Program Leadership

Jim Harkness
President
(612) 870-3403  jharkness@iatp.org
Jim Harkness joined IATP in July 2006. Previously he served as Executive Director of the World Wildlife Fund in China from 1999-2005, where he expanded the organization's profile from a strict focus on conservation of biodiversity to also addressing the consequences of China's economic growth on a broader sustainable development agenda. From 1995-1999, Jim worked as the Ford Foundation's Environment and Development Program Officer for China. He has written and spoken frequently on China and sustainable development, and has served as an adviser for the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Jim grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has a B.A. in Asian studies from the University of Wisconsin and a master's in development sociology from Cornell University.

Corinne Rafferty
Vice President for Programs
(612) 870-3435  crafferty@iatp.org
Corinne Rafferty joined IATP in early 2005 to help with program management and coordination. A lawyer by training, Corinne has devoted her working life to various social justice organizations in San Francisco, New York and the Twin Cities. She was co-founder and co-director of Nicaragua Exchange, which mobilized opposition to U.S. funding of the contras in the mid-1980s. She worked for the North American Congress on Latin America, the National Lawyers Guild and the Institute for Media Analysis before serving as a program officer for the Rockefeller Family Fund and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock. She moved to Minnesota in 1994, and has worked for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and more recently, Farmers' Legal Action Group, where she served as Executive Director. Corinne has a B.A. in English from Yale University and a law degree from Hastings College of the Law (University of California).

Trade and Global Governance

Karen Hansen-Kuhn
International Program Director
(202) 222-0749 khansenkuhn@iatp.org
Karen Hansen-Kuhn joined IATP in September 2009. She has been working on trade and economic justice since the beginning of the NAFTA debate, focusing especially on bringing developing countries' perspectives into public debates on trade, food security and economic policy. She has published articles on U.S. trade and agriculture policies, the impacts of U.S. biofuels policies on food security, and women and food crises. She was the international coordinator of the Alliance for Responsible Trade (ART), a U.S. multisectoral coalition promoting just and sustainable trade, until 2005. After that, she was Policy Director at the US office of ActionAid, an international development organization. She holds a B.S. in international business from the University of Colorado and a master's degree in International Development from The American University.

Alexandra Spieldoch
Coordinator
(612) 870-3419 aspieldoch@iatp.org
Alexandra Spieldoch is the Global Governance Coordinator at IATP. The TGG team works toward policies and democratic institutions that support human rights, a healthy environment, and fairer rules in food and agriculture. Alexandra has been engaged in WTO and regional trade advocacy since 1999. She has published various research and popular education materials on international policy from a human rights and development perspective. Formerly, she coordinated the secretariat for the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN) based out of Washington, D.C., and co-directed the Global Women's Project at the Center of Concern. She studied at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as the Univerity of Caen in Normandy, France. Alexandra has a B.A. in French literature from Washington University in St. Louis. She received her M.A. in international policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Sophia Murphy
Senior Advisor
smurphy@iatp.org
Sophia Murphy's work is focused on agricultural trade rules, U.S. trade and agriculture policy, and the interests of developing countries in the multilateral trade system. Sophia has published many reports and articles, including analysis of the effects of international trade rules on development and food security, the impact of corporate concentration in the global food system, trade and poverty-related issues in the global biofuels sector, and a critique of U.S. food aid programs. Sophia has worked with IATP's Trade and Global Governance team since 1997. She joined the Institute from Geneva, where she had worked for two years with the United Nations Nongovernmental Liaison Service. Before that, she worked as a policy officer with the Canadian Council for International Cooperation in Ottawa. Sophia has a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University and a master's from the London School of Economics in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries.

Dr. Steve Suppan
Senior Policy Analyst
(612) 870-3413  ssuppan@iatp.org
Steve Suppan has been a policy analyst at IATP since 1994. Much of Steve's work is to explain U.S. agriculture, trade and food safety policy to foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations, especially farmer organizations. This work has taken him to about 35 countries, most recently Costa Rica, South Africa and Mexico. Steve has also represented IATP at meetings of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. He was the NGO liaison to the U.S. government for the World Food Summit +5 in 2002. Steve was a lead author in the global report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, a multi-stakeholder project whose executive summary was approved by 58 governments on April 12, 2008 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Suppan has a Ph.D. in comparative literature and taught in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He also studied philosophy at the University of Vienna.

Shiney Varghese
Senior Policy Analyst
(612) 870-3471  svarghese@iatp.org
Shiney Varghese leads IATP's work on global water policy, focusing on the water crisis, its impact on water and food security, and possible local solutions that emphasize equity, environmental justice and sustainability. Currently, she examines the implications of GATS/WTO, water sector liberalization, and industrial agriculture for access to water. Since 2001 she has been the co-chair of the UNCSD fresh water caucus, the primary civil society voice on water at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Shiney has been working with IATP since 2001. Before moving to United States in 1998, she worked in India on social and environmental issues for more than a decade with indigenous groups, civil society organizations and international groups such as Oxfam. She has presented and published works on the environment, gender and human rights. Shiney grew up on a farm in South Indian state of Kerala, and after high school moved to Gujarat. She is a graduate of the Institute of Rural Management, India, and has a master's in development from the Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands. Shiney was a visiting fellow at the Agrarian Studies program at Yale University in 1997-98.

IATP's Geneva Office

Anne Laure Constantin
Project Officer
+41 (22) 789 0724 aconstantin@iatp.org
Anne Laure Constantin joined IATP's Geneva Office in July 2006. Anne Laure comes to IATP from the French Committee for International Solidarity where she advocated on international agriculture and trade issues. Prior to that she worked with Association pour la Création de la Fondation René Dumont (Association for the Creation of the René Dumont Foundation) in Paris, and the World Organization Against Torture in Geneva. She has a master's in international relations from La Sorbonne University in France.

IATP's China program

Chang Tianle
China Program Officer
 ctianle@iatp.org
Chang Tianle joined IATP in 2009 as a China Program Officer. She has worked as a journalist in China, starting with China Daily, and most recently with China Development Brief, where she wrote on social development issues in China, including rural and sustainable development. Apart from writing, she has also provided consultancies to domestic and international organizations and given talks on China's civil society and social issues. In 2003, she joined Shanghai's first international volunteer team and travelled to Laos, where she spent six months teaching English in a rural school. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Shanghai International Studies University and studied international affairs at New School for Social Research in New York. She is based in Beijing.

Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy

Shalini Gupta
Director
(612) 870-3415 sgupta@iatp.org
Shalini Gupta was a 2008 Archibald Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow investigating equitable energy and climate change policies. As part of her Bush Fellowship, Shalini was a visiting Fellow-in-Residence with the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy at IATP. Formerly, she was the Senior Energy Associate at the Izaak Walton League, a U.S.-based national environmental nonprofit, where she conducted state and regional regulatory and legislative policy analysis, and advocacy related to renewable energy and climate change issues. Shalini was a 2007 Governor appointee to Minnesota's Next Generation Energy Board and a 2006 National Environmental Leadership Program Fellow. Previously, Shalini has worked in multiple scales ranging from developing community-scale energy projects to international work in Kiel, Germany, and at Argonne National Laboratories where she analyzed sources of atmospheric organic pollutants from urban and industrial sites in China. Shalini is currently on the Board of Directors of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice. She has also been conducting environmental justice and equity workshops with numerous arts and grassroots groups around the Twin Cities. Shalini was born in New Delhi, India, and holds a B.S. in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago and a master's in environmental management from
Yale University.

Dr. Cecilia Martinez
Senior Polcy Fellow
 cmartinez@iatp.org
Dr. Cecilia Martinez is currently a Research Professor at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware. Her previous positions include Associate Professor at Metropolitan State University and Research Director at the American Indian Policy Center. Cecilia has led a variety of projects to address sustainable development at the local and international levels. Her research is focused on the development of energy and environmental strategies that promote equitable and sustainable policies. Cecilia has worked with a range of organizations from local grassroots groups to international organizations engaging in the promotion of sound environmental policy and environmental justice. Among her publications is the co-edited volume Environmental Justice: Discourses in International Political Economy which includes some of her work on North American Indigenous peoples and the challenge of forging a common agenda of indigenous rights, justice and sustainability. She received her B.A. from Stanford University and her Ph.D. from the University
of Delaware.

Rural Communities

Jim Kleinschmit
Director
(612) 870-3430  jim@iatp.org
Jim Kleinschmit directs IATP's Rural Communities program, which focuses on strengthening the link between rural economic policy and local, democratic decision-making in order to aid communities in creating and retaining the wealth that comes from their natural and human resources. Jim grew up milking cows and learning about sustainable agriculture on his family's farm in Nebraska. Before joining IATP in 1995, he worked in the Baltic States and Russia, where he promoted sustainable rural development. At IATP, Jim has worked on a wide array of issues, including sustainable agriculture; water quality and quantity; biofuels, bioenergy and bioplastics; climate change; and rural development strategies. He has an M.A. from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington-Seattle, and a B.A. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In addition to his work at IATP, Jim is a member of several organizational boards and steering committees, including Rural Advantage, the Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative and the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance.

Kerstin Gorham
Senior Program Associate
(612) 870-3429 kgorham@iatp.org
Kerstin Gorham joined IATP as a Senior Program Associate in June 2009. For the past 16 years she worked on poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development in the rural Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest through various positions at the Northwest Area Foundation. Kerstin managed a successful 10-year partnership with Miner County, South Dakota, which turned around 70 years of population decline and revived its economy through new renewable energy industries and organic agriculture. She also assisted nonprofit organizations in strategic planning, leadership development, community engagement, collaboration, communications and evaluation. In 2008 she helped develop and wrote the foundation's new strategic plan. Kerstin has also worked as a writer, researcher and editor in Boston and Minneapolis. She is a coach to the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation's Neighborhood Leadership Program and a graduate of their James P. Shannon Leadership Institute. Kerstin holds a B.A. in history and science from Harvard University and an M.A. in American social and ecological history from Brandeis University.

Julia Olmstead
Senior Program Associate
(612) 870-3431  jolmstead@iatp.org
Julia Olmstead joined IATP as a Senior Program Associate in the Rural Communities program in February 2009. Her work focuses primarily on biofuels and the bioeconomy. Julia has spent much of the last ten years working both domestically and internationally on issues related to sustainable agriculture and the bioeconomy as a journalist and scientist, as well as in industry. Her writing on agriculture and biofuels has appeared in magazines and newspapers nationwide including the Los Angeles Times, Des Moines Register, and Smithsonian Magazine. Julia was formerly a graduate fellow with the Land Institute in Salina, Kan., and is a member of that organization's Prairie Writers Circle. She has an M.J. from the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, an M.S. in plant breeding and sustainable agriculture from Iowa State University and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Eleonore Wesserle
Program Assistant
(612) 870-3425 ewesserle@iatp.org
Eleonore joined IATP in April 2009 to support the Rural Communities, Trade and Global Governance, and the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy programs. After receiving her B.S. in conservation biology from the University of Minnesota, she pursued a few years of fun in field and lab in ecological research and restoration, and then shifted her focus to environmental education and advocacy. She recently worked with the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs' (HECUA) Environmental Sustainability program and the Women's Environmental Institute. In her spare time, Eleonore enjoys volunteering for Heart of the Beast theatre, learning tricks on her hula hoop and crocheting.

Food and Health

Dr. David Wallinga
Director
(612) 870-3418  dwallinga@iatp.org
David Wallinga, M.D., M.P.A., is Director of the Food and Health Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. He applies systems thinking to the industrialized food system, identifying strategies for consumers to find healthier food produced sustainably, as well as public policies that can help build food systems that are healthier, less polluting and contribute less to climate change, while supporting farmers and rural communities. Dr. Wallinga's recent research and writing has been on mercury in high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), petroleum-based food dyes, synthetic hormones given to cattle, and antibiotics used nontherapeutically in agriculture, as animal growth promoters and to produce corn ethanol. Dr. Wallinga currently is a William T. Grant Foundation Fellow with the University of Minnesota's Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, School of Public Health. He received a medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School, a Master's degree from Princeton University, and a bachelor's from Dartmouth College.

Kathleen Schuler
Senior Policy Analyst
(612) 870-3468  kschuler@iatp.org
As a Senior Policy Analyst in the Food and Health Program, Kathleen Schuler, MPH, advocates for policies that protect human health and the environment from the toxic chemicals that contaminate our food system and our bodies. Kathleen is also Co-Director of Healthy Legacy, a Minnesota-based campaign that advocates for public policies and business practices that focus on safer products and safer production methods. In addition to policy advocacy, Kathleen provides information for consumers, and has written a series of "smart" food guides about reducing chemical exposures from dietary sources. She has served as the project coordinator for the Reducing Pesticides in Minnesota Schools Pilot Project. Prior to entering the environment health field, Kathleen led numerous health policy initiatives within the Minnesota Department of Human Services. She has a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Minnesota. As a Bush Leadership Fellow in environmental health, she also studied at Boston University and worked with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, where she wrote "Child Proofing Our Communities-Reducing Children's Environmental Risks."

