STAFF DIRECTORY

 

Emily M. Anderson

Director of Policy

Emily Anderson is a Program Director who focuses on point-of-sale policy work and clean outdoor air in parks and on college campuses. Since her first year at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Emily knew she wanted to work at a nonprofit and contribute to a greater good. After graduate school and stops at a few other nonprofits, she found her niche in public health policy and tobacco prevention at ANSR. Emily has supported dozens of Minnesota communities in passing tobacco-free parks policies and has worked closely with colleges and universities, including the University of Minnesota, in adopting tobacco-free campus policies. She advocated for a first-of-its-kind cigar pricing ordinance in Brooklyn Center. She has presented at several public health conferences, including the National Summit on Smokeless and Spit Tobacco and the National Conference on Tobacco or Health. Outside of work Emily enjoys spending time with her family in Minneapolis and heading into the great outdoors to bike, camp and skijor. While Minnesota is now home, she takes pride in teaching her two young daughters to say “Go, Pack, Go!”

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Jeanne Weigum

President

Jeanne Weigum has served as the President of ANSR since 1980, though her path to leading the organization for nearly four decades has somewhat humble roots. The Association for Nonsmokers’ Rights, as it was called at the time, was in the midst of fighting for the nation’s first statewide clean indoor air law in 1975. Jeanne saw an ad in a local paper about the association’s work and decided to become a member, which only cost $1. After becoming a member, Jeanne soon joined the ANSR board and eventually moved her way up to the full-time President, a role for which she has never taken a salary. From ground-breaking smoke-free housing work to innovative approaches to preventing youth tobacco use, she has provided strategic direction for numerous public policy wins in Minnesota. She remains deeply committed to enhancing public health and her community. When not fighting the good fight at ANSR, you’ll find Jeanne baking in the winter, gardening in the spring and summer, and up to her ankles in rescue dogs year round.

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Jack Ayim

Policy & Community Outreach Coordinator

Jack Ayim, is a Policy & Community Outreach Coordinator. In this role, Jack works in the field of tobacco prevention with a focus on policy work involving youth and young adult tobacco prevention and coordinating community partners and contractors. As a community outreach coordinator, Jack works on a variety of projects, such as promoting smoke-free multi-unit housing in Minnesota. He also develops and maintains databases. He has more than nine years extensive experience working with statewide and local community agencies/coalitions from various ethnic communities and priority populations in Minnesota to advocate for policies that would restrict tobacco point of sale and use of tobacco products. Before joining ANSR, Jack participated in advocating for a bill that increased Minnesota’s tobacco sales tax by $1.60, and a bill that restricted the use of tobacco products in foster care homes in Minnesota. While out of office, Jack likes to watch TED talks and TPT, and listen to BBC World Service Science in action and BBC World Service Discovery podcasts.

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Katie Engman

Program Director
Policy & Compliance

Katie H. Engman is a Program Director. Since 2002, Katie has coordinated and supported diverse school- and community-based tobacco prevention programming and advocacy work. Katie is currently working to reduce the amount of tobacco advertising and marketing aimed at youth. Much of Katie’s career has been focused on youth prevention, education, advocacy and engagement resulting in national awards for students. Some of her policy accomplishments include: numerous tobacco-free park policies, a smoke-free workplace ordinance in Ramsey County, an imitation tobacco ordinance and sign ordinance updates in St. Paul, flavored tobacco restrictions in multiple metro communities, numerous city ordinance updates to reflect the changing landscape of tobacco. She also directs the North Suburban Tobacco Compliance Project working to reduce youth access to commercial sources of tobacco. This is a one of a kind model with coordination with cities, law enforcement and youth. Outside the office one might find Katie in the middle of a lake, having arrived there via swimming, boating, or paddling. She also enjoys planning family adventures, such as trips to the beach and cheering on her kids at their activities.

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Jackie Siewert

Program Director
Live Smoke Free

Jackie Siewert is the Program Director for the Live Smoke Free Program. Jackie joined the ANSR team in 2014 with a background in property management and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota. As Program Director for the Live Smoke Free program she works with local and national stakeholders, such as renters, homeowners, property managers, property owners, and public health advocates, to educate decision makers and promote smoke-free housing. Jackie has supported hundreds of multi-housing properties in adopting smoke-free policies, developed numerous educational tools and resources, and spoken at many health and housing events. Jackie also manages Live Smoke Free communications, including quarterly newsletters, social media, and website content. Inside Jackie’s office one will find a variety of cacti and vining plants. In her spare time, Jackie enjoys running, biking, art festivals, and cats.

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Kara Skahen

Program Director
Minnesota Prevention Resource Center

Kara serves as the Project Director for the Minnesota Prevention Resource Center (MPRC). In her role she provides programmatic oversight and manages administrative duties. Kara has worked in public health prevention for over ten years, primarily in commercial tobacco prevention. Kara is also a Program Director for the Association for Nonsmokers-MN where she leads smoke-free housing policy initiatives and provides tobacco technical assistance to Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) grantees. Outside of work Kara enjoys running with her dog, cooking, reading, and gardening. Kara has a Master of Social Work and Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities.

