By the People

Catherine Eichers is a former research assistant for the center for Democracy and Citizenship. She currently works for the City of Saint Paul's Division of Parks and Recreation as the East Side Learning Collaborative's Project Manager.

Danielle Peterson is the Center's Minnesota Organizer for Public Achievement. She works in schools and community based organizations where she coaches, trains, educates and mentors young people and adults in civic, community and cultural organizing.

Deb Klein coordinates the Hmong Circle at the Jane Addams School for Democracy. She also plays a role in overall collaborative youth work on the West Side, including work with All Around the Neighborhood, the Youth Apprenticeship Project, and West Side Youth Guides.

Dennis Donovan is the national organizer for the Center for Democracy and Citizenship's Public Achievement initiative. Since 1997, Donovan has worked with school, university and community groups across the country and abroad as a speaker, trainer and coach. Donovan is also a member of the Warrior to Citizen campaign working group.

Derek Johnson is the director of the Center's civic partnership initiatives on the West Side of St. Paul, including the Jane Addams School for Democracy, the West Side Neighborhood Learning Community, and collaborative community-based work with the City of Saint Paul.

Elaine Eschenbacher is the Programs Manager at the Center for Democracy and Citizenship.

Ellen Tveit is communications and partnership coordinator for the Center for Democracy and Citizenship. She is also a member of the Warrior to Citizen campaign working group.

Erik Skold coordinates work with high school and middle school students on the West Side of St. Paul, including after-school and summer learning opportunities, as part of the Neighborhood Learning Community. In addition, he coordinates the Teen Circle of the Jane Addams School for Democracy, which brings new Hmong immigrant youth together with other high school and college students to engage in education-related democratic work. Erik previously coordinated Neighborhood Learning Community work with elementary school students.

Graham J. Lampa is a graduate student at the Humphrey Institute pursuing his Master of Public Policy degree. Graham is the project lead of Emphasizing the "Public" in Public Affairs, an initiative to enhance the outreach efforts of the Humphrey Institute.

Harry Boyte is founder and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, and senior fellow at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Boyte has been an architect of the center's public work approach to civic engagement and democracy, and a conceptual framework on citizenship that has gained world-wide recognition for its theoretical innovations and its practical effectiveness.

Jim Lewis serves as the overall coordinator of grants development and financial services for the Center. His programming interests include community organizing, community as place and issues of youth development and citizen engagement at the local level.

Kong Her supervises the Children’s Circle at the Jane Addams School for Democracy (JAS). He also assists in coordinating West Side neighborhood after- school and summer programs for young people. He is bilingual in Hmong and English and is interested in the intersection of design and artistic expression with youth work.

Kristin Farrell is the office manager at the Center for Democracy and Citizenship. She is also a graduate student in the Masters of Liberal Studies program pursuing educational policy and experiential education.

Maria McNamara coordinates All Around the Neighborhood activities on the West Side of St. Paul, working primarily with elementary school-aged youth. She has been involved in the Neighborhood Learning Community as a neighborhood organizer and parent since its inception.

Nan Skelton is co-director of the Institute’s Center for Democracy and Citizenship. Skelton leads the center's external public work around issues of civic education, reclaiming neighborhoods, and the democratic renewal of public education. She is a co-founder of the Jane Addams School for Democracy and the Neighborhood Learning Community, both based in the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul.