights & Equal Economic Opportunity (HREEO) and has also been appointed by the Metropolitan Council to serve on the Livable Communities Advisory Committee (LCAC). When Mala is not working or fighting for social justice, she spends her time as a foodie.
Registration Details
This months Education Session is being planned as a hybrid event at the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and virtually via Zoom. To be accessible to each member of our fundraising community, we’re offering you the option to pay-what-you-can. Your payment helps us honor our speakers time and expertise with a stipend and cover the costs of technology and technical support for promotion, registration, and the session. The average cost per person is about $30. If you would like to assist with covering the cost of the session for another individual, you can enter your payment under the donation section.