Marie Kulick
Senior Policy Analyst
(612) 870-3422  marie@iatp.org
As a Senior Policy Analyst in the Food and Health Program at IATP, Marie Kulick assists hospitals, health systems and group purchasing organizations to implement their environmental values through their purchasing and contracting activities. Marie specializes in helping these health organizations to identify and source sustainably produced food and other environmentally preferable products and services. She speaks to health care audiences nationwide and has developed numerous fact sheets, case studies, and resources related to sustainable food and bio-based products in health care. In 2005, she authored Healthy Food, Healthy Hospitals, Healthy Communities, an IATP report that highlights the successful efforts of health care facilities to improve access to fresh, sustainably produced food and identifies strategies for overcoming potential hurdles such as tight budgets and restrictive vendor contracts. She has a B.A. in communications from McDaniel College and a Master of Studies in environmental law from Vermont Law School. Marie joined IATP's Food and Health team in 2004. Prior to IATP, Marie worked for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Environmental Fund for Maryland and Clean Water Action.

Peter Starzynski
Coalition Coordinator, Healthy Legacy
(612) 870-3476  pstarzynski@iatp.org
As the coalition coordinator for Healthy Legacy, Peter Starzynski builds the coalition's long-term, grassroots and political power through its member organizations and by reaching out to new and diverse partners. He also serves as the link between the Healthy Legacy's legislative work and the work done on the ground by the organizing team. Prior to joining IATP, Peter spent two years as a campus organizer with the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG), working on issues ranging from climate change and affordable housing to homelessness and fair trade. In June 2008, Peter worked with the Minnesota Civic Engagement Table, a coalition of non-partisan nonprofits seeking to engage voters in underrepresented areas in Minnesota. Peter graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) in the fall of 2005 with a degree in political science. In his spare time, Peter enjoys running, fishing, watching the news, traveling and discussing the world with his friends over a cold Summit.

Local Foods

JoAnne Berkenkamp
Director
(612) 870-3410 jberkenkamp@iatp.org
JoAnne Berkenkamp joined IATP in 2007 as the Program Director for Local Foods. For the prior eleven years, Berkenkamp led an independent consulting practice working with nonprofits, food businesses and foundations across the United States. Her consulting work focused on market development for locally and sustainably grown food and the creation of farmer-owned businesses. She has also worked extensively in the program evaluation arena, leading efforts to improve the impact and shared learning of numerous food- and agriculture-related programs. Previously, she worked for the World Wildlife Fund in Washington, DC, and with Catholic Relief Services at various locations in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She started her career in the corporate finance world. JoAnne has a Master's in Public Policy degree from Harvard University, and a bachelor's in finance from the University of Illinois. JoAnne is past President of the board at the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and at Mississippi Market, a natural foods grocery cooperative in St. Paul, Minn.

Lynn Mader
Senior Program Associate
(612) 708-8635 lmader@iatp.org
Lynn Mader is a Senior Program Associate in the Local Foods program, and has worked extensively for the University of Minnesota and other organizations developing and implementing farm to school programs. Her work focuses on improving the health of K-12 children through educational programs, experiences and school food service that connects children, farmers and healthy foods. She has been involved with local foods and alternative nutrition initiatives for the last 20 years. She is a registered, licensed dietitian, has taught college-level nutrition and cooking-for-health classes, and has foodservice and clinic management experience. Lynn has served on various boards including the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA), Hunger and Environmental Nutrition (HEN), Dietetics Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association, Montevideo Nutrition and Fitness Task Force, Montevideo Schools Wellness Committee and The Cultural Diversity Council of the Upper Minnesota River Valley. She lives in Montevideo, Minn.

Madeline Kastler
Program Associate
(612) 870-3450 mkastler@iatp.org
Madeline Kastler joined IATP's Local Foods program in September 2009. Prior to IATP, she worked as a policy aide to Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman where she focused on housing policy. She also worked as a manager of a local homeless shelter. She holds a Master's of Public Policy degree from the Humphrey Institute and wrote her graduate thesis on organic agriculture and trade in Cuba. Madeline serves on the board of directors of the Seward Co-op and is co-owner of Whippletree Hops & Crops farm.

Katie Rojas-Jahn
Program Assistant: Food & Health, Forestry, Local Foods
(612) 870-3407  krojas-jahn@iatp.org
Katie Rojas-Jahn is responsible for assisting the Local Foods, Food and Health, Climate, and Forestry Programs at IATP, as well as the statewide coalition, Healthy Legacy, of which IATP is a founding member. She has a bachelor's degree in Chicano studies and Spanish with a minor in American studies from the University of Minnesota.

