Janis Clay

Janis Clay is an experienced attorney with a keen interest in public policy and corporate governance and many years of business and nonprofit board service. She became executive director of the Civic Caucus in 2017 and in 2020 became Chair and acting executive director. In addition to the Civic Caucus, her board service has included the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, North Shore Scenic Railroad, Red River Valley & Western Railroad, Twin Cities & Western Railroad, Minnesota Prairie Line, the Western Railroad Equipment Company, Way to Grow, Magnum Chorum, the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, the Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association, and the Woodbury Chorus and Orchestra. She graduated from St. Olaf College with a BA in economics and from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she was a staff member and a managing editor of the Minnesota Law Review. In private law practice, she has received the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating of AV Preeminent for ethical standards and legal ability every year since 2001.

Feven Tesfaye

Feven Tesfaye, a senior at Burnsville High School, serves as a youth representative on the Minnesota Youth Council, amplifying youth voices in state legislative and agency decisions. She also serves on the Board of Directors on the National Youth Leadership Council. In addition, Feven is an Environmental Activist Network leader, a Humanity Rising Student Changemaker Podcast host, and an intern at the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office.

T. Williams

Theartrice ("T") Williams, MSW, is an independent consultant; former executive director of Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and, more recently, its interim executive director; former Minneapolis School Board member; former senior research associate at Rainbow Research, Inc.; and former Minnesota Ombudsman for Corrections. Williams has taught courses at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs and at Augsburg College.

Williams specializes in questions of social and distributive justice, with particular emphasis on community economic development and education issues affecting minority populations. He has been the principal investigator on Rainbow Research evaluations of several local community-based organizations and has conducted program and organizational assessments at the national level. For six years, Williams was evaluation consultant and technical assistance provider to 10 local community-based organizations funded by the Minnesota Health Department's Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative.

Williams' recognitions and awards include The Bush Foundation Leadership Fellows award; Outstanding Achievement Award, Minnesota Chapter National Association of Social Workers; Outstanding Service in Criminal Justice Award, National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice Award; Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota Service Award; Outstanding Alumni Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work.

Williams holds a B.A. degree from the University of Illinois and an M.S.W. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and has done graduate work at the University of Illinois, University of Chicago, DePaul University Law School and Northwestern University.

Helen Baer

Helen Baer is a communications and digital content professional with a background in public policy and government, social innovation, sports merchandising, education and foreign language and literacy. She joined the Civic Caucus in 2020 as communications and digital content manager. A linguist by trade, she is comfortable speaking German, French, and Spanish, and has studied Swahili and Yiddish. She maintains a private practice in foreign language tutoring and personal digital consulting.

Baer has previously worked as legislative intern in the U.S. House of Representatives, merchandising manager in women's professional soccer for FC Kansas City, intern in museum experience with the Minnesota Children's Museum, and German camp counselor at the Concordia Language Villages. Baer graduated from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, with a bachelor’s in linguistics, and a minor in social entrepreneurship. She is currently an instructional designer at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul.

Ipshita Tiwari

Ipshita Tiwari is a junior at Eden Prairie High School, who is passionate about public speaking and public policy. She brings her skills in communication and leadership to a variety of school clubs and organizations, including the speech team and as competition leader of the DECA chapter, secretary for the UNICEF chapter, and director of the Film Club. Ipshita is also a member of Eden Prairie's Students on Commissions program, where she serves on the sustainability commission alongside city leaders to plan and execute local sustainability efforts, including annual clothing swaps and community gardens. 

Ipshita is particularly interested in youth empowerment, mental health and civic education. She hopes to bring these passions and interests to the table to contribute meaningfully to the Civic Caucus's mission and foster positive change in Minnesota.

Janis Clay

Janis Clay is an experienced attorney with a keen interest in public policy and corporate governance and many years of business and nonprofit board service. She became executive director of the Civic Caucus in 2017 and in 2020 became Chair and acting executive director. In addition to the Civic Caucus, her board service has included the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, North Shore Scenic Railroad, Red River Valley & Western Railroad, Twin Cities & Western Railroad, Minnesota Prairie Line, the Western Railroad Equipment Company, Way to Grow, Magnum Chorum, the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, the Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association, and the Woodbury Chorus and Orchestra. She graduated from St. Olaf College with a BA in economics and from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she was a staff member and a managing editor of the Minnesota Law Review. In private law practice, she has received the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating of AV Preeminent for ethical standards and legal ability every year since 2001.

Paul Ostrow

Paul Ostrow was named chair of the Civic Caucus effective January 1, 2017. Ostrow served on the Minneapolis City Council from 1998-2009. He was president of the City Council from 2002-2005 and the chair of the Ways and Means/Budget Committee from 2006-2009. During his service on the Council his efforts included the implementation of long term budgeting, service redesign, commercial corridor revitalization and partnerships with the business community including the development of Target Field.

Ostrow is currently an assistant Anoka County attorney. He serves on several other boards including Grace Center for Community Life and the Northeast Minneapolis Artists Association. He received his bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College with a major in political science and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Jacob Tosto

Jacob Tosto is a senior undergraduate student at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, and is majoring in history. His primary interests are in American history, including the Civil War, U.S. presidents, national elections, and America's military aid around the world.

Tosto is a student of the news. He watches the "NBC Nightly News" and the "PBS NewsHour" every evening and "60 Minutes" every week. He serves as breaking news announcer to everyone on his family's text string. He is interested in politics because he cares deeply about democracy and social issues. Two areas of particular passion are gun control, specifically a permanent national ban on assault weapons, and ensuring all our elections are fair and free. He closely watches the presidential debates every four years, and likes to discuss candidates' policy proposals and strategies. But he does not tell who he votes for.

Tosto volunteers every Friday at the Good Grocer, a nonprofit store in an underserved Minneapolis neighborhood that relies primarily on volunteer labor. While in high school, he also volunteered regularly at Simpson Shelter in Minneapolis, serving hot meals to guests.

Tosto suffered a traumatic brain injury at age 4, so he processes information more slowly and works at a slower pace than others. He attended Groves Academy and then transferred to Hill-Murray School after his high school sophomore year. He graduated from Hill-Murray in 2019.

He absolutely loves physical and slapstick humor shows, including "America's Funniest Home Videos (AFV)" and "SpongeBob SquarePants." A few game shows he also favors are "Fear Factor" and The Weakest Link."

Luka Jacobi-Krohn

Luka Jacobi-Krohn has a passion for public policy and has lived in three countries where he explored each political system, which started his interest in politics. He was born in Mainz, Germany. He has a passion for public policy, having advocated/lobbied at the local level for policies ranging from Juvenile probation to electric buses.

On the national level, he has advocated for policies ranging from the READ Act to tuberculosis. He has loved working on campaigns, having had the opportunity to work in virtually every role in a campaign, from door knocker to manager. His favorite part in each of these experiences has been connecting with people, especially those in his community, and having meaningful discussions about change. His favorite experience has been serving as a youth representative from District Five as the chair of the Juvenile Justice committee for the Minnesota Youth Council where he met other like-minded youth from all across Minnesota and where they advocated for legislation and provided feedback about bill language for the Minnesota Legislature.

He has worked for the Civic Caucus for several years now and has loved being able to work with such a dedicated bipartisan group. He is excited to study political science in college and hopes to continue to have meaningful conversations that lead to meaningful change.