Board of Directors
2022-23 Community Thread Board of Directors
Ted Wegleitner
Board Vice President, Community Volunteer
Ted has an undergraduate degree in Physical Education from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas. From 2014-2021, Ted was the President of Lakeview Hospital and the Executive Leader for the HealthPartners St. Croix Valley Hospitals and Clinics. In this role, Ted guided Lakeview Hospital and Stillwater Medical Group, and brought the St. Croix Valley hospitals and clinics together to optimize care and service.
Over the years Ted has served on several boards of directors including Normandale Community College Foundation, Westfields Hospital and Clinic, and Amery Hospital and Clinic. Other volunteer experience includes participating in the creation of the Greater Stillwater Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Development program and serving as a co-chair of the Social Concerns Committee at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Hudson, WI.
Ted lives in St. Joseph Township, Wisconsin, with his wife Maureen. He has three children and one grandchild.
Renae Pominville
Board Secretary, Community Volunteer
Renae is a graduate of Stillwater High School and Century College. Her volunteer experience includes St. Michaels Church as chair of the hospitality committee, the Stillwater Project Life Center, Knights of Columbus, and Relay for Life; she has also served as a Girl Scout Troup leader. Recently, Renae retired from Lake Elmo Bank as a Personal Banking Officer. She represented the bank at Boutwell’s Landing, providing notary services after normal business hours for nursing home and other senior residents. She was awarded the Tradition of Service Award by Lake Elmo Bank for her customer service in 2012. Renae and her husband Mark live in Stillwater and have two daughters.
Lowell Johnson
Community Volunteer
Lowell Johnson joins us with an impressive 36-year career in public service with Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment. Lowell’s community involvement includes coaching youth sports and volunteering for church activities. He currently serves as President of St. Paul Sons of Norway Lodge; as a member of the Lakeview Health Foundation Board; and Chair, Lakeview Health and Wellness Advisory Committee.
Cassandra Martin
VP of Midwest Sales, SAP
Cassandra Martin serves as the VP of Midwest Sales at SAP, a market leader in enterprise software. Her volunteer experience includes numerous nonprofits in the community (Community Thread; Valley Outreach; Hope House) and she has raised awareness and funding for a number of charitable causes (Special Olympics; ALS; and Breast Cancer Awareness) to name a selected few.
Judy Moseley
Community Volunteer
After a career at Regions Hospital, and the completion of her second Master’s degree from Augsburg University, Judy took a job in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As the Chief Nursing Officer, she was able to set the vision for nursing practice in the delivery of safe, timely, efficient, equitable and patient-centered care in an environment of sixty-two different nursing nationalities.
Judy’s volunteer experience includes organizing a group of US individuals to bring items to give to under-resourced Bedouins; a mitten drive where she makes approximately 100-150 mittens a season and donates them to multiple organizations; and volunteering to administer vaccines during the pandemic.
Judy is a resident of Woodbury
Nancy Fesler
Community Volunteer
Nancy holds degrees from St. Olaf College (undergraduate) and University of Wisconsin, River Falls (Masters). Her career spanned 40+ years as an educator, retiring from Woodbury High School as a school counselor.
Nancy’s community involvement includes Loaves & Fishes; Habitat for Humanity; TLC in Hastings offering pregnancy counseling, support and resources; and Shepherd of the Valley Church. She serves as a board member of YMCA Camp Widjiwagan located in Ely, Minnesota.
Nancy is a resident of Afton.
Sara Wagner
Board President, Community Volunteer
Sara graduated from St. Catherine University with a degree in Education. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota. After moving to Bayport in 1989, Sara taught in District 834 for several years.
Sara is a strong advocate for libraries. She has served on the Bayport Library Board since 2014, and is past president. Additionally, she recently served as the fundraising chair of the library’s capital campaign and she was a founding member of the Foundation for Bayport Public Library. Sara is also a volunteer at Valley Outreach, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and is active at Trinity Lutheran Church. Sara and her husband, Peter Clements, live in Bayport, and they have two adult children.