Food and Society Fellows

Mark Muller
Director
(612) 870-3420  mmuller@iatp.org
Mark Muller directs the Food and Society Fellows program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. In this capacity, he provides guidance and coordination to the program's 23 fellows working on food policy issues around the country. The program promotes communications and policy advocacy efforts that further healthy and sustainable food systems. Mark has worked on a variety of food systems issues, including promoting agricultural policies that are more effective for human health, farmer income and the environment; developing regional food systems; diversifying Midwest agriculture; and advocating for farm-based renewable energy production. He helped to found the Sow the Seeds Fund, a collaborative effort that raised nearly $400,000 for farmers devastated by the 2007 Midwest floods. Mark has a B.A. in physics and an M.S. in environmental engineering. Prior to joining IATP, Mark worked as an environmental engineer and high school science teacher. In 2008, he took a leave from IATP and spent six months as a volunteer in southern Honduras.

Abby Rogosheske
Program Associate
(612) 870-3433  arogosheske@iatp.org
Abby Rogosheske joined IATP in February 2009 as the Food and Society Fellows Program Associate. After working in and roaming through rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia for three years, she is thrilled to be part of the movement for a more just and sustainable food system back home. Abby holds a B.A. in history and gender studies from Northwestern University. On the weekends, she enjoys dance parties, cross-country skiing and harvesting kombucha.

Environment and Agriculture

Dr. Dennis Keeney
Senior Fellow
(515) 232-1531  drkeeney@iastate.edu
Dennis Keeney was the first director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. He retired in 2000, and is professor emeritus of Agronomy and Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. Dennis grew up on a family dairy farm near Runnells, Iowa, and obtained a B.S. in agronomy from Iowa State University, an M.S. in soil science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a Ph.D. in agronomy and biochemistry from Iowa State University. He was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin in soils and water chemistry before coming to Iowa State in 1988. He has pioneered research and outreach on agricultural issues related to sustainability, land resource use, rural community development and water quality. Dennis has published over 140 refereed papers on soil and water quality research, and served on numerous state, federal and international scientific committees and task forces. He also served as president of the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science of America. He has been a Senior Fellow at IATP since 2000 and is also a senior fellow in the Department of Soil, Air and Water in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota.

Development

Kate Hoff
Vice President for Development
(612) 870-3404  khoff@iatp.org
Kate Hoff came to IATP in 1993 as a temp—and stayed. She is responsible for overseeing and coordinating all aspects of foundation, individual and government support, and special events. Her work includes grant writing, grassroots fundraising and income generating projects for IATP. Kate has a B.A. in sociology from Augsburg College in Minneapolis and an M.A. in public administration from Hamline University in St. Paul, emphasizing nonprofit management. Kate grew up on a hobby farm in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and reigned as the 1985 Town and Country Saddle Club Queen.

Marin Byrne
Grant Writer
(612) 870-3411  mbyrne@iatp.org
Marin Byrne's work includes researching and preparing grants. She holds a bachelor's degree in geology from Carleton College and is completing an M.S. in natural resources science and management at the University of Minnesota. Outside of work, she is a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and prefers to spend as much time as possible in a canoe.

Karen Quiroz
Grant Writer
(612) 870-3478  kquiroz@iatp.org
Karen Quiroz joined IATP in August 2008. She has worked previously as a grant writer for Ascension Place, the YWCA of Minneapolis and the Children's Theatre Company. She has a B.A. in U.S. history from Sarah Lawrence College. Outside of work, Karen plays Surdo with Batucada do Norte (samba percussion band) and serves on the Board of the Jazz Vocalist of Minnesota. When she is not writing, drumming or singing, she can be found rummaging through the bins at Ax-Man with her two boys.

Finance and Administration

Ricki McMillan
Vice President for Finance and Operations
(612) 870-3451  rmcmillan@iatp.org
Ricki McMillan is responsible for the finances of IATP. Ricki has been with IATP since 1992. She received a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Kansas.

Candace Falk
Human Resources Director
(612) 870-3453  cfalk@iatp.org
Candace Falk joined IATP in 2000 and is currently the Human Resources Director. As part of the "IATP culture" portion of her job, she coordinates the annual TravelBetter campaign that encourages staff to bike, walk or bus to work. In her free time she enjoys reading novels, biking and kayaking.

