Interim CEO

News Release

Fr: Susan Buckles, APR

Northwest Area Foundation
60 Plato Boulevard East

St. Paul, MN 55107

651-225-3865

For Immediate Release

Northwest Area Foundation Board of Directors announces three key appointments: Kari Schlachtenhaufen is interim CEO, Daniel Kemmis is the Chair of the Board and Dorothy Bridges is Vice Chair.

St. Paul, Minn., July 13, 2007: The Northwest Area Foundation board of directors today appointed Kari Schlachtenhaufen, a past president of the Skillman Foundation, as interim president and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation. The board is initiating a national search for a permanent replacement for outgoing President and CEO Karl Stauber, who is leaving to head the Danville Regional Foundation in Danville, Virginia.

Most recently vice president of corporate affairs at United Health Group – Ovations, in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Schlachtenhaufen has 25 years experience in the nonprofit sector, 18 of which were with the Skillman Foundation of Detroit. She joined Skillman as a program officer, served as vice president of programs, as COO and interim president, and as president and CEO from 2000 to 2004. She has had a leadership role on many nonprofit boards.

Schlachtenhaufen holds a law degree from the University of Oregon, and a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

She and her husband reside in Edina, Minnesota.

The board also appointed Daniel Kemmis of Missoula, Montana today as chair of the Foundation’s board of directors and Dorothy Bridges of Minneapolis, Minnesota, as vice chair of the 13-member governing body.

“I am honored to serve in this capacity at this time,” said Kemmis. “It was nearly a decade ago that this foundation adopted a highly focused mission – to help communities reduce poverty. Today, we are at a point where we can begin to evaluate the impact of this deep, and very challenging approach,” said Kemmis. “Our board is also undertaking a national search for a new president and CEO, as well as revising our strategic plan to help us better achieve our mission,” he said.

A graduate of Harvard University, Kemmis is a former Minority Leader and Speaker of the Montana State House of Representatives, and former Mayor of Missoula. He currently is a senior fellow at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, a regional studies and public policy institute at The University of Montana.

Dorothy Bridges is president and CEO of Franklin National Bank in Minneapolis, one of only a few African American women to head a banking institution. Widely recognized for her civic and professional impact, Bridges has served with many nonprofits, including as a director of the Milestone Growth Fund, Inc., on the Loan Advisory Committee of the Twin Cities Local Initiative Support Corp, and as a trustee and investment committee member of The Minneapolis Foundation.

Three new board members were elected today: Natalie Camacho Mendoza, Idaho; Sally Pederson, Iowa; and Sarah Vogel, North Dakota. The other board members are: Father Kevin McDonough, Minnesota: Louis Fors Hill, Minnesota; Dorothy Bridges, Minnesota; Elouise Cobell, Montana; Patricia Jensen, Minnesota; Sandra Vargas, Minnesota; Elsie Meeks, South Dakota; and William Thorndike, Jr., Oregon.

The Northwest Area Foundation’s mission is to help communities reduce poverty long term. The Foundation works on strategic efforts with a small number of rural, urban, and American Indian reservation communities, and the organizations supporting these efforts, in its eight-state region: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill established the foundation.

Since 1999, the Foundation has invested approximately $193 million in community-based poverty-reduction programs. It expects to invest an additional $75 million within the next two years, at which time it will have completed its first 10 years of operation under a community-based program model. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests. For additional information, visit www.nwaf.org, or call 651-224-9635. -End-