Welcome to our new Achieve Twin Cities staff members

We’re delighted to introduce several new members of the Achieve Twin Cities team, who bring a wide variety of backgrounds, expertise and experience to our organization.

Development Team

Emily Mauter
Director of Development

Emily is a fundraising, events and strategic operations leader, bringing ideas to life while engaging communities to support meaningful work. Born and raised in Detroit, Emily has served as director of development at Pollen Midwest, director of advancement at REPOWERED and events strategist at Hospitality Minnesota. She has worked in fundraising at local, regional and national levels and also brings experience in campaign analysis, fundraising event strategy and grant writing. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations from Michigan State University. Emily has taken the position previously held by Jennifer McGee, who has been promoted to vice president of advancement.

Jessica Cass
Development Database Specialist

With 20 years of nonprofit strategic and technical experience, Jess is passionate about utilizing data to generate resources that open doors for others. Jess is former development and communications associate at Can Do Canines, and prior to that worked at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School as marketing and communications manager, donor services and database manager, and development coordinator. She received her B.A. in journalism and mass communications from the University of Minnesota.

Career and College Readiness Team

Erin Kottke
Washburn High School Career and College Readiness Coordinator

Erin came to Achieve from Minneapolis College, where she worked as a TRIO advisor in the Education Opportunity Center and supported low-income and first-generation adult learners in navigating the college process. Erin holds a graduate certificate in career and college counseling from the University of Memphis and is a certified advisor for the National College Attainment Network. She earned her degree in English from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Tina Kue
North Community High School Career and College Readiness Coordinator

Tia has spent most of her career working with youth in employment, training, housing, and education at organizations such as Pillsbury United Communities, CAPI-USA, Oasis for Youth and Minnesota Opportunity Corps (AmeriCorps). She has extensive experience managing caseloads, planning and leading workshops and working with young people to connect their interests and skills to education and job opportunities. She received her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota-Moorhead and is completing her master’s degree in human resource management at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Gabrielle Brown Torres
Southwest High School Career and College Readiness Coordinator

Gabby recently worked in the admissions office at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where she was charged with recruiting African and African American students. In that role she discovered her love of supporting high school students as they explore their postsecondary options. Gabby also brings experience as a second-grade teacher at a Minneapolis charter school. She graduated from the U of MN with a degree in political science and minor studies in racial justice in urban schooling.

External Engagement

Christine Page
External Engagement Manager

Christine has joined the Achieve team in a brand-new position that was created to strengthen engagement with our many community partners. She brings several years of experience serving nonprofits from within the for-profit sector, first as a marketing professional and ultimately as a corporate social responsibility professional at a law firm. Christine serves on the board of directors for HandsOn Twin Cities and Twin Cities Co-op Partners. She is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University, where she earned a degree in communications and a minor in marketing.

Operations / Finance Team

Ra’Janae Ross-Gaines
Accounting Specialist

Ra'Janae joined the Achieve team with years of experience in customer service, accounting and sales. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in business administration and minor studies in entrepreneurship from Metropolitan State University, and is also starting her own nonprofit organization.

Bernetta Schadewald
Executive Assistant and Board Liaison

Step Up

Scott Koslowski
Step Up Employer Engagement Manager

Scott is an entrepreneur, strategic business development and sales professional with experience leading large-scale initiatives and projects in the ESL corporate education and solar energy development industries. With a passion for community, mapping data and problem-solving, he is enthusiastic about working with Step Up employers and youth participants. Scott lived in Bangkok, Thailand for eight years, where he worked with students and mentees from a wide variety of professional, ideological, religious and cultural backgrounds.

Eh Soe Dwe
Step Up Youth Services Assistant

Eh Soe is an artist and youth worker whose practice centers on themes of identity and community. She served as a teaching assistant for Saint Paul Public Schools, a cultural liaison for Saint Paul Public Libraries, and a community muralist and teaching artist. She is a graduate student in the University of Minnesota’s youth development and leadership M.Ed. program and is a past recipient of a Fullbright Teaching Assistant Program grant in Taiwan.

Theresa Hofeldt
Step Up Employer Engagement Assistant

Theresa is passionate about social justice, breaking down barriers and challenging systemic inequities.Before coming to Achieve Twin Cities, she served as an AmeriCorps member with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, building homes and community with volunteers. She is currently a graduate student at the University of St. Thomas, where she is pursuing a master's degree in leadership in student affairs.

Sumayo Saed
Step Up Employer Engagement Associate

As a Step Up alum, Sumayo wants to give back to her community and is excited to look for new and innovative ways to help our youth and employers have successful internships. She brings a background in product and data analytics, project management, systems optimization and collaborative problem solving. She earned her B.A. in management information systems from Augsburg University.