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Achieve Services, Inc.
Board of Directors – 2010
 Mike Bisbing
Mike has been employed by the Anoka-Hennepin school
district since February of 1992 and currently serves in the capacity of
Vocational Coordinator. He lives in
Vadnais Heights with his wife, Diane, and two children, Jordan and Mikayla.
His hobbies include anything having to do with the outdoors especially
hunting, fishing and dog training. Mike enjoys reading and spending
time with his family at their cabin in northern Minnesota.
 John Sprague
John’s career, for the past 30 years, has been in
public sector human resources. Currently, John works with Anoka County as
the Assistant Director of Human Resources. John is a proud parent of two,
one of which is a 12 year old with disabilities. He feels having a child
with disabilities has provided him with many opportunities to gain
experience in learning how to advocate for a disabled person’s medical,
educational and social needs. John is interested in using computer-assisted
technology in helping individuals with disabilities to become more
independent.
John enjoys gardening, landscaping, reading, and home
improvement projects and resides in Big Lake with his family.
 Natalie Steffen
- Chair
Natalie is a former Anoka County Commissioner and former
Commissioner of the Department of Human Services. She currently is on the Metro
Council. She resides in Ramsey.
 Mara Staiger
Mara works at Minnesota Life. She graduated from the
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire with a B.A. in German and Spanish. Mara
is a sibling of a woman with developmental disabilities and has been a
member of Arc for over 34 years. She enjoys international travel and going
to the gym.
 Barbara
Nellessen - Vice Chair
Barbara is the Senior
Vice President/Market
Leader for Village Bank in
Anoka - Ramsey. She started working
for Village Bank in
2000. Barbara was born
and raised in Germany and now resides with her family in New Brighton.
 Susan Holden
- Secretary
Susan M. Holden, a partner in the law firm
of Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum & Carey, LTD, has distinguished herself
representing injured people. She focuses her practice in the areas of wrongful
death, catastrophic injury, product liability, dram shop liability, construction
site and automobile accident insurance litigation.
Susan served as President of the Minnesota
State Bar Association in 2005-2006. She was given the Presidents Award by the
Minnesota State Bar Association in 2008 for outstanding service to the
association and the profession. In 2006 she received the Member of the Year
award from the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association for outstanding service and
tireless efforts on behalf of the Association. She has served on various boards
including the Board of Governors of the Minnesota Association for Justice, the
Advisory Board of the Minnesota Women Lawyers,
and the Board of Directors of
Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, the Hennepin County Bar Association and
Lakeland Public Television
She was recently appointed by the
Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice to chair the Special Master Panel that
administers compensation for survivors of the I-35W bridge collapse from the
Minnesota Compensation Fund allocated in 2008.
She is a frequent author
and lecturer on such topics as trial practice, substantive law, and ethical
leadership in the profession and a respected leader in her field.
 Heidi Nelson
- Treasurer
Mrs.
Nelson currently serves as the
Assistant City Administrator for the City of Ramsey. She holds a masters degree
in Public Administration from Hamline University, in St. Paul MN. She is an
active Rotary member, serving as Ramsey Rotary president in 2007-2008. Mrs.
Nelson also is a small business owner with husband, Rob and a proud mother of
three little girls.
Kathy Svanda
Kathy worked for the State of Minnesota for over 30 years in the environmental
field at the Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Health. She is
retired and enjoys outdoor activities, especially fly fishing and skiing. The
Svanda's daughter, Kristina, has participated in Achieve programs since 1979 and
currently works at the Anoka County Government Center.
Jill Ide
Jill Ide is an attorney with Weikel
Law Firm, LLC in Ramsey. She practices in the areas of family law, estate
planning, and probate. Jill received her B.A. in Criminal Justice from the
University of St. Thomas and her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.
Jill enjoys reading, golf, and skiing.
 Tom
Botzet
Tom is a participant in the Achieve
Services program and is the participant representative on the Achieve Board of
Directors. He currently works on-site at Achieve Services as well as working for
Anoka County in a clerical position two days per week. Tom’s hobbies include
cars, trucks, vans - anything automotive and preferably anything with a “Ford”
logo on it. He resides in Columbia Heights with his family.
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