Greenwich Harbor Partners was retained to partner with Teach for America in order to expand their Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota) board of advisors. New board members identified by GHP include Javier Alarcon, SVP Finance at CHS, Inc., Nina Goodheart, SVP at Medtronic, Joanne Knight, VP Finance at Cargill, Andrew Miller, COO at the Minnesota Vikings, Joseph Oppong, Consulting Partner at EY, Monica Schwarm, Partner at BCG, and Sherry Smith, retired CFO and EVP at Supervalu. This significant expansion of the Teach for America Twin Cities board was the result of a very strong recruiting effort by the Nominating Committee.

Javier Alarcon is the Senior Vice President of Finance in Agriculture at CHS, Inc. He previously served as the Vice President of Finance and CFO for the Ingredients Division at Dairy Farmers of America and the Vice President of Finance of Consumer International and Divisional CFO at Conagra Brands where he held multiple roles over 15 years. Javier holds an undergraduate degree in Finance and Banking and an MBA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Nina Goodheart is the Senior Vice President & President, Structural Heart & Aortic Operating Unit at Medtronic. Before that she was VP & GM of Cardiac Rhythem & Heart Failure Patient Monitoring Diagnostic. She has worked at Medtronic since 2007, serving in a variety of senior management roles roles. She has 25+ years of experience in medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Nina holds a BS in Journalism from Northwestern University and an MBA from New York University.

Joanne Knight is the Vice President of Finance in the Agricultural Supply Chain Enterprise at Cargill. She leads a global team of FP&A professionals. She previously served as the Vice President of Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis at Cargill and the Senior Marketing Manager of Kid Cereal at General Mills. Joanne holds a BS in Finance and Management from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard University.

Andrew Miller is the Chief Operating Officer of the Minnesota Vikings where he works alongside Vikings ownership and executive leadership in developing vision and strategy. He previously served as the Executive Vice President of Business Operations of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Analytics of the Cleveland Indians. Andrew holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley and a JD and MBA from Northwestern University.

Joseph Oppong is a Consulting Partner at EY where he works primarily with healthcare providers and has extensive experience in helping companies align and drive strategic, financial and operational and compliance priorities. He is the partner representative on the Americas Black Professionals Network for the US Central Region and partner advisors for the Minneapolis Ethnicity Professional Network. Joseph holds a BA in economics from Grinnell College and an MS in accounting form the University of Virginia.

Monica Schwarm is a Partner at BCG in Healthcare topics with client work is focused on healthcare providers, medical devices and technology. Prior to joining BCG, Monica worked as General Counsel for the Cook County (IL) Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. She has a JD from the University of Chicago Law School and a BA in political science and global studies from the University of Minnesota.

Teach For America recruits outstanding and diverse leaders early in their careers and asks them to become TFA “corps members.” These corps members make a commitment that begins with two years of teaching in a low-income community, where they’re employed by local schools and confront both the challenges and joys of expanding opportunities for kids. After two years, they become part of the TFA alumni network. Informed and inspired by their students, many continue teaching; others pursue other leadership roles in schools and school systems or launch careers in other fields that shape educational access and opportunity. Since 1990, more than 62,000 extraordinary leaders have joined TFA, bringing energy and imagination into classrooms in rural and urban communities across the country. Today, half of the corps identify as people of color, half come from low-income backgrounds, and more than 1,000 corps members and alumni were themselves taught by a TFA corps member when they were students.