Vote Dan Haugen for Wayzata School Board!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Wayzata School Board Voters,

I am writing to endorse Dan Haugen’s candidacy for school board.  I firmly believe Dan will serve you well on the board. Dan possesses a wide range of experiences that uniquely qualifies him for the position.  His leadership roles and service in higher education, the non-profit sector, and his faith community demonstrates his unrelenting commitment to addressing society’s challenges. He has worked tirelessly in supporting the healthy development and educational success of young people in and beyond his local community.

I met Dan in 2001, when I was working as a Camp Director for the Science Museum of Minnesota.  At that time, Dan was the Executive Director of the Neighborhood Involvement Program (N.I.P.), Minneapolis, MN.  In 2002, Dan hired me as the Director of Youth Programs for N.I.P.  During this time, I really got to know Dan as a person.  He is highly ethical. He is personable.  He is an exceptional mentor. He has strong leadership skills.  He has tremendous passion and commitment to young people.  He was more than I could have imagined in one supervisor.

As Executive Director of N.I.P., Dan played a pivotal role in launching the Cargill Scholars program, a five-year comprehensive initiative aimed to improve the scholastic performance of 50 academically at-risk children who attended school in Minneapolis or its northern and western suburbs.  Dan worked closely with the Cargill Foundation to design and implement the $5 million initiative.

In retrospect, and as someone currently working in philanthropy, I believe N.I.P was selected to host this high profile initiative for a number of reasons.  However, I believe Dan’s character, strong leadership and observable commitment to quality education sealed the deal.  Indeed, Dan’s experience leading this and other educational programs/initiative designed for our state’s most academically at-risk students will serve him well on Wayzata’s school board. In addition, his years of experience in higher education will be invaluable as the district strives to ensure that all graduates are college ready.

I don’t have enough words to express what Dan has meant to me as supervisor, mentor and friend. As a supervisor, Dan has modeled what it means to be an ethical leader. He was always more concerned about doing what’s right than doing what’s popular.  As a mentor, he communicated the utmost confidence in me. I remember vividly Dan saying to me, “Marcus I have no doubt that you are capable of doing my job.”  As a young African American male that statement has stuck with me throughout my career and has given me strength in times of discouragement.   Finally, as a friend, Dan has always made time when I asked to meet for breakfast or to just catch-up. 

I would like to offer my highest unqualified recommendation for Dan Haugen as candidate for the Wayzata School Board.  I couldn’t imagine a more capable individual for the job. I wish I had to opportunity to cast a vote for Dan in my community.

Sincerely,

Marcus Pope