Next Level Leader

Winny Brodt-Brown is the original pioneer of Women's Hockey in Minnesota…Her list of accomplishments start with winning the 1996 Ms. Hockey Award and most recently winning the 2019 Isobel Cup as the Captain of the Minnesota Whitecaps!    Winny's accomplishments in Women's hockey are second to none…Click on the Wikipedia link to learn more about Winny.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winny_Brodt-B...

Seven years in the tech industry? A kinesiology and English major? From the outside the path may not appear cohesive, but Jason Rathe relishes the opportunity to be the owner Field Outdoor Spaces – a two million dollar landscape company serving "small yard" neighborhoods in the Twin Cities.  In 2001, Jason quit his career at a local telecommunications company to find a career he could pour himself...

ReBecca Koenig Roloff is the 11th president of St. Catherine University. A North Dakota native, Roloff is a 1976 graduate of St. Kate's, chaired the University's Board (1991–1995) and has been an active alumna. She also earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. During a distinguished career in the private and nonprofit sectors, she has demonstrated extraordinary leadership, comm...

Host Craig Pratt sits down with Joe Cavanaugh, the founder and CEO of Youth Frontiers. Joe started this nonprofit organization 32 years ago. It has since evolved into one of the most successful organizations serving youth in the Midwest. 

Casey Allen is the consummate entrepreneur who's dedicated his life's work to helping those in the high-tech Enterprise SAAS space get to the next level of success…He shares his personal story of growth and his passion for the premier tech event in the Midwest otherwise known as "Enterprise Rising". I hope you enjoy this episode and you can click on the links below to learn more about Casey. https...

Aaron Holm lost both of his legs in a horrific accident on January 2, 2007. But what shattered his body failed to dent his courage, strength and infectious optimism. He's been helping others regain their positive energy and spirit ever since.   Armed with a laptop and a cellphone, Aaron started Wiggle Your Toes from his hospital bed. He educated himself, formed teams of friends and loved ones, and...

Allan Law's entire life has been consumed passionately and unselfishly serving the poor, vulnerable, disadvantaged youth, and their families. Since 1967 he has volunteered more than 175,000 hours, and has personally spent almost $500,000 serving…. with love and compassion and delivering a message of hope to those most in need. Over the years he has received numerous awards, including the Jacquelin...

Alan J. McMillan spent 30+ years in executive leadership with technology companies but discovered a new calling when he identified an unmet need—and that is helping 18 to twentysomethings understand what it takes to figure out what they want in career and in life, nail their education, get a job that is the first step in an amazing career, have the skills to maintain employability over the arc of...

After learning about a lack of places for homeless people to shower, a Sauk Rapids couple will begin running a mobile shower unit in June 2019.    Nancy Dyson and Jason Jaques first brainstormed locations where homeless people could access showers after someone asked if they knew of places to go.    "We just looked at each other like, 'I don't (know),'" Dyson said. "It was heartbreaking."    The p...

A former executive at Oracle, Dave Stephens shares a few of his personal observations about Larry Ellison the founder of Oracle Systems…From working at NASA on Monday's at High School, attending Cal and watching his Dad do 3 startups and run 2 public companies…Dave gives an insider's view of venture capital, the joys of entrepreneurship, how our search to find meaning in our professional lives som...

I hope you enjoy this episode with Dr. Lisa Snyder, Mr. Erik Sill and Ms. Erica Johnson…We dive into the deep end on areas of improvement for higher ed. The debate on EQ and IQ is heating up as employers look for different skills to build great enduring companies.   If we expect different outcomes for our kids we need to invest time with the school districts, school board and teachers to help them...

Luke Wyckoff, the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Social Media Energy, shares with Next Level Leader host, Craig Pratt the highs and lows of business ownership and speaks the gospel on the realities of leading an organization though turmoil and success.  This comeback story is not only business related, but personal, with a surprise ending you don't want to miss.    https://lukewyckoff.com/...

