Men As Peacemakers Staff
Frank is one of the founding members and became Executive Director in 2000. Before coming to Men as Peacemakers Frank was the Violence Prevention Specialist for St. Louis County and has held a number of human service jobs working with adolescents, the mentally ill and the elderly.
From 1987 to 1991 Frank was a Duluth City Councilor representing the Third District. He has also served on a variety of community organizations, but is most proud of his work in the area of low income housing with Center City Housing and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Frank is married and the father of three daughters.
Laurel dedicates her time to assisting girls and young women in creating a positive self image, repairing harm they have caused to themselves and others, and helps them in building healthy relationships. She approaches her work through the lens of Restorative Justice believing that healing broken relationships and learning to work from an understanding of personal strengths is the key to healing our communities. Laurel is currently in the process of building a gender-specific girls group that will incorporate Restorative Practices to help girls along a positive life path.
When she is not working with girls, Laurel is a busy mom experiencing life with her toddler son, Jonah, daughter, Aida Mae, and his dad. She loves to be outdoors and spends much of her time by (if not in) Lake Superior. Laurel is inspired greatly by music, plants, good food, spiritual explorations, family, friendships and the great adventure we call life.
Gina Hickson Girls Restorative Program Coordinator Gina started as the Girls Restorative Program Coordinator with Men As Peacemakers in August 2008. She is a licensed teacher, coordinating weekly girls groups at school, during school. She is an advocate for high school girls and a support for them during the school day and beyond. By empowering, exploring strengths and weaknesses, guiding girls to succeed in all areas of life, the girls in the Girls Restorative Program are more likely to graduate high school, discover and follow their dreams, and grow into the women that they want to be. Before joining the Men As Peacemakers team, Gina was an art teacher and English language learner teacher in Alaska. Her experiences as an educator include working in the Superior School District, Edison Charter Schools, and the Duluth School District.
Dennis began his tenure as Volunteer Coordinator in the spring of 2009. His duties include acting as an organizing influence for the MentoringWorks! Program, working to find and recruit Reading Partners and Mentors and making sure they receive support and training. He will also be participating in Grant Writing and helped with the Tool Sale and Bike Ride fundraisers. Dennis comes to Men as Peacemakers with a B. A. from the University of Minnesota, Morris, and a Master’s of Divinity from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. He has extensive experience in the mortgage banking industry and is now turning his talents to work for the betterment of all people in a much more hands on way. Dennis has been active in a number of volunteer organizations in the city.
Nate has been with Men as Peacemakers since October 2009. He is responsible for coordinating the restorative justice programs at Men as peacemakers. He has previous experience in restorative justice programs from his years working with area youth. Nathan has most recently been involved with working with young fathers. Before that he was a child advocate at a local battered women’s shelter. Nathan is strong believer in the restorative practices as away to better a community. Nathan has been involved in creating a number of fun exciting hands on learning experiences for youth over the years. One of which was creating and facilitating an after school music, poetry and spoken word program.
When Nathan is not working at Men as Peacemakers you can find him out enjoying the wonderful opportunities that Duluth has to offer. He enjoys spending time with family in the great outdoors or going to listen to local music.