Meet Your Executive Committee

The USM Executive Committee makes up the governance structure of our union. Our elected officials are listed below.

Maureen (Mac) Fourre

President

Maureen (Mac) was elected President in 2021. Since starting at Education Minnesota in 2001 she's worked as the negotiations assistant. She has been involved in the union for most of her time in different roles including bargaining team member, treasurer, and vice president. Her interests include true crime and crime mystery books and podcasts, which help with the drive from North Branch where she lives with her husband and two dogs. She also loves to spend time with her two daughters Rylie and Delaynie.

Contact Mac at mrfourre@gmail.com

Sam Jasenosky

Vice President

Sam (she/her) was appointed Vice President in November 2021 and elected in 2023. After starting at Education Minnesota in 2015 as an assistant in the policy department, Sam took on a few different roles, including temporary campaign digital organizer, and she currently serves as the organizing assistant. In her spare time she likes to collect indie nail polish and watch reality TV with her husband. She's a first-generation homeowner in St. Paul with her husband and three cats, Fox, Squid, and Maple.

Contact Sam at sjasenosky@gmail.com

Rhonda Hopkins

Treasurer

Rhonda was appointed USM's Treasurer in 2011. She has worked for Education Minnesota (first for the Minnesota Federation of Teachers - MFT) for over 26 years. All of those years have been spent in the Detroit Lakes (formerly Dilworth) field office. She was USM's Northern Area Director for many years before being elected Treasurer. She has been involved with bargaining USM's contract for over 20 years and is currently Bargaining Chair.

Contact Rhonda at usm4em@yahoo.com

Stephanie Berg

Secretary

Stephanie was elected Secretary in September 2015. Since October 2019, she has worked as an Office and Events Specialist in the ESI department. Prior to that, she worked as an Accounting Specialist in the Finance department at Education Minnesota for 11 years. Stephanie has a husband, Erick, and 3 children, Ashley, Alexis and Allison. In her spare time, she loves to read! Any recommendations are welcome and appreciated. She also loves to bake any sweet treat (she has an awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe!). Another fun fact is that she works in the same department as her mom.

Contact Stephanie at stephanie.berg29@gmail.com

Clara Waddell

Grievance Chair

Clara (she/her) was appointed to the USM Grievance Chair in January 2024. Clara has worked at Education Minnesota since 2016 as a Field Office Assistant for the St. Cloud office. She also was on the 2023 USM bargaining team and in the past four years has been involved with the Education Minnesota FIRE team and Wellness team. In her spare time, Clara likes to write screenplays/novels, explore new parks and trails, relax with a good book, and enjoy quality time with friends and family. She lives in Golden Valley with her partner, and Catahoula dog, Louie.

Contact Clara at waddell.clara.r@gmail.com

Karen Martinez

Southern Area Director

Karen Martinez was elected Southern Area Director in 2022. She's been part of the Rochester community since 2006. She identifies as a Latinx, Mexican American, Person of Color, woman, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, great aunt, community advocate, organizer, and educator. She began her work with Education Minnesota in 2020 as a Political Organizer and is currently serving as a Field Office Assistant out of the Rochester Field Office. Prior to working with Education Minnesota, she had the opportunity to work with students in the Spanish Immersion Program at Rochester Public Schools for six years. She also has had the privilege to be a Co-Designer for the City of Rochester for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge and for the Coalition BIPOC Home Ownership project. She enjoys taking part in collaborative community work and she's excited to participate as the USM Southern Area Director. She's grateful for the opportunity to connect with colleagues and leaders within Education Minnesota. She hopes to gain a collaborative perspective with others during their leadership journey, including the barriers and bridges that are faced to better our equity and development progress at Education Minnesota.

Contact Karen at karen.mtzz@gmail.com

Jake Ertz

Metro Area Director

Hi! My name is Jake, I am a bargaining team Rep and HQ building Rep. I came to Education Minnesota in early 2023 as a Human Resources Assistant. I have always been interested within the labor movement, but haven't had an opportunity to be active within a union until joining Education Minnesota. Funny enough - in college, one of my classes taught lessons around negotiating and bargaining, but the focus was on the other side of the table. I'm excited that I get to be on the good guys side this bargaining round, and hope I can leverage my knowledge and experience from HR/Administrative work to help our bargaining team this year. In my free time, I love watching sports (T-Wolves, Vikings, & Liverpool FC are my favorite teams), trying out new restaurants with my girlfriend, and playing with our new cat Chimi (short for Chimichanga).

Contact Jake at jakeertz08@gmail.com

Andrea Johnson

Northern Area Director

Andrea was appointed the Northern Area director in 2012. She decided she wanted to run for the position when it became open. In 2013, she was elected the permanent northern area director and has re-ran every two years unopposed and continues to serve the northern area field offices. Andrea started working for Education Minnesota in the summer of 2011 in the Bemidji field office. She currently sits on the technology committee, the how we work committee, and the reopening committee. In her spare time she loves to tend to her 18 chickens “mommas” and play with her 11 year old German Shepherd dog Cheech. She also enjoys fishing (ice and open water), gardening and making wine.

Contact Andrea at johnson6680@hotmail.com