United Way welcomes new board members in 2015

The 2015 Annual Meeting in March officially nominated and approved of six new board of trustee members to the United Way of Cass-Clay. We would like to officially announce and introduce them to you.

John Biwer - President, Discovery Benefits

John Biwer has been with Discovery Benefits for over 17 years and has seen the company grow from having a small local presence to a large national presence in all 50 states.  During this time of growth, the company, products and industry have gone through many changes but what hasn’t changed is Discovery Benefits’ vision of creating innovative solutions and delivering extraordinary customer service. 

As President of Discovery Benefits John is committed to creating and maintaining an environment that inspires employees to become leaders that strive for the highest integrity, honesty, and respect for their co-workers, customers, and partners.  To survive the quickly changing healthcare landscape John believes that it must be done with a desire to never stop learning, transparency to everyone and the embracing of change that is now around every corner.

Discovery Benefits has been recognized for numerous awards including five consecutive years on Business Insurances’ “Best Places to Work”, Inc. 5000’s 2013 & 2014 “Fastest Growing Companies”, and most recently from Evolution1 the “Partner of the Year Award”.

John joined the Payroll Division of Discovery Benefits in 1997 as Network Administrator and in 1999 John added Chief Operating Officer to his payroll responsibilities.  In 2005, John was appointed Vice President of Operations for all of Discovery’s lines of business and was named President of Discovery Benefits in 2007.  John earned his degree in Business Administration from North Dakota State University in 1994 and his MBA from North Dakota State University in 2007. John is married to Corina Biwer and together they have two children Aiden (13) and Austin (10).

 

Lisa Borgen - VP Administration, American Crystal Sugar

Graduate of NDSCS 1982 (LPN); MSUM 1993 (Criminal Justice) UND School of Law 1996 (JD)
Owner of Borgen Law Office 1996;  Elected Clay County Attorney 1998 and 2002;   Appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to District Court Bench 2006; Elected District Court Judge 2008;  Resigned Judgeship in 2013, joined Vogel Law Firm in Moorhead 2013;  joined American Crystal Sugar Company as Vice President of Administration 2014.

Married to Brad Borgen for 32 years, 3 adult children (Michael, Isaac, CeCe), one 5 year old (Jaidyn), one granddaughter (Livi).  I enjoy learning new things every day, spending time with family at the lake, cooking and hiking the National Parks.

 

Anne Blackhurst - President, MSUM

Dr. Anne Blackhurst became the 11th president of Minnesota State University Moorhead on July 1, 2014.  Dr. Blackhurst has more than 30 years of higher education experience in small liberal arts colleges, mid-size comprehensive public universities, and a large research-intensive institution, including 10 years of successful experience in academic leadership roles. She served as provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at MSUM since 2011. As provost, she led a campus-wide strategic planning process that resulted in a new core values statement, a new strategic vision and five new strategic priorities designed to align with the strategic framework for the MnSCU system while capitalizing on MSUM’s unique strengths and attributes.

Anne has one son, Evan, who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his wife, Paige.  Anne and her husband, Joe, a retired professor of sports psychology, live just a few blocks from MSUM with their dogs, Sadie and Roscoe.

 


Camille Grade - Marketing & Communications Manager, Myriad Mobile

Camille Grade is the Marketing and Communications Manager at Myriad Mobile, a software development firm headquartered in Fargo. She holds a B.A. in Organizational Communications and English Literature from Concordia College. Her professional background includes nonprofit management, communication strategy, marketing, and writing. For seven years she worked in fundraising and development, first at Prairie Public Broadcasting, then at the Plains Art Museum. During her tenure at the museum, she helped secure significant grant funding for the Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity. She then spent three years at the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce and facilitated year to year growth with the programs she managed, including the Young Professionals Network, Leadership Fargo Moorhead West Fargo, and the Corporate Cup.

When not at Myriad, you can find Camille's head in a book, her feet in a lake, her body on an airplane, or her hands clumsily trying to help on the family farm by Borup, Minn. Camille resides in West Fargo with her husband, Ryan.

 


Matt Leiseth - President, Hornbacher’s Food

Matt Leiseth is currently the President of Hornbacher’s Foods, with stores located in Fargo, ND and Moorhead, MN.  Matt’s career began at Hornbacher’s in 1991 as a bagger and continued with positions of increasing responsibility. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Concordia College and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Mary.

Matt is an active leader in the Fargo-Moorhead community.  He currently serves on the Village Family Service Center Foundation and also served as President of the Board of Directors of The Village Family Service Center, whose mission is improving the lives of children and families. He also has served as Council President and chairs several ministry boards at Trinity Lutheran in Moorhead.

Matthew and his wife Janelle live in Moorhead, Minnesota with their four children, Katherine (13), Hannah (11), Isaac (8), and Rachel (6).

Paul Laney - Sheriff, Cass County Government 

Paul D. Laney is a North Dakota native and was raised in rural Cass County near Horace, ND. He attended school in West Fargo, ND and graduated from West Fargo High School in 1984. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1984. While in the Marine Corps he served in a Communications Detachment with MSSG-13 of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Sheriff Laney was honorably discharged in October of 1988.

He returned to the Fargo area in 1989 and was hired by the Fargo Police Department in August of 1989. Sheriff Laney served in many capacities with the Fargo Police Department. He served as a patrol officer, gang/narcotics investigator, field training officer and tactical team member. When Sheriff Laney retired from the Fargo Police Department in December of 2006, he was a lieutenant and commander of the Red River Valley SWAT Team.

Sheriff Laney was elected to a four year term of office in November of 2006 and was sworn in as the Cass County Sheriff on January 2, 2007. He was re-elected to a second term as Cass County Sheriff and was sworn in on January 3, 2011. Sheriff Laney assumed duties for his third term as Cass County Sheriff on January 1, 2015.

Sheriff Laney is the Immediate Past President of the North Dakota Sheriff’s and Deputies Association and serves on the Board of Directors for the North Dakota Association of Counties (NDACo). Sheriff Laney also serves the Board of Directors for the National Sheriff’s Association and serves on two national committees, the Drug Enforcement Committee and he is the current chairman of the Special Operations Committee, for the National Sheriff’s Association. Sheriff Laney hosted a weekly radio show called Law Talk with Sheriff Laney on KFGO Radio from 2010-2012. Sheriff Laney was named the E911 Institutes “Government Leader of the Year” for 2011 and was the National Sheriff’s Association’s 2012 Ferris E. Lucas “National Sheriff of the Year.”

Sheriff Laney has two daughters and lives in West Fargo with his wife Patty.

 

For a full list of the Board of Trustees, click here.

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