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Meet Our Executive Board

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Lindsay Nelson, MCHES

President



Cassandra Stepan, M.A.

President-Elect


Liz Heimer MS, CHES

Past-President


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Lindsay Nelson is currently the Community Health Systems Coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Health where her work focuses on aligning health care organizations with community-based resources and programs. She has almost 10 years of experience working in public health and has worked across multiple sectors. In her past roles she worked for Scott County Public Health coordinating the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) grant, supported youth suicide prevention efforts at Canvas Health and was a Health Educator at the Lake Superior Community Health Center in Duluth, MN. She has her Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES®) and a passion for bridging gaps around access to health education and ensuring community voices are at the forefront of our work. In her free time, she stays busy chasing around her almost 2-year-old daughter and 2 dogs. She loves all things related to sports, especially football, and enjoys spending time with friends and family!

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Cassandra Stepan is a passionate public health policy practitioner with experience serving in nonprofits and state and county government. She earned a degree in Political Science from the University of St. Catherine and a Master’s in Political Advocacy and Leadership from the University of Minnesota- Duluth. She has served the last 14 years as a commercial tobacco prevention policy expert supporting local communities’ initiatives such as Tobacco 21, menthol and flavor restrictions, and smoke-free housing. She is currently a Community Health Supervisor at Hennepin County Public Health where she oversees planning and implementation of population and community-based chronic disease prevention efforts using evidence-based strategies, best practices, and promising practices to address the growing burden of chronic diseases and associated risk factors, such as, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and substance use. Grounded in health and racial equity, she works to prevent chronic disease and promote community well-being by working with partners to create policies, systems, and environments that improve population-level health and eliminate chronic disease health disparities. She previously served on the National Tobacco Control Network board and is a member of the Minnesota Cancer Alliance and Minnesota Society for Public Health Education. In her personal time, she loves to play hockey and broomball with her family and friends, hike State Parks with her dogs Ginger and Roxy, and visit locally own coffee shops.

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Liz is a native to southern Minnesota. She went to Minnesota State University, Mankato to receive her Bachelor of Science in community health education. With encouragement from her advisors and family, she continued her education in community health education to receive her Master of Science degree. Currently, Liz is a Grant Coordinator for Healthy Families America in a nine-county region in southern Minnesota. She previously served at the American Lung Association as a Specialist in Public Policy and Advocacy and as a Community Health Specialist at the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership. Liz has been a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) since 2015 and has a passion for continuing her education to eliminate disparities and improve community health. Although recently elected as the MN SOPHE Past-President, Liz is not new to MN SOPHE. From 2017-2020, Liz served as the MN SOPHE Membership Chair and from 2021-2022, she served as the Awards Chair, and 2022-2024 served in President positions.


Chelsey Skogen, CHES

Continuing Education Chair 

Molly Schmidtke, Advocacy Chair


Katie Stapleton, MPH, MCHES

Treasurer

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Chelsey Skogen, an alumni from Minnesota State University – Mankato has been a part of MN SOPHE since she was a student. While a student, is where she found her passion in public health engaging in tobacco control work on the Mavericks for Clean Air coalition that worked to update the campus’s commercial tobacco policy. Since starting her current position with the American Lung Association, she has worked on addressing commercial tobacco use among those with mental health and substance use disorders across the state of Minnesota. In her free time, she enjoys spending time at the lake and outdoors with her chocolate lab puppy!

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Molly Schmidtke is a Community Outreach Coordinator with the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota. Molly's career is focused on commercial tobacco prevention education, advocacy and engagement. She has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in Community Health Education and a Master's in Public Health Administration and Policy from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Molly is also a Certified Health Education Specialist. In her free time, she likes to spend her time traveling with her husband and watching the Minnesota Wild.