Recording Artist, Taja Sevelle, who signed her first record deal with the legendary artist, Prince, outlines a courageous plan for bringing the world into balance, and shares the reasons she put her music career on the "back burner" to start the nonprofit organization Urban Farming®. Her blueprint for balance includes recapturing trillions of dollars of wasted capital, and reallocating it into are...

The Ferris State University Athletics Department officially announced the appointment of  Tony Annese  as the school's 13th head football coach on Dec. 22, 2011.  He will embark on his eighth campaign at the FSU helm in 2019. A proven winner at all of his previous coaching stops and highly-regarded across the country, Coach Annese took over the Bulldog program following three impressive years as t...

  Arthur J. Rolnick is a senior fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He previously served at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis as a senior vice president and director of research and as an associate economist with the Federal Open Market Committee—the monetary policymaking body for the Federal Reserve System. Rolnick is working to advance multidisci...

I hope you enjoy episode 10 with Jack Reuler, the Artistic Director at Mixed Blood Theatre…Jack has held that job for 43 years and counting. USING THEATER TO ILLUSTRATE AND ANIMATE, MIXED BLOOD CHANGES ATTITUDES, BEHAVIOR, AND POLICY BY PAYING POSITIVE ATTENTION TO DIFFERENCE. The company's predictably unpredictable work addresses injustices, inequities, and cultural collisions, providing a voice...

Sally Mainquist grew up in Fort Dodge, Iowa in a family of eight…This taught Sally how to communicate well, be flexible and negotiate with others. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in Accounting and moved to Minneapolis where she met her husband, Kent Mainquist, while they both worked at Peat Marwick (KPMG).    Sally's career reveals a diverse blend of executive roles. While Exter...

Emily Hunt Turner is a civil rights attorney in Minneapolis with a background in housing, architecture and public policy. She was born in St. Paul, grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota and spent the last thirteen years in New York, Atlanta, and New Orleans. Prior to launching All Square,​ Emily worked on issues of prisoner reentry, fair housing and segregation for the Department of Housing & Urban De...

The vision to start a Sarasota Chapter of Impact 100 began in February, 2017.  Jane Watt, the founding president, was incredibly inspired by her mother and sister's involvement in their Impact 100 Pensacola chapter.  Jane shared her dream of founding a chapter in Sarasota with two of her close friends, Jodie Zerega and Tilly McFadden.  Together, the three of them built the infrastructure that enab...

Mary Frey, Melissa Johnson, and Lynn Giovannelli - 3 founding members of GIVING WoMN along with the current VP of the Board Susan Dowd sit down with host Craig Pratt to share the humble beginnings of GIVING WoMN.   GIVING WoMN is the largest and most established women's collective giving organization in the Twin Cities, and helped found the national women's collective giving organization. Started...

Katherine Meerse (Executive Director for Avenues) and Shrey Pothini (Student Volunteer) sit down with host Craig Pratt to discuss the current state of affairs surrounding LGBTQ Youth Homelessness in Minnesota…Katherine shines a light on the the following statistics:   On any given night 6,000 youth in Minnesota are homeless and unaccompanied Overall homeless in Minnesota increased 10% between 2015...

Cathy Maes, the Executive Director at Loaves & Fishes, sits down with host Craig Pratt to share her personal and professional story of growing up in Minnesota…Cathy puts a spotlight on the hunger issue here in Minnesota and what organizations like Loaves and Fishes are doing to serve and protect those who need it the most. If you would like to learn more about Loaves & Fishes you can reach her at...

Matt Bykowski and Nick Schneider sit down with host Craig Pratt and talk about their epic fundraiser called Schneider-Stock…Over the last 5 years they've helped raise awareness and significant money to help others with real life problems. What started as a crazy idea over a couple of beers has raised north of 6 figures for worthy causes inside and outside of Minnesota…They define what it means to...

Craig Pratt sits down with Dave Payne a serial high tech entrepreneur based in Minneapolis...Dave describes his life in the arena while sharing the lessons he's learned personally and professionally. 

Host Craig Pratt sits down with Jeff Tollefson, the Chief Strategic Growth Officer at Genesys works. They discuss his upbringing and journey to success.