DCTC Foundation Board
Chair
Stephen Engel has nearly 20 years of research, development, and engineering experience at Ecolab, the global leader in water, hygiene, and energy technologies and services. Engel's experience includes chemistry and equipment product development and commercialization, technical service, and team management with focus in the food service and hospitality markets. He is a University of Minnesota chemistry graduate and a retired U.S. Navy veteran with 20 years of active and reserve service. He is an active board member with the Rosemount Beyond The Yellow Ribbon Network providing support for community veterans and service members, including support for DCTC veteran students. He also leads a military employee business resource group at Ecolab to support professional development, community outreach, and talent acquisition initiatives.
Kirstin Sersland is Xcel Energy's Community Relations Manager for the East Twin Cities Metro. In her role, she is the face of the company to 41 municipalities as well as Dakota County. Prior to Xcel Energy, Kirstin spent almost a decade at Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) as the local Government Affairs Director for the North Region. This role gifted her with deep relationships spanning state and regional government, energy, utilities, and public policy.
Ms. Sersland served four years on the Metropolitan Council as the gubernatorial appointee representing District 14 and was instrumental in the construction of the Green Line, the 11-mile light rail span connecting Minneapolis to St. Paul, then, the largest infrastructure project in the State. She later served at the Capitol as the Committee Administrator for the Legacy Committee, overseeing constitutionally dedicated funds supporting clean water, parks and trails, outdoor heritage, and the arts.
A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, but with Minnesota roots, Kirstin attended Gustavus Adolphus College. She resides in Woodbury with her husband, Matt, three children, two doodles and their cat. In her spare time, you can find her outside or curled up with a book, often both.
Scott D. Kadrlik is the Managing Partner with the CPA firm of Meuwissen, Flygare, Kadrlik & Associates, P.A., with over 38 years of experience in public accounting. Mr. Kadrlik's experience includes tax and financial planning for individuals, professional corporations, partnerships, estates and exempt organizations. Scott Kadrlik was named one of Twincities Business 2010-2018 Five Star Wealth Advisors. Mr. Kadrlik carries the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He also currently holds a Life/Health insurance license. Mr. Kadrlik is a member of the American Institute, and Minnesota Society of CPA's. Mr. Kadrlik is a member of the Tax Section and the Personal Financial Planning division of the AICPA. He also Chairs the Accounting Advisory Board for DCTC and received the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award from the college.
Scott laughs at himself and his profession the way no accountant has laughed before. We all know an accountant, but we rarely meet one who can take the awful experience of tax preparation and make it fun. Scott has performed at the Acme Comedy Club, Comedy Gallery, and more. He was a semi-finalist in the Funniest Person in the Twin Cities contest in 2007. Scott believes that you need to laugh at yourself because everyone else is already laughing at you. He is the second funniest accountant in America.
Mike has spent his 17-year career as an engineer working in the environmental compliance field working for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, several consulting firms, and now, industry. For the last eight years, Mike has worked for Flint Hill Resources/Koch Industries at the Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount primarily focusing on air permitting. Mike supports multiple fertilizer and petrochemical facilities throughout the country. He has a passion for connecting people, ideas, and resources in new ways to generate novel solutions to every day problems. A love of the outdoors lead Mike to Montana State University – Bozeman where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. He currently lives in Apple Valley with his wife, two teenage children, and a stoic, but lovable, dog.
Jeannette lives and works out of her home here in Rosemount. She is a licensed attorney, and other than practicing a little on the side, has been with Thomson Reuters throughout her professional career, a tenure of over 23 years. Jeannette enjoys volunteering, particularly for causes that support children. She and her husband have been Dakota County foster parents for over 20 years. Also an avid photographer, Jeannette recently took on the role of volunteer photographer for the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) organization providing remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby.
Joel Bahma is a structural engineer with over 28 years of experience. Joel brings knowledge of structural materials and configurations to his project work. His experience is primarily in the electrical power industry and has included serving as principal in charge, engineer of record, or project manager for more than 120 wind-turbine foundation projects across the United States, totaling more than 15 GW of power and spanning more than two decades. Projects ranged in size from 2 MW to over 400 MW.
Joel has worked at Barr Engineering Co. in Edina for 26 years, is an almost lifelong Minnesota resident and has bachelor's and master's degrees in Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Minnesota and 15 other states. He lives in Apple Valley with his wife and two children.
Jim Bjorklund began his career at Ziegler in 1999 interning as a Heavy Equipment Technician while attending the Diesel Mechanics program at Alexandria Technical College. He continued working at Ziegler after graduation as a Technician until advancing into his current role as Branch Operations Manager at Ziegler Inc.'s corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Minn. He has had the opportunity to hire many intern Technicians from the technical colleges Ziegler has built strong relationships with. These partnerships provide an integral pipeline of quality trained technicians. Jim joined DCTC's Heavy Construction Equipment Technology Advisory Board providing key information and support from the industry. Jim is an advocate for continuous improvement and learning. While advancing at Ziegler, he also completed the Business Management Certificate program at Rasmussen College helping him become a more effective leader and manager. Jim lives in Prior Lake, MN with his wife Ashley and two daughters; Avrie and Isla. In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors and spending time at the lake with friends and family.