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Katie Stapleton graduated from Minnesota State University Mankato with a BS in business and worked in corporate management for 8 years. She’s been a certified yoga and exercise instructor since 2019 and loves motivating and connecting with people and helping to improve health initiatives. She is currently a Graduate student at MSU pursing her passion for public health with a Masters in Community Health Education. She spends her free time with her dogs and cat, painting, and cheering on the Vikings.

 

, MS, CHES 

Secretary

  

Wendy Schuh

National Delegate


Taylour Blakeman

Membership Chair

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Jean Streetar is retired from Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment where she worked as a health educator and public health program manager for 19.5 years. She holds an undergraduate degree from Minnesota State University-Mankato (MSU-M) in Physical Education, Art, and Health Education along with a Coaching Certificate. Her graduate degree in Community Health is also from MSU-M. Ms. Streetar followed her first career path teaching and coaching in Faribault, Nicollet, and Mankato, MN. She then earned a graduate degree and pursued a chemical dependency counseling certificate. This led to opportunities at MSU-M, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mankato, Todd County Public Health, St. Cloud-Catholic Charities and finally Washington County. She has been a Certified Health Education Specialist since 2003; a member of the MN Public Health Association Policy Forum Committee since 2013; board secretary for MN Society of Public Health Education since 2019 and recently was accepted as a Hennepin Co. Medical Reserve Corp volunteer.

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Dr. Wendy Schuh is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Health Science at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She also has extensive experience in the health field! For the past two decades, Wendy served as a Health Educator and then as the Director of Student Health Services at MSU, Mankato. Prior to that, she worked as an educator for the American Red Cross and a local public health agency in Iowa. She has had the opportunity to serve on the North Central College Health Association Executive Board in a variety of roles, including President, and as a representative with the American College Health Association. While Wendy has attended SOPHE conferences and trainings before, she looks forward to becoming more involved at the organizational level.

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Taylour Blakeman (she/her) is a regional SHIP coordinator in Northeast Minnesota for Healthy Northland based out of the Cook, Carlton, St. Louis, Lake Community Health Board. Taylour is passionate about preventing substance use, especially among young people. Her experience primarily revolves around advocating to local and state decision makers on policies that prevent commercial tobacco use among youth, and underserved populations. In her spare time, you can find her on the trails of the beautiful North Shore with her Blue Heeler, Michelangelo. Taylour's motto is that through connectedness and collaboration, everyone can achieve more in the pursuit of broad health impact.


Pa Houa "PH" Moua

Awards Chair



Anna Rogotzke

Communications Chair


Jonah

Student Representative

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Pa Houa “PH” Moua is a Community Health Specialist for Olmsted County Public Health. She received her bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University Mankato in Community Health and is pursuing her master’s degree in health management, administration, and policy at New Mexico State University. PH has worked on the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) grant for two years to help combat tobacco use and obesity rates. PH was a 2019 Truth Ambassador with Truth Initiative, America’s largest nonprofit public health organization committed to making tobacco use a thing of the past. She leads the Wellness Works Collaborative for area businesses on employee wellness and is passionate about healthy lifestyle changes. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her pets and adventuring the great outdoors.

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Anna Rogotzke graduated from Minnesota State University Mankato with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Community Health Education. For the last 8 years, Anna has worked in state and local public health with experience in emergency preparedness, the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), disease investigation, and community wellness programming. Currently, she works for the Minnesota Department of Health as a Health Equity Network Coordinator focusing on connecting individuals and organizations across communities, counties, and regions to collectively advance health equity. Anna is passionate about rural health initiatives, as well as, mental health and well-being, especially as it relates to our youth. In her free time, Anna is a certified kid's yoga and mindfulness instructor and loves teaching kids of all ages. She also enjoys traveling, growing new houseplants, spending time with her family and cat, and being outdoors!

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Hello my name is Jonah Carroll, I am a pre-dental Biology major with a minor in Public health at Gustavus Adolphus College. My interests in public health began in a health program planning class which focused on the steps taken to reduce impacts of negative health habits within a population. In my free time I enjoy downhill skiing and rock climbing.


Open Position

Student Representative

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