About Jon
- 25+ years as a human resources leader
- 20+ year resident of Eden Prairie
- Parent of a 2024 Eden Prairie High School graduate and an upcoming sophomore
- Dedicated community volunteer
- Co-founder of Minneapolis Hope, an organization that helps underserved youth with college scholarships
Jon was born and raised in Minnesota, growing up in Arden Hills and eventually graduating from Totino Grace high school. After high school, Jon attended St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin – a small liberal arts college where he initially pursued a degree in education and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. After college, Jon began his working career in Human Resources where he has worked for the last twenty plus years. After a few years of work, Jon went back to graduate school and earned his Master’s degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the Carlson School of Business.
Throughout Jon’s corporate career, he has worked in many different areas of Human Resources for both large local Fortune 100 companies like Target and smaller organizations like Salo. Working in functional areas like Benefits, Compensation, Employee Relations and Talent Acquisition has helped prepare Jon for a role on the school board because of his financial and budgeting acumen as well as gaining a strong knowledge of PEOPLE. During his career, Jon built and led strong teams that sometimes had a lot of different opinions. Through listening and seeking to partner in a way that advances the best results even when some stakeholders don’t get exactly what they want. He was able to effectively GET THINGS DONE which will be crucial on the EP School board.
More importantly, Jon is a family man with an amazing wife, Nicki, and two awesome boys – Max and Sam. Nicki is also a human resources professional (although they don’t choose to talk HR outside of work if they can help it!) and Max and Sam both grew up in the EP public school system, starting with early childhood education, then on to Prairieview, CMS, and Eden Prairie High School. Max just graduated and is attending the University of Minnesota to study biology. Sam will be starting his sophomore year at the high school. Jon and his family have lived in Eden Prairie for almost 25 years and truly love the community!
Serving the community has always been important to Jon. His community service was rooted in sports – he was a volunteer head coach in both EP baseball and basketball for both of his kids for over ten years. Jon was also a commissioner of the Eden Prairie Baseball’s Rookie Camp program. Prior to his Eden Prairie volunteer work, Jon was the co-founder of Minneapolis Hope – Dollars for Scholars, an organization founded on providing post-secondary educational opportunities for young people regardless of income.
Jon is excited about the opportunity to serve the Eden Prairie community and give back in an area which is greatly important to him. As a community member, he has seen a lot related to policy, student achievement, goals, performance, and safety. Jon wants to partner with the other board members and the administration to continue to advance the great framework that currently exists. It’s about the kids for Jon – always with a focus on the experience and opportunity to develop their skills and talents!