Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde
Commissioner Lunde comes to the county after being Mayor of Brooklyn Park for 10 years. As Mayor he led efforts to connect to an increasingly diverse community, add over $1B of development and transportation investments within the city, and lower crimes to the lowest levels in 30 years. He was active nationally speaking on the value of After School Initiatives, including measuring results of these investments. He was one of the original mayors in Cities United, a national effort to reduce violence in the lives of young men of diverse backgrounds. Along with Cities United, he was part of the initial launch of the My Brothers Keepers Initiative by President Obama, which is a national effort to positively affect the lives of youth and eliminate barriers to success. In 2013, Mayor Lunde was honored with the Minnesota After School Champion award from the Minnesota Statewide Afterschool Alliance, and in 2018 honored for his work supporting veterans by the Minnesota VFW. As Mayor, he was the founder of the Blue Line Now Coalition, a group of cities who are leading efforts to support the construction of the METRO Blue Line Extension Light Rail (BLRT).
Jeff is married to wife, Jodi, and has two sons, Joshua and Jedrik, who attend school in the Anoka Hennepin School District. He holds a Master’s Degree from Minnesota State University – Mankato, and a bachelor's degree in History, Political Science and Russian from North Dakota State University.
Richnetta Parker
Focus Areas: housing, economic development, human services, and public safety and criminal justice
Richnetta Parker is an emerging servant leader and community advocate and organizer. She currently serves on Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan's Young Women’s Cabinet. Richnetta is also a 2022 - 2023 Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy Fellow through the African American Leadership Forum (AALF). Additionally, she has served as the Capacity Building and Development Assistant at the Center for Leadership and Neighborhood Engagement, as well as the Program Assistant for the International Justice and Women’s Human Rights Program at The Advocates for Human Rights. She is committed to taking a catalytic approach to leadership and utilizing an asset-based approach to community engagement.
Anna Schmiel
Focus areas: METRO Blue Line Extension Light Rail (BLRT), small business & workforce development, and the County's Climate Action Plan
Anna is passionate about creating a more equitable county by giving residents the tools to create their own opportunities and lead economic development efforts in their communities. Before coming to the county, Anna worked as the Community Engagement Coordinator at NEON (Northside Economic Opportunity Network), a small business incubator in North Minneapolis. While at NEON, she worked to connect businesses with resources, with her most recent focus being helping them access funding, get online, and navigate reopenings and closures in light of the pandemic.
Anna graduated from Carleton College in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in International Relations and Political Science. During her time at Carleton, she worked as a student research assistant in Myanmar studying post-dictatorship economic development. Anna enjoys baking, writing, and gardening in her spare time.