Kristina Schuller
Finance Assistant
(612) 870-3443 kschuller@iatp.org
Kristina Schuller is the assistant to the Finance Director. Her responsibilities include accounts payable, accounts receivable, contracts and general financial assistance. Kristina holds a B.S. in international business with a minor in Spanish from the University of Montana in Missoula. After college, Kristina moved to Grand Marais, Minn., where she worked at a local food co-op and ran a youth soccer program. In her spare time, Kristina enjoys skiing, biking, the performing arts and traveling.

Emily Barker
Administrative Assistant
(612) 870-3454 ebarker@iatp.org
Emily Barker is responsible for providing administrative support to IATP's President, VP of Programs, and the Development office. She also coordinates the intern program and greets visitors at the front desk. Emily has a B.S. in biology, with minors in environmental studies, chemistry and religion from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. Emily enjoys spending her free time being involved with the Northland Bioneers Conference, learning new routes on MetroTransit buses and tending to her home vermicomposting project.

Linda Vieira
Building Manager
(612) 870-3455 lvieira@iatp.org
Linda Vieira is responsible for the well-being of IATP's 100-year-old office buildings. She brings a diverse background to her job, which most recently include working in a small public library specializing in fire, EMS and safety issues and operating her own small business, making and selling wool oven mitts. Linda has a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota.

Patti Landres
Librarian
(612) 870-3473 plandres@iatp.org
All of the paper, books, research material and original new publications produced by IATP from all of the programs eventually end up on Patti Landres' desk. Patti sorts and organizes all of IATP's documents and archives. She has a degree in fine arts with an emphasis on painting.

Communications and Information Technology

Dale Wiehoff
Vice President for Communications and IT
(612) 870-3401  dwiehoff@iatp.org
Dale Wiehoff grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He attended St. Cloud Technical High School and spent much of his youth fishing in the Mississippi River and seining minnows for his grandfather's bait shop. He moved to Minneapolis after high school and between a job on the railroad, protesting the war and working at co-op grocery stores, dreamed of owning a farm. In 1970, he bought his first farm with friends in Wisconsin and in 1977, bought his own farm not far away. He farmed until 1985, keeping cattle, dairy cows, bees and sheep. Farming provided his first insights into the worlds of economics, high finance and reckless gambling. In 1977, he joined the board of the U.S. Farmers Association and was introduced to the old populist traditions and values, as well as what made a good farm program. In 1985, Dale moved to New York and over the next decade worked for a number of national nonprofit organizations. In 1994, he had the opportunity to return to Minnesota to work for IATP in what became known as Information Technology. In 1999, he was promoted to Vice President of Communications and remains responsible for overseeing the internal and external communications systems, publications, Web sites and media relations for IATP.

Ben Lilliston
Communications Director
(612) 870-3416  blilliston@iatp.org
Ben Lilliston works on media outreach and the production of publications. He has a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from University of Miami (Ohio). He is the former Associate Editor for the Corporate Crime Reporter, a frequently published writer, co-author of the book Genetically Engineered Foods: A Guide for Consumers (Avalon), and former associate at the Chicago environmental public relations firm Sustain.

Kitwana Ford
Information Technology Director
(612) 870-3428  kford@iatp.org
With over 12 years of experience in the computer industry, Kitwana Ford contributes to IATP as the Director of Information Technology. Her primary responsibility is to provide strategic and operational direction for planning, designing and implementing IATP's information technology infrastructure. Her job includes developing strategies to meet the needs of the organization, and overseeing and setting guidance and standards for IT. Kitwana holds a B.A. in business management/computer information systems from Alverno College and a master's of computer information systems from the University of Phoenix.

Andrew Ranallo
Communications Assistant
(612) 870-3456  aranallo@iatp.org
Andrew Ranallo is the Communications Assistant at IATP. His responsibilities center on copyediting and proofreading IATP's online and printed publication and Web sites but he also works with publication layout, social media promotions and other multimedia—including IATP's podcast, Radio Sustain. Before joining IATP, Andrew worked as a writer and editor for multiple organizations and as a freelance proofreader. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in English and a minor in American Indian Studies. He enjoys playing music, writing and studying the Ojibwe language.

Patrick Tsai
Programmer
(612) 870-3452  ptsai@iatp.org
Patrick Tsai is responsible for application development, and the upkeep of IATP's Web sites and servers. Patrick graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a degree in biology and a minor in philosophy. Now he's learning what it's like to play computer.