Mark Bachman, president
Mark (WHS class of ’91) is a proud Washburn alumnus, lives in the neighborhood, and is the parent of three Miller students. Mark joined the Board in January 2009 and has served as President since that time. He believes that having a thriving, vibrant, public high school is a true cornerstone of a successful community and is excited to be working with such a committed, talented, and fun group of Miller supporters to help ensure Washburn’s continued success!
Jeremy Graff, treasurer
Jeremy is what some would call a “Triple Threat” for the Foundation. Not only did he graduate from Washburn (WHS class of ’93), he also lives in Tangletown, and has two current Millers and a recent Miller graduate. He bleeds orange and blue. Jeremy joined the Board and has served as Treasurer since 2009. His reason for joining the Board was, and is, to help make WHS a great community high school.
John McCreary, secretary
John (WHS class of ’80) is the current Librarian at Washburn, and he has worked at Washburn for 12 years. He joined the Washburn Foundation in 2015 and manages the foundation website. He has two uncles and one aunt, and three siblings who graduated from Washburn. He and his wife have raised three children who attended the Minneapolis Public Schools, one of whom attended Washburn. Being on the board is one small way to say thank you to the many Washburn teachers and coaches that helped him along the way.
Lisa Swanson Quist, board manager
Lisa (WHS class of ’80) comes to the Washburn Foundation Board as an alumni, co-chair of the Washburn Parent Council from 2013-2016, former member of the Washburn Site Council and active school and community volunteer. Lisa joined the board in 2015 and serves as the board manager. Her two adult children are both graduates of Washburn.
Jared Brewington, board member
Jared (WHS class of ’96) has an extensive food-service, business and philanthropic history. He is the founder of food brands Funky Grits, Thigh Times Birdhouse, Cologne House Cafe, and Official Fried Chicken. In addition to years in the restaurant industry, Jared is a commercial property investor, community leader and youth mentor. Born and raised in South Minneapolis in a 4 generation home, Jared is a part of the rich legacy of African American entrepreneurs from South Minneapolis. His great-grandfather was one of the first black realtors in MN and his father is a serial entrepreneur and business leader. Jared has focused his support toward young adults in their efforts to find their place in the world of business ownership and entrepreneurship.
Mike Wedl, board member
Mike Wedl (Class of ’89) is a Miller through and through. As a WHS student Mike was the editorial columnist on the Grist, and the VP of the Student Council. Mike’s brother, three children, two cousins, and an uncle are Millers, he serves on the Washburn Site Council (2014 – 2021), his mother’s maiden name is Miller and his initials are even MW. He truly loves our school and the community and believes that volunteering and giving back is not just a good deed, but a responsibility. Mike joined the Foundation Board in 2019, and he is leading the Washburn 100 year celebration which will happen in 2025.
Kevin Yellick, board member
Originally a cheese head, Kevin and his wife Deanna have called the Hale-Field neighborhood home for over 25 years. His oldest son Parker began his WHS career in 2016 which thrilled his grandfather who grew up block from Kevin and Deanna’s current home and graduated WHS in 1948! Kevin owns Meritor Technology, a computer and networking firm on Chicago Ave. He and his staff use their experience and tech savvy to maintain the back-end technology that runs the foundation.
Aaron Cherveny, board member
Aaron has two students who attend Washburn and participate in athletics and theater. He joined the Foundation Board in 2019. He brings skills in Team Leadership, Management, Sales, Retail, Product Innovation, and Strategic Planning. His sons Will, class of 2026, and Finn, class of 2024 are on the Alpine ski team. Fill also appeared in the award winning musical, Spring Awakening, in 2022.
Cary Percy, board member
As a Washburn alumnus and parent, I believe Washburn truly provides the best, most well-rounded high school experience in Minneapolis, creating a home for and supporting every type of student, so it was a priority for our family to buy our house in the WHS attendance area and ensure our kids could attend and receive the same experience! Along with my husband and WHS classmate, Aaron (class of 1992), we have a graduate (Cecilia ’23) and a junior (Charlotte ’25) at WHS, with the youngest on his way in a few years (Jonah ’30)- but also 4 nieces and nephews that attend or will attend WHS in the next 3 years. My kids have participated in athletics (soccer, swimming, basketball), the arts (choir, theater), student clubs (math team, chess club, Asian Student Union, Jewish Student Union), International Baccalaureate, NHS; add in the varied interests of their friends and my nieces and nephews, and I think our family knows someone in every single activity or program at WHS!
————————Past board members—————————
Gwenn Branstad, past board secretary
Gwenn has lived in the immediate Washburn neighborhood since 1991. The first draw to Washburn were the field lights on Friday night. The experience of walking her 3 sons to football games, sitting in the stands with neighbors and tossing the ball in the end zone made Washburn the natural choice when “shopping” for high school. Now the mother of three recent Washburn High School Graduates, Gwenn looks forward to attending Washburn events for many years to come. She has been a member of the Foundation Board since 2009, and currently serves as the Secretary.
Vicki Bunker, past board member
Vicki is an alumna from the Washburn High School class of 1966. She joined the Board in January, 2010 and has enjoyed watching the school evolve with increasing excellence each year. Every time she enters the building, she feels the nostalgia along with the Miller Pride!
Julie Erickson, past board member
Julie serves as one of the WAC (Washburn Arts Council) Liaisons to the WHS Foundation. She has served as a member of WAC for two years and the Liaison for one year. She currently has two children at Washburn who have both been involved in the technical aspects of musical and theater productions. She has a daughter who is already preparing for musical theater roles, and is a future Miller.
Erica Lebens-Englund, past board member
Erica has two sons who have attended Washburn and has served on the board since 2015. She is the Parent Liaison at Washburn High School and is a lead on the school communications team. She is a strong advocate for public education. She has led the Washburn Cares project that collects donations and raises money to provide warm winter jackets, gift cards, senior pictures, yearbooks and other things for students and families in need.
Steph Smith, past board member
Steph has been an advocate for and a fan of WHS before her kids attended. She knew we needed another viable school in our SW neighborhood when her 21 yr old son was in kindergarten at Hale Elementary. Steph has graduated 2 sons from Washburn and is in the process of seeing 2 more through. She has served on the WHS Site Council and Foundation Board for the past four years. She works as a youth director at a local church and therefore, interacts with numerous Millers at work and at home.
Linda Conley, board member
Linda Conley retired from the Minneapolis Public Schools as Assistant Principal at Washburn in 2016. She was a French teacher at South High, a school counselor at South, and finally an administrator at Washburn High School for the last eight years of her career. Linda has two children who are ’86 and ’88 graduates of Washburn and she proudly refers to herself as a Miller. Linda joined the Foundation in the fall of 2016 and is passionate about maintaining connections with the Washburn community and co-administering the mini-grant program.
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Carolyn Stark, board member
Carolyn has had three children graduate from Washburn and has served on the board since 2015. She has volunteered on volleyball booster committees, and been a great advocate for building strong athletics and academics at Washburn.
C.C. Strom, board member
C.C. joined the Washburn Foundation board of directors in 2015. In her professional life, she’s a communications manager for a nonprofit organization. She has a daughter and a son who graduated from Washburn. The daughter of a former Washburn chemistry teacher, she also worked in the Community Education office more years ago than she’d like to admit.
Front row: Linda Conley, Jeremy Graff, Mark Bachman, Jared Brewington, Principal Emily Palmer, John McCreary
Back row: Danielle van der Hoef, Lisa Quist, Kevin Yellick, Tina Ham-Peterson, Aaron Cherveny
