Board of Directors

We cannot thank our Board of Directors enough for their stewardship and oversight of TLC; for their commitment of time, energy, and financial support. They are an enthusiastic team dedicated to helping TLC raise support for artists and artistic partners nationwide. Please spend some time getting to know them.

  • Liz Engelman

    Executive Director

  • Sharee Johnson

    Chair

  • Faye M. Price

    Vice Chair

  • Sarah Berger

    Treasurer/Secretary

  • Kevin Bitterman

  • Kit Briem

    .

  • Janet Brown

  • Kelly Drummer

  • Mike Hoyt

  • michael kleber-diggs

    .

  • Daniel Lemm

We are ever-grateful for the past board members who have served Tofte Lake Center’s development: Bernadette Christiansen (chair), Sara Fenlason, Rudy Guglielmo, Jr, Jeffrey Hatcher, Mara Isaacs, Bob Manning (chair), Marc Masterson, Kathleen Nolan, Randy Reyes, Jennifer Tatsuda (immediate past chair), John Warren, Keiko Williams (chair), Steve Woodring, & Laura Zimmermann

 

Liz Engelman, Executive Director

Liz Engelman is the founder and director of Tofte Lake Center at Norm’s Fish Camp, a creative retreat center in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. She most recently taught Playwriting/Directing at UT-Austin. Liz has served as the Literary Director/Dramaturg/Director of New Play Development at theatres such as Mixed Blood, McCarter Theatre, ACT and Intiman Theatres, and as Assistant Literary Manager at Actors Theatre of Louisville. She has worked on the development of new plays around the country and internationally. She was the Alumnae Relations Coordinator at Hedgebrook, a retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island. Liz has served as President, Board Chair and is a current Board Member of LMDA. She is on the board of the National New Play Network (NNPN) and the National theatre Conference (NTC).

She has worked on the development of new plays at The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, ASK Theatre Projects, New York Theatre Workshop, the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, South Coast Rep, Denver Center, and Florida Stage. She has directed new plays at The Illusion Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, and Carleton College.

She studied dramaturgy and new play development at Brown and Columbia universities, where she received her BA and MFA in theatre and dramaturgy, respectively. Liz is the co-editor with Michael Bigelow Dixon of several collections of plays, a book on playwriting exercises, and of two volumes of monologues with Tori Haring-Smith.

Sharee Johnson, Chair

Sharee is an award-winning silversmith and also likes to express her artistic vision in other mediums such as painting, sewing, and cooking. She and her husband moved to the Ely MN area in 2004.

Prior to focusing on her art, she served as adjunct professor of Computer Science at Vermilion Community College and was the International Wolf Center's Interpretive Center Director in Ely, MN. She spent the years prior to moving to Ely as a relational database engineer for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

In Sharee's free time she enjoys cooking, foraging, fishing, camping, and reading.

faye m. price, VICE CHAIR

For over 20 years, Faye was the co-Artistic Producing Director and co-Center Director of Pillsbury House + Theatre in Minneapolis, where she has helped to lead the transformation of Pillsbury House, a 135-year-old community service center, and Pillsbury House Theatre, a 27-year-old professional theatre, into a one-of-a-kind, center for creativity and community.

A long-time Minneapolis resident, Faye is a multidisciplinary theatre artist. She has performed on many national stages and was a founding acting company member of both Mixed Blood Theater and Penumbra Theatre where she remains a company member. As a production dramaturg at the Guthrie, Faye collaborated on over 30 productions under the artistic leadership of Garland Wright and Joe Dowling. Faye directed the world premiere of Nina Simone: Four Women at Park Square Theatre in St Paul, A Crack in the Sky at the History Theatre and The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 at the Kennedy Center.

