2025 Board of Directors Candidates
President-Elect
Grete Lavrenz, APR
As general manager, Grete runs day-to-day operations of the New York and Minneapolis offices of Carmichael Lynch Relate ensuring staff has the resources needed and each team is producing the very best work for each client. She has a history of success reinvigorating brands and getting existing audiences to reappraise them while acquiring new audiences, changing perceptions and leading to strong business results and engagement. Grete’s portfolio of work has been recognized by the PR industry’s PRWeek, PRSA, PR News and SABRE awards. Grete currently serves on the Board of Directors for Minnesota PRSA.
Treasurer/Secretary
Emily Tackaberry, APR
Emily Tackaberry is a communications strategist and practitioner with nearly 15 years’ experience in the healthcare sector. She has managed executive communications, change management, crisis communications, public relations, employee communication and engagement and business continuity.
Emily is a proven leader in creating and developing award-winning and collaborative teams while managing strong, cross-functional relationships across a company to achieve common goals. She has held previous roles at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Prime Therapeutics, AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy and Walgreens.
Emily is a certified change practitioner through Prosci and has earned her Accreditation in Public Relations from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). She also serves on the Gold Award Scholarship committee and the Board Development Committee for Girl Scouts River Valley.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
Sarah Bhimani
Sarah Bhimani is the Strategic Communications Manager at Animal Humane Society where she leads the organization’s internal communications and PR functions. She has 15 years of experience in internal and external communications and public relations for nonprofit, for-profit and government sectors. She began her professional career as an AmeriCorps VISTA. Sarah has been a PRSA member since 2019, has served on the chapter's DEI Committee since 2022 and was appointed 2024 DEI Committee co-chair. She also volunteers with We Can Ride, a therapeutic horseback riding nonprofit organization.
Director
Ryan Baird
As lead of Weber Shandwick’s Minneapolis Healthcare practice, Ryan brings extensive knowledge and experience in regulated medical industries.
His work encompasses product and issues-related communications support for publicly traded biotechnology and medical device clients, as well as hospitals and health systems. This includes strategic support for FDA approvals and product launches in U.S. and international markets, as well as disease awareness education and community stakeholder engagement. Ryan has led comprehensive earned, owned and social communications for pivotal clinical trial readouts as well as coordinated data presentations and publications around major medical congresses. His work has spanned disease areas including hematology oncology, Alzheimer’s and rare disorders.
Ryan previously served as the Director of Communications for The Medical Alley Association, the nation’s largest state-based industry association for medical device, biopharmaceutical, diagnostic and digital health organizations. For 10 years he led communications, media relations and marketing for the association.
Ryan’s areas of expertise range from traditional public relations to federal and state public affairs. His work has covered research publicity, issues management, campaign marketing, disease awareness, crisis communications and more.
He holds dual bachelor’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame.
Director
Adrienne Foley, APR
Adrienne Foley, APR, is an accomplished marketing and communications professional with over 25 years of experience in internal and external healthcare marketing and communications. She has worked in both agency and corporate settings and has provided solutions in various capacities for hospitals, health care organizations, physician groups, health insurance companies and currently pharmacy, as a member of the corporate communications team at Walgreens.
Adrienne has been a member of Minnesota PRSA since 2018. She has served as APR Committee Chair from 2023-2024 and is a two-time recipient of a Minnesota PRSA Classics Award in the Reputation, Brand Management & Institutional Programs category (2022 & 2023), awarded for a corporate blog launch and a company rebrand, respectively. Adrienne lives in Eagan, Minn.
Director
Amie Hoffner
Amie Hoffner is the vice president of corporate communications at American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ), the parent company of more than 7,500 DQ restaurants in 20 countries. In this role, Hoffner leads a team of corporate communications and meetings, events and travel practitioners responsible for managing the company’s reputation worldwide.
Prior to her time at ADQ, she led corporate communications, financial education and meetings, events and travel at TCF Bank. Hoffner also worked in communications at Target Corporation, Nexstar Broadcasting, Corel Corporation, Primera Technology and Weber Shandwick. She began her career in broadcast journalism working in the investigative reporting unit at WCCO-TV and as a reporter and anchor at KCCO-TV.
Hoffner also teaches in the Professional M.A. in Strategic Communication program in the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, and has served as a national PRSA Silver Anvil Awards judge.
She has won several professional awards, including national PRSA and SABRE awards in integrated communications and social marketing.
Hoffner holds a master’s degree in communications management from Syracuse University and bachelor’s degrees in communications and women’s studies from Hamline University.
Director
Dan Jasper
With great respect for the history of Mall of America and the impact it has had on our region, Dan leads the MOA teams whose responsibility and focus is to share those stories in an authentic and responsible manner. These areas include public and media relations, social media, community relations, international and domestic tourism, as well as the Mall’s communication hub ESP (Enhanced Service Portal), His other responsibilities include the overall communications strategy for the Mall, crisis communications management, public affairs, building strong national, regional, and local media connections, and serving as primary spokesperson.
Dan serves as senior executive leading communications and related areas within the marketing group. He also advises sister properties American Dream NJ and West Edmonton Mall on strategic communication issues.
Director
Rico Paul Vallejos
Rico Paul Vallejos is an award-winning creative director, advertising copywriter and journalistic feature writer. He is Chief Creative Officer at RicoLatino LLC and has taught Multicultural Communications at the University of St. Thomas’ Master of International Management program (Graduate School of Business). He presents regularly on language, culture and DEI+ topics at marketing conferences, in corporate and educational settings and for professional associations and community groups. He studied cultural anthropology and sociolinguistics in England and Spain, doing fieldwork in the Caribbean and South America.
Rico Paul was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, lives in Wayzata, Minn., and has designed a Conversational Spanish Coaching service around the concepts of Neuroplasticity and Natural Language Acquisition. He is Trustee Emeritus at Hamline University, a Certified Trainer with the Hispanic Wealth Project and has extensive experience in nonprofit governance. His current board service is with Afton Press.
World cultures and languages are two constants in his life, as well as travel, usually to places where he can at least fake the local language. He's fully bilingual in American English and Latin American Spanish, learned some French in school and Portuguese in Brazil and over the years picked up a little Finnish, Italian and biblical Hebrew and Greek.