Richard McDonough
Real Estate Associate with Lakes Sotheby's International Realty
Richard earned a BS in Fine and Studio Arts from UW, River Falls. He has been a realtor for over 28 years. In 2018, Richard opened RM Realty, which proudly supported the schools, nonprofits and the local business community through a video series that they produced. Currently, Richard is a real estate associate at Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty. Richard lives with his wife Mimi in Stillwater.
Margaret Smith
Community Volunteer
Margaret Smith is a former 3M executive. In 2009, she started consulting under UXL, Creating Successful Leaders. Her volunteer experience includes leadership roles in the Catholic Worker Community; Women’s Business Bridge; Leadership in the Valley; as well as the Zephyr Theatre, the Church of St Michael and United Way Washington County – East.
Samantha Schindler
Scientific Project Manager, DiaSorin
Samantha is a graduate of UW, River Falls with a BS in Biotechnology. She is a Scientific Project Manager at DiaSorin. Samantha has volunteered extensively for Community Thread in addition to Valley Outreach, Feed myStarving Children, MN Academy of Science and Success Beyond the Classroom. She lives in White Bear Lake, MN.
Susannah Torseth
Community Volunteer
Susannah Torseth Foster graduated from Stillwater Area High School and attended St. Olaf College. While in college, she spent time in Costa Rica, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Italy, Cuba and South Africa. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Religion, Susannah attended Luther Seminary, where she earned a Master of Arts in Islamic Studies and traveled to China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. The combination of extensive travel and study taught her to appreciate the unique perspective each person and culture has to offer. After Seminary, Susannah attended law school at William Mitchell College of Law, graduating with a JD. She practices law at Galowitz Olson, PLLC and specializes in real estate law, estate planning, and municipal law.
Susannah is a member of the Stillwater Sunrise Rotary Club and served on the Family Means Board of Directors from 2016-2022. Currently, she serves as an Elder at First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater and also serves as a member of the Washington County Bar Association where she held the positions of Secretary, Vice President, and President.
Susannah is a resident of Stillwater
Kate Kasten
Board Treasurer, Andersen Corporation
Kate is a native of River Falls, Wisconsin and earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. She joined the Andersen Corporation in 1998, where she has worked in a number of positions involving accounting analysis. In her current role, she is involved in finance business improvements and transformation initiatives that ensure financial controls and fiduciary responsibility. One of her strengths is project management.
Kate’s volunteer service includes Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement, and Valley Outreach, serving on their Board of Directors. She currently leads the team at Andersen that supports our Holiday Hope program with sponsorships.
Sharon King
Senior Finance Director of Shared Services & Business Process Transformation, Andersen Corporation
Sharon has a BS in accounting from Metropolitan State University and a MBA from Cardinal Stritch University. She is also a graduate of the Executive Development Center at the University of Minnesota. Her volunteer work includes Community Thread (Holiday Hope), Junior Achievement, Habitat for Humanity, Bethlehem Lutheran Church and the United Way of Washington County. Sharon currently works at Andersen Corporation where she is the Director of Financial Shared Services, overseeing fiscal policies, programs and transactions in 12 distinct operations. She and her husband Patrick Deuschle live in Maplewood and have one son.
Bruce Stephan
Pinnacle Climate Technologies
Bruce Stephan brings broad experience to our board, from advertising to manufacturing to mid-market business development consulting. His current employer is Pinnacle Climate Technologies. Bruce’s volunteering experience includes serving on the board of a Home Owners Association, volunteering for Meals from the Heart, and Habitat for Humanity.
Diane Gustafson
Human Resources Manager, First State Bank and Trust
Diane earned a degree in Business Administration, and has spent three decades in Human Resources. She is proud to have made significant contributions to several industries throughout her career, with the banking sector being the primary focus for over 23 years. Her contributions include benefit and compensation analysis, employee development, and employment law compliance.
Beyond her professional life, she is currently training a service dog for Can Do Canines, an example of her commitment to enhancing the lives of those with disabilities. Her personal journey has also shaped her advocacy as the result of caring for a disabled daughter. Diane also has first-hand experience caring for an ailing parent, and appreciates the challenges faced by families and the significance that community volunteers offer by providing vital support.
Diane is a resident of Woodbury.