Awarded the August Wilson Fellowship to study Dramaturgy and Literary Criticism, Faye received her graduate degree from the University of Minnesota. She is the proud recipient of the 2021 McKnight Distinguished Artist Award.

sarah berger, TREASURER/SECRETARY

Sarah Berger (formerly Sarah Lovan) joined the McKnight Foundation in 2005 and has been a program officer since 2012 for the Foundation’s Arts & Culture program, which works to catalyze the creativity, power, and leadership of Minnesota’s working artists and culture bearers. As of 2022, she is spending her time with both the Arts & Culture program and a McKnight Family giving effort.

During her tenure, Sarah has worked with the 11 Regional Arts Councils across the state, shepherded the Distinguished Artist Award panel process, and participated in field-building initiatives throughout Minnesota as well as nationally. She is dedicated to equitable grantmaking practices and is deeply interested in decreasing barriers to funding.  

Sarah believes in the power of local communities to guide the way we understand and interact with the world. She is a member of the Racial Equity Funders Collaborative in Minnesota and serves as a local and national advocate for increasing equity and justice in philanthropy. Since 2019 she has served on the Propel Nonprofits fiscal sponsorship and loan committee and in 2020 joined the Minnesota Council on Foundation’s board of directors. Additionally, she has been a class instructor at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. The Center for Effective Philanthropy featured Sarah in its grantee perception report as a highly rated program officer in the space of effective communication and respect for grantees.

Prior to McKnight, Sarah worked in development at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She received a BA in cultural studies and comparative literature with an emphasis in music from the University of Minnesota and is a graduate of the Mini MBA program at the University of St. Thomas. Sarah is honored to be a new member of the Tofte Lake Center board and eager to carry onward what Liz and the original board, and subsequent members, have put into motion.

Kevin Bitterman

Kevin serves as Executive Director of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts which forges local, regional and national partnerships aimed at strengthening the arts environment and increasing the contributions that artists make to develop social and economic capital.

Prior to the Kenan Institute, Kevin served as Director of Institutional Advancement & Partnerships for Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the Assistant Director of the Artist Fellowship Program with the Bush Foundation, and as the Producing Artistic Associate with Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Throughout his career, Kevin has designed and administered programs to advance the global performing arts ecosystem, including the distribution of over $25M in direct support for artists and cultural institutions.

Kevin earned his B.A. in Theatre and Communications from St. John’s University, is a graduate of the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris, and earned a Master of Public Administration from the New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.  Kevin currently serves as a Board Member of the Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance in Harlem and was past Chair of the Tofte Lake Center Board of Directors in Ely, MN.

Kit Briem

Kit Briem brings more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience, as CEO, Interim CEO, CAO, and Vice President of Advancement, to her work as a coach, mentor, and organizational partner. She helps leaders and changemakers clarify vision, build grounded practice, and steward change that lasts.

As the founder and President of Kit Briem Consulting, Kit coaches senior leaders in nonprofit, educational, and social change organizations, supporting them to be effective and ethical, with an impact that is enduring. She also works one-on-one with individuals poised for transition — whether stepping into new opportunities or seeking greater balance and purpose in their work and life. Her approach is grounded in deep listening, intentional questioning, and partnership through change.

Kit holds an MA in Arts Administration and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She lives with her partner, father-in-law, and two dogs in Ely, Minn. Historically a director and performer, Kit’s lifelong commitment to creative expression and the arts has shaped how she understands human experience and growth. She is now focused on writing as a form of inquiry and connection.

Kit is honored to serve on the Board of Tofte Lake Center, an organization that provides artists with time, space, and community in nature to dive deeply into their creative work. She believes that artists — and the time they take to reflect, play, and make — show us the way forward, revealing insight, resilience, and beauty that enrich our shared life.

Janet Brown

Janet Brown is a nationally recognized arts leader and advocate. She retired in 2017 from her role as president & CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA), a national organization for foundations and public agencies supporting artists and arts groups, and returned to her home state of South Dakota. She is especially proud of her work in promoting racial equity in philanthropy and enhancing capitalization for nonprofit arts organizations during her time at GIA.

