Board of Trustees

Mishelle is co-founder and Executive Director of SPOON Foundation.  With a background as a pediatric speech-language pathologist specializing in the communication and feeding of children with severe disabilities, Mishelle has served in a variety of roles at SPOON since its inception, including Program Director, Director of Feeding and Disability Programming, and Deputy Director. From 1999-2009, she worked at Emanuel Children’s Hospital in Portland where she developed and ran an augmentative communication clinic serving nonverbal children from throughout the Northwest. Upon seeing a lack of tools specifically targeted at children who had difficulty accessing the computer due to physical and vision impairments, Mishelle created SwitchClimber.com, an online subscription-based service for that population.  Mishelle has two daughters and spends an inordinate amount of time at barns and ballet studios waiting for them.

Mark W. Addicks is an Entrepreneur, Board Member, and Professor. Mark is currently also CEO of MANOVA, the Global Summit on the Future of Health. He is also an owner of Mason Jar Kitchen and Cupcake Bakery, a restaurant business in Eagan, Minnesota.

Mark’s non-profit work includes serving on the Board of Trustees for the Walker Arts Center, Artspace and the Minneapolis Good Chair Project. He is a founding Board member for The BrandLab, a national organization dedicated to insuring that the marketing industry reflects the diverse population that it serves. Addicks is also a Professor at the University of St. Thomas’ Opus School of Business where he holds a Chair in Marketing Innovation.

Addicks joined General Mills in 1988 and held a variety of marketing leadership roles with increased responsibility during his tenure. He retired in 2015 as the Chief Marketing Officer. As CMO, Mark led the innovation and expansion behind the Company’s Box Tops for Education initiative which today donates over $80M annually to U.S. schools and is a major social responsibility platform at retail and through its 90,000 school coordinators.

Over 26 years, Addicks worked across the General Mills portfolio, touching virtually all of the Company’s brands, and was recognized as a top marketer by Ad Age. He has been a guest lecturer at many of the nation’s leading business schools including Harvard Business School, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia and many others.

Addicks graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Master of Business degree from Harvard Business School in 1988.

Eric Evans was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Director of Surgery Partners, Inc. in January 2020. He previously held the title of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since April 2019. Eric previously served as President of Hospital Operations for Tenet Healthcare and previously as CEO of Tenet’s Texas region. Eric’s early career at Tenet consisted of hospital CEO and market leadership roles as well as of Chief of Staff to the CEO. Eric earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and has an undergraduate degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University.

From 1996 to 2015 Susan Hayes served as president & CEO of ReSurge International (formerly Interplast, Inc.).

Hayes came to ReSurge with 16 years of management, fundraising and media experience in public broadcasting, including as VP for development and publicity for the five tv/radio stations of Western New/Southern Ontario. Previously she was a political science instructor at Syracuse University and the University of South Carolina; and a policy analyst for the National Institute of Health and other federal agencies at public policy think tank, Syracuse Research Corporation.

Throughout her career Hayes has served on nonprofit boards, including: InterAction; Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Gatos, California, Reading Partners; the Santa Clara Valley YWCA board; and as an Advisory Committee member of community media CreaTV.

Hayes holds BA and MA degrees from the University of South Carolina in government & international studies, an MA in political science from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, and completed PhD coursework in political science at the Maxwell School. She is an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders.

In her retirement, Hayes provides pro bono guidance and counsel to nonprofits on the subject of nonprofit governance and to domestic and international nonprofit organizations –through CEO coaching, by working with boards and CEOs on board governance, and in personal board service.

A South Carolina native, Hayes lived for 20 years in New York State, and has resided in San Jose, CA for the past 21 years.

John is a retired Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the School of Public Health at University of Minnesota. John serves on the Expert Panel for Nutrition for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva; on the Advisory Group on standardizing anthropometric and body composition measurements and reporting for the National Institutes of Health; and completed his service on the Advisory Group on the construction of growth velocity standards, Department of Nutrition and Health, WHO, Geneva. He additionally serves as a member of NIH’s Kidney, Nutrition, Obesity, and Diabetes Epidemiology Study Section. He is an experienced researcher and well-published expert in the areas of physical growth and maturation of children; growth and nutrition; anthropometric assessment of nutritional status and dietary assessment.

