Staff & Board of Directors
Staff
Executive Director
Sarah Buhs
Sarah is the executive director of the Carlton County United Way. Sarah is a lifelong Cloquet resident and extremely passionate about Carlton County and the people she serves. Sarah was formally a Public Education Coordinator for the Cloquet Area Fire District.
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In August 2020, the American Red Cross–Duluth Chapter recognized her as a Hometown Hero. Sarah is on the Cloquet School Board, so she can bring more diversity in all areas of the school and make better decisions for the district’s staff and students. She is a Cloquet Education Foundation Board Member and is a member of the Parks Commission in Cloquet.
Community Impact Coordinator
Tracy Ganter
Tracy has always worked with the public in some way. She enjoys helping people in need and finding solutions to improve their lives. She started her nursing and public health career, transitioned out of healthcare, and worked at Northwoods Credit Union for ten years before joining the United Way team. She enjoys spending time with her family, watching all sports, and camping in her spare time. Tracy and her husband were certified foster parents through FDL Human Services for four years, and they adopted their son through this program in 2020.
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Student Board Member
Claire Fontaine
Claire is a junior at Esko High School. She has experience in many student leadership positions, which has helped her learn public speaking, collaborating, and taking initiative. She has enjoyed participating in theater, One Act, and the robotics program throughout high school. One of Claire's biggest passions is animal rescue.
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Board of Directors
Board President
Jonathan Ballmer
Jonathan’s professional journey has taken him into the construction world, where he has worked to leverage his superpowers to help others with the knowledge he’s gained throughout his career. He is good at creating a vision, viewing a situation and identifying opportunities, solving complex problems, providing mentorship and coaching, and setting others up to be successful. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys biking, the beach, and exploring all that the Northwoods has to offer.
Board Vice President
Marta Vant
Marta started her banking career with Frandsen Bank & Trust in July 2000. She has held many positions, including teller, operations assistant, retail banker, financial advisor, and now her current role as mortgage lender. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family outdoors, whether on the water, skiing, or hiking. She is community-oriented, enjoys helping others, and being a part of something that can make a real difference.
Secretary
Jacob Bushey
Jacob started his career in the railroad industry working in signals and controls maintenance and PTC tower rebuilds. He currently works at Minnesota Power as an assistant distribution engineer with various responsibilities in Capital and Maintenance projects. Jacob enjoys camping, outdoor activities, carpentry and woodworking, traveling, fishing and hunting, volunteering, sports, spending time with family, wife and two dogs
Treasurer
John Shannon
As a teller, John started working in the financial industry with Member’s Coop Credit Union in 2010. He has had the opportunity to work in nine different roles at the credit union, from teller to a consumer lender, trainer, branch manager, and now a commercial lender. John is a person who enjoys working with people to find solutions to problems or identify ways to improve services or processes. John enjoys spending time with his family and three kids and living on the lake.
Board Member
Heather Bergherr
Heather worked for 12 years in the automotive industry as a fixed operations director and then as a trainer/coach for a national company. Her expertise in financial planning, budgeting, payroll, operations, and marketing led her to the purchase of The Greenhouse, which has six locations and 50K sq growing space. Heather loves to read, paint, draw, and print in her spare time. She recently got a guitar and is learning to play.
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Board Member
Laura Nilsen
Laura is a Career Counselor at the Northeast MN Office of Job Training. Her work with youth and young adults in the community is her motivator. Before her current role, she spent over seven years as a student information specialist at the Carlton School District and worked at Northspan in economic development. Laura is a charismatic and motivated disruptive innovator and problem solver who is always willing to learn and appreciates a challenge. Laura holds a master's degree in management and business with a bachelor's degree in legal studies and business administration.
In her free time, Laura gardening, volunteering, spending time at the lake, and watching her kids play sports.
Board Member
Jon Reimer
Jon excels at improving upon past results and creating efficiencies to make staff more successful and surpass personal/professional goals. He’s an experienced event organizer/planner. He is an admitted tech geek and loves learning new skills, anything to keep himself busy. He began his career at the Superior YMCA while attending school at UW-Superior. He ended his 19-year career as Program Director, switched gears, and began working at Reliable Insurance as a Resource Specialist. Jon enjoys cooking, especially on the grill or smoker. He enjoys boating, gardening, camping, golfing, and anything else that gets him outdoors.
Board Member
Jessica Ochis
After completing her degree in occupational therapy, Jessica started her career at a small rural hospital in Ohio. When she moved back to northern Minnesota, she wanted to continue to support rural health care. She has been fortunate to spend most of her career at Community Memorial Hospital. Working at a rural community-based hospital has allowed her to engage in our community and grow as a healthcare practitioner and leader. Jessica enjoys running, hiking, biking, traveling, completing home projects, upcycling furniture, and reading.
Board Member
Susan Zmyslony
Susan is married with two adult children. She retired after 40 years in education, with 34 years in special education. She is passionate about providing community service projects and serving the communities in Carlton County. Sue is a Carlton County Commissioner, Carlton Area Lions Club member, Barnum Community Club member, Hanging Horn Lakes Association Board, Past Carlton County Historical Society President/Board of Directors, Past Cloquet Rotary, and Past Barnum School Board Director. Sue is always willing to listen and help out. She enjoys pontooning on the lake, golf, kayaking, walking, crocheting, reading, puzzles in the newspapers, and spectator sports, especially area high school games of volleyball, football, and basketball. Spending time and enjoying every minute with family is her passion.
Board Member
Carrie Foster
​Carrie is a Commissioner (Mediator) with Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) since 2018. Before this, she was a Human Resource Director with the Bureau of Prisons in Duluth. She was the HR director from 2009 to 2018 and previously held various positions at the prison. She volunteered with the Conflict Resolution Center in Duluth as a civil, family, and school mediation services mediator. She also volunteers with Carlton County in the Restorative Justice program. Carrie enjoys watching her kids accomplish their passions, including mountain bike racing, hockey, football, and trap shooting. They love to camp, travel, and take road trips as a family. She loves the outdoors, hiking, and being on the water.
Board Member
Vicki Oberstar
Vicki enjoys being a part of the larger community and supporting the Services of the community. She started her career as a Home Economics teacher, now called Family and Consumer Sciences. She earned a master's, went into school counseling 7-12, earned a Doctorate in Education Policy and Leadership from the University of MN, and then a superintendent and principal license for Minnesota and a Work Based Learning Certificate. Ten years volunteer with Cognia doing school accreditations- multiple types of school evaluation across the United States and territories—over 30 years in tribal education K-12. Vicki enjoys sewing, quilting, hunting-archery and riffle, reading, friends, family, and pets.