Laura Jeffrey Academy Start-up team
As with any new organization, the ability to succeed is often predicated on the people starting it – in this case, on its board of directors, founder, and project leadership team. Following are brief profiles of the individuals involved in starting LJA.
Founder
Cindy Reuther – Project Leader
Cindy Reuther has spent much of her adult life working to better the lives of women and girls in organizations and community. LJA brings together two of Cindy's passions. The first is to provide urban girls access to educational opportunities currently available to those with financial means. Second, she is interested in developing an organization with infrastructures that support excellent learning, financial sustainability and organizational resilience. Her long-term plan includes documenting the process and replicating the model across the country and internationally. Laura Jeffrey Academy has been a dream in the making for over a decade.
Laura Jeffrey Academy's Board of Directors
Alice Adams
Alice serves as the Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of Maine at Farmington. She has a distinguished academic career spanning more than 20 years at Southern Oregon State College, The University of Iowa, The University of Minnesota, Miami University of Ohio, Macalester College, and The University of Maine at Farmington. Alice is the mother of one daughter.
Rebecca Brandt-Fontaine
Rebecca has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning. She has been an advisor on the adaptive reuse of commercial and industrial properties and prepared demographic profiles and analysis for urban development trends. Rebecca is a small business owner, her work includes construction projects, conservation development consulting and real estate. Rebecca is the mother of two daughters.
Debra Pridgen
Debra has worked with the Girl Scout Council for 11 years, and is currently the Director of Community Partnerships. She is well-seasoned at developing partnerships, capacity building, and networking. Debra was board chair of East Metro Women’s Council and she was a convener for the African American Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaborative. Debra is the mother of four daughters and one son.
Sally Spreeman
Sally is a Development Specialist for Children’s Home Society & Family Services in St. Paul. She is an expert in marketing, publicity and fund development and has managed over $1.8 million in funding from United Way partners. She brings a wealth of board experience, and was an active participant in the formation of the Minnesota Children’s Platform Coalition. Sally is the mother of one daughter.
Sarit Sharma
Sarit is board chair for LJA, and works for Seagate Technology as a senior development engineer and hosts the radio program Sangam on KFAI. His master's degree and PhD in systems and electrical engineering give him a keen strategic perspective and outlook. He is currently working on a children’s thesaurus in Hindi and English and plans to start a school for girls in India in the next few years. He is the father of one daughter.
Laura Jeffrey Academy is one of nine schools sponsored by the Audubon Center of the Northwoods. The center is located on 800 acres of woods, water, and fields near Sandstone, Minnesota, approximately 90 miles north of St. Paul.
All LJA students will have the opportunity to attend a residential environmental education experience at Audubon Center of the North Woods.
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