Robin Steele – Board Chair & Founder
Robin established Cheerful Givers in 1994, has maintained her involvement in the organization and currently is Board chair. Robin has a bachelor’s degree in Non-profit Management, master’s in Human Development and a doctorate in Human Services, with an emphasis on human and spiritual development.  In her spare time, she volunteers with hospice, where she spends time with patients who are in their final days/hours of life.

Claudia Cuddyer put her teaching career on hold to be a stay at home mom and support her husband Michael’s professional baseball career.  She taught high school English for six years in Virginia.  Women’s and children’s charities have become close to Claudia’s heart and, as a member of The Minnesota Twins Wives Organization, has worked with several nonprofits in the Twin Cities area.  She holds a Bachelors Degree in English and a Masters Degree in Education from Virginia Tech.

Karen Kitchel – President
Board Member since 1996, she is currently the full-time President of Cheerful Givers. Karen has 26 years of management experience at BI, a business improvement company where she held the position of Director of the Travel Management, Communications and Gift Departments. She  launched and managed a new corporate university, facilitated leadership training, established a mentoring program and led BI’s community support team. She is currently a mentor in the Kids N’ Kinship program, a Community Outreach Minister at her local food shelf and co-leads the Nonprofit Network in Dakota County.

Julie Richardson – Treasurer
Julie is a manager with the CPA firm of Cornell, Kahler, Shidell & Mair in Shoreview.  She has over 19 years of experience in public accounting and works mainly with small to mid-size organizations, many of which are nonprofit organizations.  Her volunteer experience includes church treasurer, school volunteer and past board member of the Ramsey County Library.  She holds a bachelor degree in English secondary education and accounting.

Shannon Pfarr Thompson – Vice Chair
Shannon is the Director of Client Management at Ewald Consulting in St. Paul, an association management company that works with more than thirty non-profit associations. She holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and has a done a variety of volunteer experiences, including serving as a Big Sister, teaching English as a second language, and special projects at St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis.

Katy Sen – Board Member
Katy is the Director of Research for the Majority Caucus at the Minnesota House of Representatives. Her volunteer experience includes coaching a running program for pre-teen girls, member of the Steering Committee for the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School in Chicago, and working on political campaigns. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Mykl Roventine – Board Member
Mykl is Senior Interactive Designer for Allianz Life in Minneapolis. He’s been designing (both for the web and print) for almost two decades. He also spent several years in nonprofit arts management.

Mike Bollinger – Board Member
Mike is CEO and Founder of Livefront, a web interface design and development firm.  He also serves on the board of directors for the BizLounge Network and is a mentor for the MicroMentor program where he works with traditionally under served entrepreneurs to help them run their businesses.

Sarah Carlson-Wallrath – Board Member
Sarah currently works for the Minnesota House of Representatives Committee on Taxes. She has prior experience working with immigrant populations as a caseworker for a United States Senator and as a legal assistant for a Minneapolis law firm. She has extensive experience working with nonprofits as a volunteer and intern including the American Heart Association, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Woman’s National Democratic Club, and The Advocates for Human Rights. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and her law degree from Hamline University.

Jodi Trost – Board Member
Jodi is the Director of Development for Face to Face Health & Counseling, Service Inc. She has more than 10 years of non-profit fundraising experience in the areas of education, health care, and human services.  Jodi has a B.A. from Hamline University and is a CFRE (certifiied fundraising executive).

Claudia Cuddyer – Board Member
Claudia Cuddyer put her teaching career on hold to be a stay at home mom and support her husband Michael’s professional baseball career.  She taught high school English for six years in Virginia.  Women’s and children’s charities have become close to Claudia’s heart and, as a member of The Minnesota Twins Wives Organization, has worked with several nonprofits in the Twin Cities area.  She holds a Bachelors Degree in English and a Masters Degree in Education from Virginia Tech.