Dr. Johnson is a Professor of Pediatrics, member of the Division of Neonatology and a faculty member in the Global Pediatrics Program at the University of Minnesota where Dr. Johnson co-founded the International Adoption Program in 1986. His research interests include the effects of early institutionalization on growth and development and the outcomes of internationally adopted children. Dr. Johnson is an invited speaker worldwide and has authored over 100 scholarly works. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Joint Council for International Children’s Services, Friend of Children Award from the North American council on Adoptable Children and the Harry Holt Award from Holt International. He is a member of the Board of Directors of National Council for Adoption, SPOON, and One Sky Foundation. He is the father of three children including an adopted son from India.

Carolyn Miles is currently a Professor of Practice and Special Advisor to the Dean at University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. She teaches sustainability and CEO leadership and is driving several diversity programs at Darden to increase the number of women and diverse students coming to Darden and entering management. Prior to Darden she taught a course on humanitarianism at Maxwell School of International Affairs at Syracuse University.  She is also a member of the Sustainability Council at Bayer AG, advising the Board on sustainability matters and a member of the Board at Bucknell University.

Carolyn served as Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children, an organization that gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. Serving over 150M children worldwide, Save the Children is committed to driving down the numbers of preventable deaths of children under 5, ensuring every child gets a high-quality basic education and protecting all children from harm.

Miles joined the U.S. organization in 1998, was COO from 2004-2011, and became President and CEO in September 2011, retiring in January 2020. Under her senior leadership, the organization more than doubled the number of children it reached with nutrition, health, education and other programs. Resources were over $830M in 2019. Miles’ signature issues include women and girl’s equity, hunger, and ending preventable child deaths.

Prior to Save the Children, she worked in the private sector in Hong Kong for American Express and as an entrepreneur. While in Asia, she confronted the deprivation of the region’s children, which motivated her to dedicate her life to their welfare.

In addition to her current service on the Bucknell Board, she served for 12 years on the Darden Foundation Board, as the Co-Chair of the US Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) and Chair of InterAction, the largest coalition of US-based NGOs.  In 2015, Miles was named one of the 50 World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine and inducted into the CT Women’s Hall of Fame.  In 2017 she received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center at the University of Virginia. In 2019, Miles received the Jonathan M. Daniels Humanitarian Award from Virginia Military Institute.  Miles has 3 children and lives in Charlottesville, VA and Fairfield, CT.

John is a retired U.S. Ambassador who spent 33 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, and who served as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia and Kazakhstan. His other Foreign Service assignments include eight years in Moscow, as well as Director of African Affairs at the National Security Council. After retiring, John had several short-term assignments temporarily heading U.S. Embassy in Europe and Asia, and was head of the U.S. delegation to the New START Treaty’s Bilateral Consultative Commission that meets periodically with the Russian Federation. He and his wife, Maryjo, now live in Sacramento, California.

For more than a decade, Holly has been building teams and developing talent in leading corporations, associations, and nonprofits. She believes that organizations are powered by empowered leaders and is passionate about providing people with the tools to unlock the potential and motivation of their employees. Her expertise includes talent acquisition, goal setting and accountability, organizational development, talent assessments and growth plans, onboarding and employer branding. Holly advises and coaches several of real estate’s most successful teams, coaching and advising them on how to build legacy businesses that will continue to grow.

She currently is the Head of People for PLACE., a real estate and technology and business services platform that powers the top 20% of agents and teams by helping expand their profitability, value proposition to the consumer and grow their unique local brand. Holly is charged with building Human Resources, employee engagement, talent acquisition, Diversity and Inclusion and Corporate Responsibility for this new, $1 billion company. In addition to her formal role with PLACE, Holly leads a luxury real estate team that produces more than $100 million in annual residential real estate volume.

