Staff & Board
STAFF
Contact Deb.
Deb has spent the last 25 years in nonprofit management in community organizations focused on youth development. Prior to coming to SVP in Dec 2020, Deb served as executive director at Bike Works in Seattle. Read More »
Lea Blackwell Favor, Deputy Director
Contact Lea.
Lea has spent her career working with young people from under-resourced communities and thrives in settings that are youth-centered, culturally-responsive and academically enriching. Read More »
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Our Board is made up of SVP Partners who are actively involved in engaged philanthropy. They are leaders from the Twin Cities who provide organizational leadership and oversight to SVP and they are committed to addressing issues to help under-resourced teens prosper.
Linda Bryant is Executive Director of HOPE 4 Youth and has over three decades of successful experience working with youth, teens and adults in direct service and leadership development. Read More »
Ben Burgum joined SVP in 2013 on the advice of a friend and fell in love with both the engaged community of Partners and the efficient model of making an impact. Read More »
Dionne Gumbs is CEO and Founder of GenEQTY, a digital financial services platform that aims to close the gender gap by providing women and women led enterprises with access to lending and investment products. Read More »
Diane brings over 25 years of leadership experience with Fortune 500 consumer products and retail companies [...] Read More »
Veronica Hawman is Executive Director at Redeemer Center for Life. Through her volunteerism and work, she expresses her passion for making the Twin Cities community safe for all. Read More »
Linda’s passion for collaborating to tackle complex change brought her to SVP. In both professional and volunteer capacities, Linda plays one role consistently: help people envision an ideal future, then think backwards to create the cultural and operational transformation necessary to achieve it. Read More »
Holly Parker graduated from Carleton College with a major in Philosophy. She also graduated from the University of [...] Read More »
Christi Strauss brings almost 30 years of general management experience leading businesses for General Mills around the world. Read More »
Josh Susser has more than 17 years of professional experience in financial services. In 2018, he founded Cascadily LLC, which manages private equity investments for institutional investors. Read More »
Daniela Vasan is an educator committed to social change and inspired by mission focused environments that impact educational outcomes for under-resourced communities. Read More »
Ellen Walthour joined SVP’s Board of Directors in June of 2021. We are thrilled to continue our relationship with [...] Read More »