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Jason Lind

Director of Finance

Jason Lind is ANSR’s Director of Finance. He joined ANSR in 2020 and has more than 16 years of accounting experience, including six in the nonprofit world. Jason helps manage the overall ANSR budget and helps each program budget spend appropriately. He is passionate about technology and enjoys teaching and discussing tech of almost any kind. Personally, he enjoys going for long walk-and-talks with his wife and throwing not-so-perfect spirals to his twin boys.

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Molly Schmidtke

Community Outreach Coordinator

Molly Schmidtke is a Community Outreach Coordinator. In this role, Molly is responsible for conducting outreach and education events, supporting youth policy and advocacy efforts, and supporting all other ANSR tobacco prevention efforts. Some of her accomplishments include: multiple flavored commercial tobacco restrictions in MN communities, working with youth to create, disseminate and evaluate vaping prevalence surveys with youth partners, as well as creating and disseminating a toolkit focused on the environmental impacts of commercial tobacco products. She has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in Public Health – Community Health Education and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Health degree at the University of Minnesota. She is passionate about many public health topics, such as health equity, policy and advocacy. Outside of work, Molly loves to be out on the Mississippi River, cooking, and watching the Minnesota Wild.

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Esha Seth

Director of Technical Assistance

Esha Seth serves as the Technical Assistance Program Coordinator. In her role, Esha works with county health departments across the state and community organizations that represent various diverse communities to provide resources and guidance on their tobacco prevention initiatives in schools, worksites, grounds, parks, and point of sale policy initiatives. During her time at ANSR, Esha has worked on developing relationships with individuals and provides guidance and resources to assist with the implementation and enforcement of tobacco prevention policies and initiatives. Esha has also worked to help create the free online retailer training that helps educate tobacco retailers on state laws on selling tobacco. Most recently, Esha worked with the Isanti County public health department and their local substance abuse prevention coalition to increase the tobacco sales age from 18 to 21 for all licensed tobacco retailers in the county. Esha is currently working on wrapping up her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Minnesota. Outside of school and work, Esha enjoys travelling and is making travel plans for her next big adventure around the world.

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Christopher Smith

Community Policy Advocate

Chris started at ANSR as a contracted Campaign Organizer in 2020 and officially joined the team as a Community Policy Advocate in 2022. Chris enjoys connecting communities with lawmakers and city leadership. He believes that community engagement is key to developing sound equitable policies. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s in advocacy and political leadership -both from Metropolitan State University. He comes to ANSR with a breadth of community organizing experience, from working closely with faith communities as a congregational organizer, to field organizing during numerous election cycles for political and issue campaigns. At ANSR Chris is focused on local tobacco prevention policy at point of sale and smoke-free housing. While not working in the office, Chris spends much of his time biking, developing bikepacking routes for his next adventure, and cheering on the St. Paul Saints with friends and family. Chris is a downtown St. Paul resident and considers himself to be an “armchair Urbanist” since he often criticizes street design, even though he does not hold a degree in engineering or urban planning.

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Madeline Bremel

Events Manager

Madeline is the Events Manager for the Minnesota Prevention Resource Center, and is responsible for planning and coordinating MPRC events, including the annual MN Prevention Program Sharing Conference, and supporting MPRC’s technical assistance and communications needs. Madeline has worked in Public Health in Minnesota, Oregon, and New Mexico, and has found a niche doing planning, organization, and communication-related work at the systems level. Madeline has an MPH from Oregon State University in Health Promotion and Health Behavior. Outside of work you might find Madeline cross-country skiing, crafting, or studying her dog, Pearl’s, personality.

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Kayla Baker

Regional Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Prevention Coordinator
MN Metro – Region 7

Kayla is the Metro Regional Prevention Coordinator, which she works with coalitions and communities to promote substance misuse prevention. Kayla has her Bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education from North Dakota State University, and her Master’s degree in Wellness and Health Promotion Management from Nebraska Methodist College. She is also a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). Prior to becoming a Regional Prevention Coordinator, Kayla spent time working in various health related roles including chemical and mental health, Responsible Beverage Server Training (RBST), alcohol compliance checks, diabetes prevention, and most recently, COVID-19. During her free time Kayla enjoys hiking, baking, and crocheting.

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Curtis Neff

Campaign Organizer

Curtis is the Campaign Organizer working to end the sale of flavor tobacco products in
Minnesota. Much of his work is focused on recruiting community partners to educate and advocate for this change. Curtis comes
to ANSR from a long career in organized labor and activism. He is a graduate of Iowa State
University with a BS in Political Science. Outside of work he collects vinyl from
many genres and enjoys a quiet life in St. Paul.

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Morgan Hamernik

Administrative and Communications Specialist

Morgan Hamernik is an Administrative and Communications Specialist. She joined the ANSR team in 2023 and is responsible for managing the organization’s social media accounts, writing newsletters, and supporting the staff’s education and advocacy efforts. She recently graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a BA in English and a minor in public health. Morgan is passionate about digital accessibility, inclusive health communication, and public libraries. Outside of work, you will likely find Morgan cheering on the Packers or playing with her dog, Happy.

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