PLACE was born from a merger between Ben Kinney Companies and Xperience Real Estate Network. In the Xperience Real Estate Network, Holly served as both a Growth Leader and as Director of Talent Acquisition and Development. In addition to leading the overall talent strategy and serving as a key leader in the organization, Holly is responsible for attracting more than $220 million in closed volume to the team in less than 18 months and leading Austin, Texas to be the #1 expansion location for gross commission income across all of Keller Williams.

Prior to joining Xperience, Holly was the Vice President of Keller Williams Realty International, the world’s largest real estate franchise, where she oversaw Marketing and Communications, Industry Relations, People Operations, KW Young Professionals and KW Kids Can. Holly also created the LifeAtKWRI talent brand, recruited key executives and established KW Young Professionals as a formal KW entity.

Before Keller Williams executive leadership recruited Holly to their team, she served as the Communications Division Director for the State Bar of Texas, overseeing Marketing, Communications, the Texas Bar Journal, Public Information, Annual Meeting, Local Bar Services and Printing and Graphics. Holly “grew up” at the State Bar of Texas, serving in a variety of roles over 11 years.

Giving back is Holly’s personal “ONE thing.” She served as the 2019 Chair of CASAblanca, raising $1.4 million for children in the foster care system at CASA of Travis County’s annual gala; serves on the Partnerships for Children Advisory Board of Directors; and is a leader in numerous Austin philanthropic endeavors. Holly led a committee of 82 women to raise a record net $1 million for The Junior League of Austin and its community programs as the Chair of the 2015 A Christmas Affair. She has been recognized as a Rising Luminaria, a distinguished young philanthropist, and community leader in Central Texas.

Holly graduated Summa Cum Laude from Texas Tech University and has an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a licensed REALTOR, Career Visioning instructor and talent coach. Her writings on recruiting have appeared in business publications. In her spare time, she can be found playing tennis, kickboxing, traveling, or hanging out with her husband, Kevin, and their puppy, Snickers.

Born in southern Zambia, Ana suffered from severe dehydration and malnutrition as an infant. Ana spent the first years of her life battling disease and physical developments. Despite extreme health woes and living conditions, Ana thrived because of access to developmental programs, healthy nutrition, and Western medicine. At a young age, Ana was adopted by missionaries and relocated to the United States, where she grew up.

Ana has dedicated her educational and professional career to serving in the nonprofit sector and making a difference in the world around her.  As a graduate of Grand Valley State University, she earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration & Nonprofit Management with an emphasis in Budget & Finance. Over the past eight years, she has worked both nationally and internationally, conducting community service work in Belize, construction of water filtration systems and program development in Tanzania, and disaster relief work in USA. Each service opportunity expanded her depth of knowledge and understanding of each community.

Ana serves on the SPOON board because she believes all children around the world should have equitable access to nutrition.

Ana is family oriented and enjoys spending time with her husband and newborn son. In between diaper changes and feedings, you can find her exploring the waterfalls and mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Judy is a retired dermatologist who has been a volunteer for numerous health care related organizations. She is a past President of the Minnesota Medical Association, Past Chairman of the Minnesota Medical Foundation, Founding Chairman of the Hennepin Health Foundation and a board member of both The Hennepin and Allina Health Systems. She was an adjunct Professor of Dermatology at the University of Minnesota. Both of her grandchildren were adopted from China. She and her husband Steve currently live in Sarasota, Florida, where she serves on the boards of United Way and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.

Susan has extensive experience financial experience with nonprofit and for-profit organizations. She has worked with start-ups and growing organizations in both sectors, building business models and guiding informed decisions around investments. Susan worked for over ten years with General Motors in various positions, including financial analysis, business development, and in director roles. She currently works as an independent financial consultant.