Margaret has been a Registered Nurse for 37 years and with Allina Health for 30+ years. She started out as an inpatient nurse and transitioned to leadership 28 years ago. She now has oversight of on-boarding and education of ambulatory nursing staff including partnering for student placement for clinical experiences. Margaret is excited to be a part of the board to continue supporting students in their education journey! On a personal note, she has three grown children thatshe is very proud of and one dog that she adores. Margaret loves to bike ride, garden and travel around the world with her best friend - her husband.
Ryan O'Gara has worked for SKB Environmental for over 20 years in various positions. For the last seventeen years, he has been SKB’s Government Affairs liaison. He is responsible for monitoring and lobbying issues at the Minnesota State Capitol as well as political issues at the county and city level. He is a registered lobbyist in Minnesota. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's Solid Waste Subcommittee. He is also currently serving on the the Dakota County Technical College Foundation Board of Directors. He has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) and the Minnesota Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). He was appointed to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Environmental Innovations Advisory Council (EIAC), the Construction/Demolition/Industrial Landfill Workgroup and has been active on the Advisory Committees for writing Non-MSW rules, Beneficial Use rules, Transfer Station rules, Demolition Landfill Guidance, and Industrial Landfill Guidance. He has been active in the Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA) and National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA). He received a B.A. in English at the University of Colorado.
Jeff has nearly 20 years of engineering and operations experience with electrical distribution utilities. He has been with Dakota Electric Association since 2007 and worked in the engineering department for the first 11 years. In 2018, he moved to Utility Services/operations where he oversees Dakota's Electric's 24/7 control center, line crews, technician electricians, warehouse, transportation, and facilities. Jeff has a strong interest in supporting the leadership and development of students interested in pursuing electric utility jobs and careers. Jeff has degrees in applied physics and electrical engineering from St. John's University and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He is an active licensed professional engineer in the State of Minnesota and has a certificate of Distinguished Leadership and Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management. Jeff is also a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has served on the Minnesota Power Systems planning committee and was technical lead on the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Distributed Generation Working Group.
Dan Sjolseth is the owner of Superior Service Center, a mechanical and collision shop with two locations in Eagan and Apple Valley. Dan has 44 years of experience in the automotive business. He shares his passion for the industry by speaking with parents and teachers at the middle and high school levels to encourage a degree in the Automotive field by way of technical colleges. Sjolseth also serves on the DCR Chamber Board of Directors as well as the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers on the local and national board. Dan also enjoys spending time with his wife, three daughters and four grandchildren.
Branko is originally from Liberia, West Africa, and has over 25 years of construction experiences. He is the Owner and managing member of Tambah & Sons Construction And Services LLC in Minnesota. He is also the founder and President of the "Tambah Foundation". He is a graduate of both Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College. He currently serves as a member of the Community Affairs Team at the Eagan Police Department.
He mentors students of both DCTC and Inver Hills Colleges in their career journey and learning of life skills. A former board member of the Eagan Community Foundation. A former President of the Alumni Advisory Board at the Dakota County Technical College. Branko is also a former United Nations Peacekeeping Staff. His hobbies include singing, fishing, playing soccer and watching sports. His passion is service to people, communities, country, and the world at large. He is a humanitarian, Role Model, and an entrepreneur.
Martin has been a faculty member in the Minnesota State system since 2002, and started his teaching career at Inver Hills Community College. He has worked in the field of educational development since 2007, serving as a program director at the Minnesota State Center for Teaching and Learning, as a conference chair and board member with the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, and as an educational development consultant at colleges and universities across the country.
Martin's interests include techniques for the assessment of student learning, teaching and learning with technology, and student engagement in both traditional and online classrooms. His writing and photographs relative to teaching and learning in higher education have appeared in Thought and Action (2013) and To Improve the Academy (2012 & 2016). Stemming from his work as arts faculty and in educational development, Martin also co-authored the books “Meaningful Grading: A Guide for Faculty in the Arts” (West Virginia University Press, 2018) and “What Teaching Looks Like: Higher Education through Photographs” (Elon University Center for Engaged Learning, 2022).
Michael Berndt has served Minnesota State for 18 years in several capacities including as faculty member, dean, and executive leader. In his current role, he has served as the vice president of Academic Affairs at Century College since 2014.
Previously, he served Normandale Community College as the administrator overseeing research, planning, accreditation, and online learning from 2008 to 2014. He was a full-time English instructor at Normandale from 2000 to 2008 and the English Department chair from 2002 to 2004. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Morris and a master’s from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Kim is the Executive Director of Foundations and Community Relations for the Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College. As director Kim leads fundraising efforts for the foundation as well as advocates for students and the colleges by engaging community partners.
Kim earned a Masters degree from the University of Utah and also holds Bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies.
Before coming to the colleges, Kim's career focused on working in the Human Service field. She began working at Inver Hills Community College in February 2014 where she was able to combine the human service with higher education as the TuitionMatch-MN Program Manager. She sees her current position with the foundation as a continuation of her human service work by engaging the community to support student success at both colleges.
