School Board

Rich is the retired founder and CEO of Minnetronix Medical, a technology company that over the past 25 years has developed hundreds of products and manufactured hundreds of thousands of medical devices that have been used to treat millions of patients. Rich is an advocate for increasing diversity in technical fields through STEM education for underrepresented groups. Rich serves on the boards of several medical technology companies as well as the Dougherty Family College at St. Thomas, a two-year college program for inspired students who want to obtain a four-year college degree and face financial or social obstacles on the way to their goal. Rich comes from a family of K-12 educators and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Tyler is an audit senior manager of audit at Ernst and Young, a professional services firm. Tyler is passionate about advocating and supporting equitable outcomes throughout Minneapolis. Tyler also serves on the board of Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON). Tyler holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting from the University of St. Thomas.

John is a Managing Director of Individual Giving for Teach For America. He started his career as a high school math teacher in Baltimore, MD as a 2013 Teach For America corps member. While teaching, he earned his Masters of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University. A 2017 Fulbright Grantee, John spent a year working at the Universidad Nacional de La Pampa in Santa Rosa, Argentina mentoring aspiring English teachers. He returned to the Twin Cities in 2018, and has spent the last five years working for Teach For America.

Jinah Chernivec is a human resources executive with over 20 years of experience. Her passion is providing HR solutions for organizations by building infrastructure through technology, compliance, and talent. Jinah also enjoys consulting with early-stage ventures and other non-profit organizations. Prior to joining Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota, she held corporate HR leadership positions in social services, health care and biotechnology organizations. Jinah holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, a Master of Science degree in Psychology and an MBA with an emphasis in Leadership Development. She is also certified as a HRCI Senior Professional in Human Resources and is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (HRCI-SPHR, SHRM-SCP). She is an active member of many prominent HR organizations, including the Executive Network of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) both on the national and local level, and she regularly participates in HR executive panels, member groups, and serving on nonprofit Boards. Jinah enjoys spending time with her family, hiking and traveling. She also enjoys serving on the board of directors for two nonprofit organizations in the Twin Cities, where she shares her knowledge and passion for HR.

Dave is a Senior Operations Director at Medtronic in their Cardiac Ablation Solutions business. He started his career at Delta Airlines and has been in in the med device field since 2012 spending time at Boston Scientific, Access Airways and Medtronic - holding leadership positions in Operations, Engineering and Quality. He earned his Masters in Business Administration from the University of St Thomas. Dave grew up in Saint Paul, attended Central High School and the University of Minnesota.

Phil is a senior associate in business analytics with Aqua Finance. He holds a BA in philosophy from Stanford University, a PhD in philosophy from Brown University, and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. Phil grew up in the St. Paul public school system.

Macie has been teaching elementary school since 2020 and currently teaches fourth grade at Northeast College Prep, where she has spent most of her teaching career. She spent the first several years of her career teaching kindergarten before transitioning to third and fourth grade.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in teaching from Hamline University. In addition to her classroom work, she has also served in leadership roles as both a lead teacher and mentor, supporting fellow educators and contributing to school-wide initiatives.

As a dedicated member of the Northeast College Prep community, Macie is excited to serve on the Board and contribute to the continued growth and success of the school.

Mike is the middle school math teacher at NECP. He is entering his third year at NECP, and his second as a board member. Mike has taught and held various teaching and leadership roles at a variety of charter schools in the Twin Cities, and has over 10 years of experience working with middle school students. He earned his teaching degree at Winona State University in 2013.