Dr. Taren has more than 30 years of experience conducting research and training students in international health. His research and teaching activities have included projects in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Venezuela, Mexico, Jamaica, China, Nepal, Kenya, Zambia, Senegal, Benin and the US Associated Pacific Islands. Dr. Taren currently directs the Western Region Public Health Training Center (WRPHTC) in the United States for HRSA Region 9 (Arizona, Nevada, California, Hawaii and the US Affiliated Pacific Islands including Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau). The WRPHTC works to strengthen the public health workforce by providing training on issues related to nutrition and physical activity.

Dr. Taren received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology (1976) and his Master of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences 1980 from the University of Arizona. His doctoral degree (PhD) in International Nutrition (1986) is from Cornell University. Dr. Taren served on the faculty at the University of South Florida, College of Public Health from 1987 to 1992. He joined the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona in 1996. He is currently hold the rank of Professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona where he is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

King is an empathetic leader and innovative impact investor. He is based in the Reno-Tahoe area with his wife and two rescue dogs, where he enjoys hiking, creative culinary adventures, and local arts.

He is passionate about issues of food justice and financial inclusion and focuses his investing efforts on inclusive capitalism. King has an extensive background in entrepreneurship, consulting, finance, & non-profits where he has held various roles, including, Founder, Board Member, Advisor, and Entrepreneur.

King graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree from Haas Business School in Business where he was recognized with honors and awards for his efforts around conscious capitalism. He also has a degree in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley and spent time at Berkeley researching financialization and global food inequities through his work as a research fellow at the Othering and Belonging Institute.

James Andrew Bever has served for 35 years as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He retired with the U.S. Senior Foreign Service rank of Career Minister in mid-2017, after acting as USAID Assistant Administrator for Legislative & Public Affairs.

While with USAID, he served overseas as the Mission Director to Afghanistan, to Egypt, to the West Bank & Gaza Strip, and to Ghana, as well as in other responsibilities overseas in India, Indonesia and Pakistan.  Senior leadership assignments at HQ in Washington, D.C., included assistant to the Administrator for Iraq and for Afghanistan and Pakistan; Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Middle East; office director for U.S. foreign assistance for the New Independent Republics of the former Soviet Union, and as Faculty at the U.S. National War College and at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute.

Prior to USAID, he worked in Morocco, at SUNY Stonybrook/Brookhaven Laboratory, at the Overseas Development Council working in Sub-Saharan Africa, at the U.S. Embassy in Togo, and at the United Nations Secretariat.

Mr. Bever has a Master of Science Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, a Master of Science Certificate in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Cornell University.  He is married and has two married sons and a grand-daughter.

Mr. Bever is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Distinguished Service Award and the USAID Administrator Distinguished Career Service Award.

Julian is the co-director of the Center for Adoption Medicine at the University of Washington. He is also the editor of www.adoptmed.org, an online resource for medical and developmental issues in adoption. His interest in adoption comes from his years clowning, teaching children’s theater, and leading summer camps with groups of Moscow orphans. In his clinical practice, he has an interest in integrative and nutritional approaches to neuro-developmental issues.

Dr. Fisher is a Professor of Psychology and Research Scientist at the Prevention Science Institute at the University of Oregon. He is Science Director for the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs and a Senior Fellow at the Center on the Developing Child, both based at Harvard University. He is also a Senior Research Scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center. Dr. Fisher’s work on disadvantaged and maltreated children includes (a) studies to understand the effects of early stress on the developing brain; (b) the development of two-generation prevention and treatment programs to improve high-risk children’s (and their caregiver’s) well-being and brain functioning; and (c) advocacy for science-based policy and practice to improve early learning and healthy development in high-risk children. His work has been funded by a number of institutes of the National Institutes of Health. He serves on a number of national advisory groups related to prevention science and community based research. His intervention programs are being implemented at sites throughout the United States and Europe. He is the recipient of the 2012 Society for Prevention Research Translational Science Award.

