Meet our Board Members
Terry McGann (co-chair)
Retired, former owner and CEO of Amano McGann, Inc.
“When I got my first real job, I was starving on a $75.00 a week salary and trying to support my wife and new baby. On Christmas Eve, I received a small package from my boss, and inside was a check for $1,000! That gift was a turning point in my life. It gave me the economic lift that allowed me to stay with that job long enough to learn how to sell, and eventually make a good life for my family. It also told me that my boss believed in me, and that emotional lift was even more important to my future. Doesn’t that sound like a MicroGrants story?”
Joe Selvaggio (co-chair)
Founder of PPL, The 1% Club and MicroGrants
“These $1000 microgrants” are not ‘transfers of wealth’, but life-changing investments from the ‘haves’ to the ‘have-nots’ of potential. I hope we can educate more ‘haves’ to make this productive investment. I know of no better use for money.”
Jim Weichert (treasurer)
Retired, former partner with Deloitte & Touche
“I served privately held businesses and their owners for 39 years. I was indeed blessed with many long-term clients who are very successful and believe in giving back to the community. I am quite impressed with the mission and am an avid supporter of helping individuals who want to improve their lot in life. In a nutshell, I bring a financial background, board guidance skills and fundraising awareness to the MicroGrants Board.”
Tom Rock (secretary)
General Counsel, CCO and COO at EBF & Associates, LLP
“Not a day goes by when I don’t shake my head at the vast income disparity between rich and poor. So often large, well-funded programs fail to get the money, or aid to the right pocket. The beauty of MicroGrants is that it recognizes the strength of helping one person at a time [and] it builds competence and confidence in the people being served. I also like to back winners, and Joe, you are a proven winner. MicroGrants has a bright future. I am eager to help advance its mission.”
Alexia Diorio
Alexia is a senior at Macalester and recent MG intern. “Throughout my time as an intern for MicroGrants I learned a lot about the organization and have seen how this model does truly help people each year. The organization is young and will continue to grow and improve. I am interested in being on the Board of Directors so I may help with this process. I hope my studies, my experience as an MG intern, and the fact that I am (in Joe’s words) a “certified young person” will allow me to contribute to the organization in a meaningful way”.
James J. Graves
Jim Graves is the President and CEO of Graves Hospitality, a Minneapolis-based real estate development and management company he founded in 1979. A native of St. Cloud, Minnesota, Jim Graves has served on numerous non-profit boards, including United Way of Central Minnesota, St. Cloud Advisory Council, St. Cloud State University President’s Board, St. Benedicts Development Board, and is presently a trustee of the College of St Benedict in St. Joseph, MN. Jim Graves is currently running for 6th District U.S. Congress.
Jeff Heegaard
Jeff is a partner with CoCo, a co-working collaborative dedicated to fostering a community of entrepreneurs enthusiastic about creating jobs and accelerating economic growth. “I want to be on the board of MicroGrants because it continues to meet pressing human needs quickly, and in a way that is simple, elegant and efficient. And, MicroGrants has all the elements of a highly successful venture that can be replicated and scaled to grow.”
Berit Johnson
Berit is Product Marketing Manager at Dell Compellent. “During the summer of 2008, I had the opportunity to intern at MicroGrants. I met one-on-one with many grant recipients, giving me a special insight into the process and allowing me to bring an important perspective to the board. As someone with an economic background, I can also help drive efficiency to ensure that MicroGrants maintains the level of effectiveness it has already proven over the years”.
Jim Scheibel
Jim is an executive in Residence at Hamline University. He is also on the Leadership Council for OpportunityNation. “Throughout my career, I have been an advocate for economic opportunity for all, serving as a community organizer, St Paul Councilmember, Director of VISTA and the Senior Corps, executive of nonprofits and former Mayor of Saint Paul. I believe in providing people with tools so they can obtain economic opportunity, and develop their voice and unite for power. I support MicroGrants because working for the Common Good and social justice are core to the organization”.
Chuck Garrity
Chuck is founder and former CEO of Intelligent Financial Strategies. “It is easy to be a fan and follower of Joe Selvaggio, because his ideas are good–and they work. Now, MicroGrants — helping people of potential to move up the “stairs of success” with a high efficiency of fund use and measurable results — is attractive to my wife, Arlene and me. A recent article says that since 50,000 BC, there have been 108 billion people inhabiting the earth (7 billion today). Living in the 21st century, in the USA; how favored are we? I think probably in the top 1/10 of 1%.”
Sam Selvaggio
Sam is an independent advertising sales representative, one of the original MicroGrants board member and the son of Joe Selvaggio, our founder. Sam comments, “I am excited to be part of a non-profit that has a direct and immediate effect on lifting ‘people of potential’ out of poverty.” Sam has also worked with other Minneapolis-based non-profits such as Bolder Options and Soo Visual Arts Center (SOOVac).
Mitch Pearlstein
Mitch is President of Center of the American Experiment. “I’ve long been a fan of micro grants, albeit primarily as used in less economically prodigious parts of the world. I suspect it never adequately occurred to me that comparably modest sums could be put to such productive commercial use in the most affluent nation. I stand happily corrected and eager to join in helping people to build on talents and realize dreams they quite possibly never knew they had”.
Kimberly Stokes
Kim is VP of Compliance for American Bank’s 18 offices across northern Minnesota. “I like how MicroGrants complements its partner agencies and does not compete with them. I’m impressed by the way it looks at each contribution as an investment in the future. I have been fortunate to have others who invested in me in my life –whether it was a school loan, scholarship or a chance at a job. I especially like the idea of helping to grow Microgrants in northeastern Minnesota”.
