Two Exciting Transitions at The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota
Dec 4, 2014
The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota (MPM) is excited to announce not one, but two exciting transitions. After 20 years of service as MPM’s founding Executive Director, Joellen Gonder-Spacek will be providing leadership to the mentoring field on the national level. Starting January 1, 2015, Joellen will serve as the Senior Director of Partnerships for MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership. MENTOR currently serves 26 Mentoring Partnership affiliates across the country. In Joellen’s new role, she will lend her expertise to support the growth of existing Mentoring Partnership organizations and lead the expansion of new statewide Mentoring Partnership initiatives. With 30 years of combined experience in nonprofit management and fundraising with the United Way of Minneapolis and the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota, Joellen’s expertise will be extremely valuable to ensure that support systems on the statewide level are available to mentoring programs across the country.
“Over Joellen Gonder-Spacek’s tenure, she and her team have built The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota into an innovative leader locally and within in our national network,” said MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership CEO David Shapiro. “We are thrilled that she is bringing her talent and experience to our national office where she will undoubtedly be successful in supporting, strengthening, and collaborating with our network of affiliate Mentoring Partnerships. And, we know the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota will continue to thrive under the leadership of Mai-Anh Kapanke who has been such a key leader at the organization and in the community.”
The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota’s Board of Directors is also excited to announce that MPM Associate Director, Mai-Anh Kapanke, has been selected to serve as the organization’s new executive director effective January 1, 2015. Mai-Anh has been with the organization for nine years and served as the VP of Marketing and Public Policy in 2006 and was promoted to associate director in 2010. “We believe Mai-Anh is a dynamic leader who has a great vision for the organization,” said MPM’s Chairman of the Board Mike Shogren. “Her work alongside Joellen has prepared her to be our new executive director, and we are very excited to have her lead us into a new decade of services for the mentoring field.” Mai-Anh has more than 17 years of combined experience in broadcast news, direct-service youth mentoring programming, marketing, public policy, grant writing and nonprofit management.
“I am truly humbled to have the support of the Board of Directors, Joellen and the entire MPM team to lead the organization through a new strategic plan that focuses on ensuring that Minnesota’s mentoring programs receive the support they need to provide high-quality mentoring experiences for youth and volunteers,” said MPM Associate Director Mai-Anh Kapanke. “From the time my family immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in 1975 to well into my adulthood, I’ve experienced the power of mentoring and intend to “Pay It Forward” in all I do.”