Michael is a Professor of Pediatrics and Child Development at the University of Minnesota where he is Head of the Section of Neonatology in the Department of Pediatrics, and Director of the Center on Neurobehavioral Development. He is a renowned expert on early nutrition and the brain having served on the Committee on Nutrition and the Breastfeeding Work Group for the American Academy of Pediatrics and on the Nutrition Study Section for the National Institutes of Health. He is a member of the American Pediatric Society and the Pediatric Academic Societies. He has written over 120 articles and book chapters on nutrition and brain development in the newborn and early childhood period, and is a contributing author to AAP’s Handbook on Nutrition. His research focuses on fetal/newborn nutrition, specifically the effect of iron nutrition on brain development and neurocognitive function. He lectures nationally and internationally on nutrition and the developing brain.

Mary is an Associate Professor and Director of Public Health at St. Catherine’s University and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Minnesota Division of Epidemiology. Since receiving her doctorate, Dr. Hearst has conducted obesity related research among children and families, with special emphasis on low-income, multi-ethnic families. Recently she has focused on food access among the most vulnerable and the intersection between healthy nutrition and child development. Her background as an Occupational Therapist provides additional expertise with children with special health care needs, feeding practices and facilitating healthy child development.

Maria Kroupina is an assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Global Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kroupina sees internationally adopted children on an outpatient basis. Current funded research includes a study on nutritional status of recently arrived internationally adopted children, and collaborative work as a co-investigator regarding recovery from early life stress in children adopted from institutions (PI: Megan Gunnar, PhD) and neurobehavioral correlates of early deprivation (PI: Megan Gunnar, PhD)

Dr. Kroupina’s master’s degree in clinical psychology was awarded by Moscow State University Department of Psychology (Moscow, Russia). She earned her PhD at the University of Minnesota. She has additional professional training in family systems therapy (Moscow Center for Marriage and Family Therapy), attachment disturbances (Tulane University), and the Stanley Greenspan intensive online training course in infancy and early childhood training course titled Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based (DIR) Floortime Model. She teaches medical residents as part of the elective in adoption medicine.

Brad is a Pediatric Endocrinologist at the University of Minnesota. His basic science research has focused on the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor system that regulates growth in children. As a post-doctoral fellow at the Mayo Clinic, he studied the role of IGF binding proteins in fracture healing, growth and the growth response to nutritional deprivation. Since joining the faculty of the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital-Fairview, Brad has collaborated with the International Adoption Clinic in clinical study of growth recovery following early adversity related to international adoption. His growing body of research and clinical practice is focused on growth recovery and its sequelae after early adversity including nutrient deprivation, emotional deprivation and intrauterine growth retardation.

Paula is an Assistant Professor in the Dept of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. She is currently working on her PhD in occupational therapy focusing on best practice in feeding and eating issues with young children and their families. Her clinical background includes 15 years of experience working with children with special needs primarily in early intervention. She has specialized in feeding and eating difficulties in children with a variety of diagnoses and worked with families to create a positive mealtime environment. She has participated in international service learning trips to Quito, Ecuador with OT students working with local foundations and children with special needs who have feeding difficulties. Her background as a pediatric occupational therapist includes additional expertise in the areas of seating and positioning, sensory processing, and the importance of attachment and bonding to growth and nutrition.

Katja is a graduate of the University of Michigan medical school and served as a family physician in urban, rural, and university student health settings. During her time in practice, she was struck by the prevalence of disordered eating and feeding, and related health problems. Rowell believes establishing a healthy feeding relationship– in essence– HOW children are fed is the missing piece in addressing disordered eating, weight dysregulation and damaging dieting behaviors. Dr. Rowell works with parents to provide personalized solutions and support for feeding and weight concerns, from selective eating to food preoccupation. She has a special interest in supporting adoptive and fostering families. Her book, Love Me, Feed Me: The Adoptive Parent’s Guide to Ending the Worry About Weight, Picky Eating, Power Struggles and More is available on Amazon.com. Dr. Rowell teaches the importance of a healthy feeding relationship to health care providers, family therapists and childcare staff, and consults with corporate clients, nutrition education and public health projects.