Laura Boisen is an associate professor in the social work department at Augsburg College.  She has taught at Augsburg the past 10 years.  Prior to teaching at Augsburg, Laura pursued her Ph.D. from the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota.  During her doctoral studies, she was a research assistant in the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.
Before entering the doctoral program, Laura practiced for 14 years in a children's hospital and in a child protection center in Iowa.

Laura has a social work and psychology undergraduate degree from Wartburg College, an M.S.S.W. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a M.P.A. from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Anne is in independent practice, working with children, adolescents and adults.  She teaches child development and clinical practice on graduate and post graduate levels.  She also consults with community agencies, and has research interests in children and adolescents who present with serious aggressive and disruptive behaviors.  Currently, Anne is part of the Washburn Child Guidance Clinic staff who are developing and evaluating, with the support of the Bush Foundation, a treatment model for these very at risk children. Anne's Ph. D. is in clinical social work and she is a past officer and board member of the MN Clinical Social Work Society. 

Marcie is the Fiscal Policy Coordinator in the Office of the Senate Majority Leader (Minnesota).  She also teaches family and child welfare policy courses graduate courses. Marcie's prior positions include Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare in the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, Director of Fiscal Policy for the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota, and Chief Fiscal Analyst for the Minnesota House of Representatives. She has direct practice experience working in programs in Illinois and Minnesota. She received her Masters degree from the University of Chicago and her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Ken has been a member of NASW for nearly 30 years, and this is his second term serving as Treasurer for the MN Chapter.  He earned his BA in social work at St. Thomas, his MSW at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and holds a master's in Public Health Administration from the U-M.  He has been extensively involved in the Society of Social Work Leaders in Health Care, having served over the years as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President and President.   Ken has also served on the advisory boards of several organizations, including the Governors Task Force on Epilepsy, the Augsburg College School of Social Work's Community Advisory Board, and the Epilepsy Foundation of MN. He was the manager of Social Services and Interpreter Services at North Memorial Medical Center for the last 15 years, and worked at the U-M Hospital for 15 years prior to that.  Ken is married, has three children, and one golden retriever!

Nate received his B.S. from the U of MN with a major in Family Social Science in 1999 and his MSW from St. Thomas/St. Kate's in 2005. Nate's MSW research project addressed the topic of social worker involvement in the electoral process. Nate holds an LGSW and is employed as a social worker at Catholic Charities where he provides counseling for groups, families, couples and individuals with a focus on working with Teen Fathers. Nate is also a member of AASWG (Social Work with Groups), Sowers of Justice (Catholic Church), is a Camp Wellstone graduate, and serves on the SPAN Committee (Social Policy - NASW).  

Nate is also married & the proud father of 2 energized boys!

I am very grateful to have been elected the MSW student representative and I look forward to serving on the board. I am a senior in the School of Social Work at the College of St. Catherine/Univesity of St. Thomas. I greatly anticipate graduating in the spring of 08. I am thrilled to have Park Nicollet Clinic - Creekside as the home of my clinical internship. PNC-Creekside is a family medicine residency outpatient program through the University of Minnesota. I look forward, with much enthusiasm, for the opportunity to learn and develop clinical social work skills. Social work is a second profession for me. Previous to entering the social work field, I wasa radio broadcaster and voiceover talent for 17 years. When time permits, I continue to engage in voiceover projects.

Dr. Ginther earned his A.A. from Fresno City College; his B.A. in social work from California State University, Fresno; and his M.S.W. and Ph.D. degrees in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. Following graduation he was appointed Research Specialist, then Research Gerontologist at the University of California, San Francisco. There he worked on many local, state, and national policy research initiatives that focused on the care and treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients, and published in the areas of professional care recommendations, clients' and patients' service choices, and the nature of care for victims of Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Ginther came to MSUM in 1996, and currently has 20 years of applied social research and teaching experience. Presently, his interests include human biopsychosocial development, social work research methods, health and social welfare policy, grant writing, practice outcome assessment, and program evaluation. He completed CSWE training in social work program reaccreditation, and remains very active helping area and regional agencies write grants, establish outcome assessment systems, and perform program evaluations. His current research and publications focus on program capacity for outcome assessment, assessment of teaching and learning, team teaching, social work program web-based reaccreditation, research self efficacy, and teaching human discrimination through modern film.

Ilona is currently working in child protective services for St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services. In addition, she is the Coordinator for the Adults with Disabilites Program for ISD #701, Hibbing Community Education. As an independent contractor, Ilona provides in-home counselling for Head Start families in the Arrowhead Region. Ilona has fifteen years experience in hospital based social work and eleven years experience in school based social work.

Ilona received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

George transplanted from Akron, Ohio after falling in love with Minnesota while attending St. John's University. He did leave for a couple of years to earn his Master's in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. George works at Park Nicollet Clinic – Creekside, a family medicine clinic for the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine.  His role in the residency is to drink coffee and schmooze with residents about the psychosocial aspects of the biopsychosocial model. George has a strong interest in cross-cultural health care, health care policy, and mental health care, especially from a family systems perspective. He also teaches in the MSW program at CSC/UST.

Paula currently works as a therapist at Relate Counseling Center specializing in Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Paula has dabbled in many kinds of social work including college settings and private practice. She received her MSW in 1982 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she also holds a Master's Degree in Theology. Paula states, "the people and experiences in my life have been my biggest education and I look forward to learning more by being on the NASW board."  She is eager to promote NASW and to encourage more social workers to join.  Paula lives in South Minneapolis with her husband Paul and their cat Trixie.

As co-founder and co-director, Anne Bomstad Miller has overseen the inception and development of Grasstops while guiding the vision of the organization.  Through Grasstops, Anne has had the opportunity to serve many organizations with their public policy efforts. Her recent projects include lobbying to fund the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and advancing the efforts of the Minnesota Youth Advancement Act; advocating for effective student support services in schools with the Minnesota School Social Workers Association; and assisting Restorative Justice organizations compare the costs of their programs to the traditional justice system in order to make the case to legislators for renewed funding. Anne has also provided numerous advocacy trainings to nonprofit organizations.

Previously, Anne assisted the MN Chapter of NASW by serving as P.A.C.E. (Political Action for Candidate Election) Coordinator. Through P.A.C.E. she encouraged member involvement in political campaigns and assisted in endorsing candidates. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member in the school of social work at St. Olaf College. Anne has a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota, with a concentration in community organizing and advocacy and is a licensed graduate level social worker.

Jean has been a member of NASW chapters in Minnesota , Nebraska , Wisconsin , and Iowa. In the Minnesota chapter she served as president and vice president and chaired the Continuing Education Committee. Jean has a BSW from Moorhead State University, an MSW from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jean is in her 27th year on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, where she has been the director for the past 15 years. She taught undergraduate courses and practiced in Iowa serving disabled clients, rural clients and cancer patients.

Jean is immediate past president of NADD and served six years on the Commission on Accreditation. She currently chairs the national NASW Gay and Lesbian Committee and is fund raising for the NASW Public Education Campaign.  She also serves on the Executive Committee for NASW-National.