Mayor-elect Betsy Hodges announced her transition advisory committee on Thursday morning.
It includes several supporters of her campaign, in addition to other prominent Twin Cities voices. Among the names are Target executive vice president John Griffith (a major player behind the Vikings stadium), Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation President Bill McCarthy (who fought hard for Hodges' opponent Mark Andrew), sustainable agriculture advocate Megan O'Hara (Mayor R.T. Rybak's wife) and executive director of the Northside Achievement Zone Sondra Samuels (Council Member Don Samuels' wife).
The committee will advise Hodges on her first ten days in office, which includes ceremonial events and a "tour through the neighborhoods of Minneapolis," according to a news release.
Here is the full list:
(Chair) Laura Waterman Wittstock – President and CEO, Wittstock & Associates, Author
Alfred Babington-Johnson – President and CEO, Stairstep Initiative Companies
Anthony Newby – Executive Director, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change
Bill McCarthy – President, Minneapolis Regional Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
Daniel Yang – Director of Organizing and Community Building, Native American Community Development Institute
David A. Wilson – Managing Director, Accenture Minneapolis
Frank Brown – Co-Chair, DFL African American Caucus
Greg Hestness – Assistant Vice President of Public Safety and Chief of Police, University of Minnesota
John Griffith – Executive Vice President of Property Development, Target Corporation
Julie Ristau – Co-Director, On the Commons & Co-Chair, Homegrown Minneapolis
Ken Rogers – Chair, Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People Living with Disabilities
Kyle Makarios – Director of Government Affairs, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters
Larry Redmond – Principal, Redmond Associates, Inc.
Majdi Wadi – CEO, Holy Land
Margot Imdieke Cross – Accessibility Specialist, Minnesota State Council on Disability
Megan O'Hara – Youth Outdoor Employment Director, Wilderness Inquiry; Senior Fellow Endowed Chair, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
Michelle Dibblee – Organizing Director, OutFront Minnesota
Olga Viso – Director, Walker Art Center
Peter Bell – Former Chair, Metropolitan Council, Retired
Rabbi Michael Adam Latz – Senior Rabbi, Shir Tikvah
Sarah Harris – Managing Director, University of Minnesota Foundation Real Estate Advisors
Shay Berkowitz – Owner, ReGo Electric
Sheik Abdirahman Sharif – Imam, Masjid Dar Al-Hijrah
Shirley Nelson – Executive Director, Women Candidate Development Coalition
Sondra Samuels – President and CEO, Northside Achievement Zone
The Reverend Michele Morgan – Priest Associate, St. John's Episcopal Church
Veronica Mendez – Organizer, CTUL