Minnesota Alliance With Youth

SARAH DIXON – CEO & PRESIDENT
sdixon@mnyouth.net

“Provides overall leadership and development of the strategic goals of the Alliance.”
Hometown: Born in Mankato, MN – Raised in St. James, MN
Started with the Alliance: 1997

Sarah Dixon serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Minnesota Alliance With Youth. As CEO, Sarah provides the overall leadership & development of the strategic goals of the Minnesota Alliance With Youth. One of the key strategies of the Alliance is the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows initiative which supports 70 FTE members and has a total operating budget of over $1 million, one of the largest in the state. Under Ms. Dixon’s leadership, the program grew from a 10 FTE fixed-award program to a 70 FTE AmeriCorps *State program.

Ms. Dixon has 25 years of experience working in all areas of adolescent health and development including intervention & treatment, counseling, education, and community-wide youth development. She has had the privilege of working with 1000’s of young people in developing leadership, public service, advocacy, and positive social change efforts at local, state, and national levels.

She was co-founder and founding board chair of Faribault’s Community of Promise Collaborative. Ms. Dixon was appointed chair of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee by the Governor of Minnesota from 2004 – 2007 and was recently reappointed as a member to another four-year term. In addition, Ms. Dixon serves on a number of local and statewide boards dedicated to the health and well-being of young people.

In her spare time, she loves going to the cabin on Leech Lake, spending time with her family, traveling, etc. She also LOVES her work! This work is about the power of creating strong, vibrant, life-sustaining relationships. It is about sharing powerful stories with one another, learning from each other and celebrating the accomplishments of young people. KIDS DON’T CARE WHAT YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW YOU CARE – and when youth know you care, greater opportunity exists for them to become truly engaged. As a result, they are better connected to their communities and empowered to use their voices to create lasting, transformational change! This goes to the heart and soul of why Sarah loves this work, to see those positive changes take place.

One of Sarah’s favorite quotes is from author, Margaret Wheatley, “What brings us together is our compassion – our dream of how to make a difference for the good.”

MELISSA BURWELL – DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
mburwell@mnyouth.net

“Coaches, collaborates, & celebrates efforts to create lasting change with & for youth.”
Hometown: Born in Ossining, NY – Raised in Mechanicsburg, PA
Started with the Alliance: August 2004

As the Director of Strategic Initiatives, Burwell focuses on developing relationships with the Alliance’s partner organizations, promoting youth-adult partnerships and youth voice as a strategy to positively impact youth and communities. She works with both School-Community Partnership and Statewide Partner Network sites to provide technical support and find ways to share resources. When not working as an ambassador for the Promise Fellow program, spreading the word about the Alliance to various groups, she can be found getting lost in her favorite book by the lake, with a pack of peanut M&M’s.

GINA NELSON – DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION & TRAINING
gnelson@mnyouth.net

“Supports Promise Fellows and makes their year of service successful!”
Hometown: La Crescent, MN (also the “Apple Capital” of Minnesota!)
Started at the Alliance: September 2008

As Director of Education and Training, Nelson oversees AmeriCorps Promise Fellow hiring, training, and member support. She also acts as a resource on curriculum development and helps the Promise Fellows plan civic engagement and service-learning activities at their school-community sites. Additionally, she leads the Alliance’s Global Youth Service Day celebration in April. Even after work she’s training—engaging in her love of dance through a hip-hop, ballet, or tap class every now and then. Or when the weather is nice enough she’s probably looking for a body of water to hang around with family and friends.

JULIE MUKLEBUST - PROGRAM ASSISTANT
julie.muklebust@duluth.k12.mn.us

“Keeper of the Books!”
Hometown: Burnsville, MN
Started at the Alliance: January 2008

Alliance Program Assistant Julie Muklebust is responsible for maintaining the financial records and handling other Human Resource tasks of the Alliance. She started doing bookkeeping and other office management work, and after being a stay at home mom for 9 years she came to the Alliance. When Muklebust is not keeping track of spending, she enjoys spending time with her family at their place in Sturgeon Lake.

STEPHANIE PAUMEN – PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
spaumen@mnyouth.net

“Keeping things in order, on track, and moving forward.”
Hometown: Buffalo, MN
Started at the Alliance: June 2010

As the Program Associate, Stephanie supports the Minneapolis office with logistical support, communications oversight, and program assistance. When she’s not keeping the Alliance programming in shape she’s most likely reading, shopping or working at her part time job at Buffalo Books & Coffee.

FAYISE ABRAHIM – PROMISE FELLOW
promisefellow@mnyouth.net

“Getting things done for America!”
Hometown:
Started at the Alliance: July 2010

As an AmeriCorps Promise fellow serving at The Alliance, Fayise is responsible for maintaining connections with other Alliance fellows through social networking tools, providing resources to SCP Fellows, assisting in the planning of events such as GYSD, as well as organizing and co-advising the Alliance’s Youth Council.

70 AMERICORPS PROMISE FELLOWS –

• 70 AmeriCorps Promise Fellows serve in schools/organizations across Minnesota to increase their capacity to deliver the Five Promises.
• 10 Fellows serve with the Statewide Partner Network, our strategic partners, to increase their capacity to deliver the Five Promises.