PFund’s Board of Directors

LM Brimmer (they/them) is a writer, teacher, and CEO of 66 Wands Consulting. They were born in southern Wisconsin and now live in Minneapolis, MN in Mni-sota Makoce, the traditional homelands of the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples. They have held interim-executive leadership roles at The Cedar Cultural Center and In The Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre and have previous management experience with Intermedia Arts and The Ordway Center for Performing Arts. In 2019, they co-edited the anthology Queer Voices: Poetry, Prose and Pride (MNHS Press). Their essays and poetry have appeared in various publications, including The Public Art Review, Quarterly West, and Pleiades Literature in Context. They hold an MFA from Randolph College and MA from University of St. Thomas and teach in the English Department at Century College and Arts and Cultural Leadership Department of the Master's of Professional Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. You can find them on social media as @leesuhmaroon & @66wandsllc

Joseph brings significant experience in the philanthropic sector as a philanthropic advisor, a leader of foundations, and a fundraising strategist focused on building and implementing comprehensive campaigns, including for major universities and one of the country’s largest HIV/AIDS service organizations. He serves as managing director at Arabella Advisors where he works nationally with leading philanthropists and changemakers to realize transformative philanthropic impact across a wide variety of issue areas.

In his free time, Joseph has been a strong supporter of the LGBTQ community and a volunteer to organizations dedicated to making Milwaukee a more inclusive and equitable place. In 2016, he co-founded Miltown LGBT Families (now Out Families), an organization that builds community among LGBTQ led families. The organization has seen tremendous growth and now serves hundreds of families across WI, as well as in nearby states. He also serves on the board of the Cream City Foundation, Southeastern Wisconsin's LGBTQ foundation.

Joseph holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lawrence University in psychology and education studies, a master’s in public administration from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in nonprofit management and leadership, and a master’s in business administration from Marquette University. Additionally, he is a chartered advisor in philanthropy and a certified fundraising executive. Joseph is passionate about issues related to education, economic mobility, and LGBTQ equity and inclusion. He lives on Milwaukee’s East Side with his husband and son.

Drawing from nearly 25 years of communications and fundraising experience in abortion access, queer, trans, racial and social justice, and health-related nonprofits, Wen gets things done and brings people on board.

Wen has provided communications consulting services to Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Surrogacy 360, Seeding Labs, Abortion Care Network, Jewish Children and Family Services, the United States arm of the United Nations Refugee Agency, and many more organizations. They are one of the key architects for the National Network of Abortion Funds nation-wide fund-a-thon, which raises over $2 million annually, and a co-founder of the Pride Collective and Community Center in Fargo, North Dakota — the only LGBTQ community center in the state of North Dakota.

Besides serving on PFund’s Board, Wen also sits on the Healthcare Reparations Cooperative Financial Advisory Council. In their free time, Wen hangs out with their fabulous family and truly believes the key to effective communication is simply listening.

Austin (he/they) strives to make meaningful, positive change in their community. He currently works for the University of Minnesota, and is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Austin volunteers at Westminster Presbyterian Church as a youth group leader. He also helps coordinate the Fairshare Farm community garden in Minneapolis. In their free time, they enjoy reading, listening to classical music, hanging with friends, and exploring new cities, towns, and state parks.

With over 17 years of nonprofit leadership experience, Alissa is an adaptive and heart-connected strategist partnering with change agents in the nonprofit sector. She lives in Minneapolis, with her partner Crystal, two kids Ada & Perrin, and dog Cookie. Alissa is the President & CEO of The Bakken Museum, a change agent sparking inquiry-based mindsets and supporting inclusive full participation in STEM.

Noah is a proud queer Filipino Iowan originally from Cedar Rapids. He currently attends Northeastern University in Boston, majoring in criminal justice and sociology on a pre-law track.

From a young age, Noah has worked to advocate for his communities, including lobbying to ban conversion therapy in his home town, fighting anti-Asian racism during the pandemic, and serving as a DEI advocate at a law firm in New York City.

Noah is a past and current PFund scholar and is eager to serve improve the lives of queer people in the region as a PFund board member. Outside of advocacy, Noah loves traveling, going to SoulCycle, and spending time with family and friends.

Dr. Brent Opall is a strategist, researcher, and professor at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in the department of Management and Leadership Programs (MLP). He earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the University of Minnesota in Organizational Leadership and Policy Development.

Brent is passionate about teaching, earning several awards including the Chuck Tomkovick Teaching Excellence, University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium Outstanding Faculty, and the Carlson School's Commitment to Excellence Award. His research focuses on ways organizations create value for stakeholders through strategic planning. As a consultant, Dr. Opall has worked for both profit and nonprofit firms to develop and implement organizational strategy.

A Wisconsin native, he resides in River Falls with his husband. His hobbies include exhibiting Bulldogs at AKC conformation shows, playing hockey, and spending time at the family cabin.

Sara Radjenovic works at the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Foundation as a senior manager for email and web. Sara has multiple master’s degrees and over ten years of experience in digital and email marketing. Prior to that, she spent nearly a decade working for women- and social justice-focused nonprofit organizations in the Twin Cities, Washington D.C., and New York.

Sara's journey to PFund Foundation began many years ago when she served on a scholarship committee. She firmly believes in PFund Foundation's mission and is excited to be part of creating real, lasting change. Sara lives in South Minneapolis with her wife (Lisa) and dog (Juniper). She enjoys traveling, reading, writing, weightlifting and hiking.

Becky Smith has worked to advance social justice through strategic communications and leadership across movements for almost two decades. Most recently, she spent eight years as the Communications Director at Violence Free Minnesota and served as Interim Executive Director for the last six months of her tenure with the organization. Becky brings over ten years of experience serving on nonprofit boards in her role as the president of the PFund Foundation board of directors.

Chris Stedman is a writer, activist, podcaster, and professor who teaches in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN.

He is the author of IRL (2020) and Faitheist (2012), and the creator, writer, and host of Unread, named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by the Guardian, Vulture, HuffPost, Mashable, and the CBC. Additionally, Unread was honored by the 2022 Webby Awards for its writing, and cited by The Trevor Project as a resource with “an ultimately life-preserving lesson that we hope every young LGBTQ person is able to learn.”

Chris is deeply passionate about PFund's mission to offer direct financial support to LGBTQIA midwesterners; in fact, as a young queer Minnesotan seeking to self-fund his college education a couple of decades ago, he received a PFund scholarship himself. You can learn more about Chris and his work at chrisstedmanwriter.com.

Linda grew up in a small town in Northeast Iowa, leaving there to attend the College of St. Catherine (now St. Catherine University) and graduating with a B.A. in social work. Knowing she wanted to go further with her education, Linda graduated from University of Minnesota Law School.

Linda spent a decade doing litigation in private practice with a Minneapolis law firm. Looking to work in a more supportive and inclusive role, Linda then pivoted and spent the next 23 years working in the HealthPartners law department, practicing primarily in employment law. Now retired, Linda likes to spend her free time reading, doing yard work, reading, and relaxing with her wife and two dogs.

Lynelle Wood became aware of PFund Foundation a few years ago and immediately fell in love with the organization.

Lynelle currently works for HealthPartners in human resources, focusing on labor and employee relations. Prior to HealthPartners, Lynelle worked for the state of Minnesota in labor relations.

Lynelle has served previously on the boards of multiple nonprofit organizations, including Family Tree Clinic. Lynelle also actively volunteers for a variety of organizations across the Twin Cities and enjoys travellng and hiking.