Prior to GIA, Janet chaired the Performing and Visual Arts Departments at Augustana University, Sioux Falls, SD and Executive Director of South Dakotans for the Arts. She worked in professional theatre in San Francisco and New York City and managed a national tour of Pirates of Penzance for the New York Shakespeare Festival and the European tour of Ain’t Misbehavin’. 

She taught arts policy and advocacy at the master’s level for Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC and Goucher College, Baltimore, MD. Recently, she was instrumental in advocating for an arts coordinator and city arts commission for the City of Sioux Falls.

Janet currently serves as president of the South Dakota Children’s Museum board of directors and as a mentor for EMBE. She has been an evaluator and grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts and served on the boards of Americans for the Arts (AFTA)and the Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. She is a past member of the South Dakota Arts Council.

Her advocacy efforts have led to awards including the Selina Ottum Award from AFTA, the Governor’s Award in the Arts from the state of South Dakota and the Robert Gard Award from the University of Massachusetts, among others. Janet has an undergraduate degree in theatre and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of South Dakota and was recently inducted into the USD College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame.

Kelly Drummer

Kelly Drummer is the third President of MIGIZI communications and has been instrumental in building the capacity to provide cultural, academic, youth training and employment opportunities to over 300 youth each year. She led two capital campaigns within 4 years and completed two building projects totaling 12 million on Lake Street. 

Kelly served as founding President and CEO of the Tiwahe Foundation, an American Indian community foundation which focuses on providing micro grants to American Indian communities, strengthening leadership initiatives and network building.

During her 25 years of philanthropy and non-profit work, Kelly has worked with the Minneapolis Jewish Community Foundation, The Family Partnership, Headwaters Foundation for Justice, and New Foundations – a Project for Pride in Living program. Kelly currently serves on the Wilderness Inquiry Board and multiple committees and projects that benefit American Indian Woman and youth.

She holds a M.A. degree in Philanthropy and Development from St. Mary’s University and a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Minnesota. Kelly currently lives in NE Minneapolis with her husband and is the mother of 5 children.

Mike Hoyt

Mike Hoyt (he/him)  is the Creative Community Director at the Pillsbury House + Theatre where he manages PH+T’s fellowship programs for early career and mid-career artists, arts integration & education programs, and creative community development initiatives.

Hoyt is a Minnesota-born Kānaka artist who maintains a professional art practice living and working on Dakota homeland, Bde Ota Othunwe, Mni Sota Makoce, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  His current creative practice includes drawing, painting, graphic medicine, network technology, creative neighboring, and community land stewardship.

Some of his accomplishments include awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, a Northern Lights.mn Art(ists) on the Verge Fellowship, a Jerome Visual Artist Fellowship, and a McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship.  Hoyt is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader. Website: www.michael-hoyt.com

michael kleber-diggs

Michael Kleber-Diggs is a poet, essayist, arts educator, and literary critic. In addition to his own writing projects, he teaches creative writing through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, and in Augsburg University's low-residency MFA program.

Michael earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota and brings more than 25 years of non-profit board service to the Tofte Lake Center board. Michael lives in St. Paul with his wife, Karen Kleber-Diggs, two cats - Curly and Mocha, and two dogs - Ziggy and Jasper. You can learn more about Michael at his website.

Daniel Lemm

Daniel Lemm is the director of finance and treasurer at Charles K. Blandin Foundation. In this role he is responsible for the Foundation’s overall financial management and reports to the Board of Trustees 

Prior to joining Blandin Foundation, Daniel held the positions of accountant at The McKnight Foundation, director of programs and finance at Native Americans in Philanthropy, and finance director at Lower Sioux Community. He earned undergraduate degrees in Accounting from Metropolitan State University and Finance from Iowa State University. Daniel is completing coursework for a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University. He is a Certified Management Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner. Daniel is concluding his final term on the board of Minnesota Council on Foundations and has had fiduciary responsibilities with Headwaters Foundation for Justice, Dakota Wicohan, Tiwahe Foundation, and Ain Dah Yung Center.

Daniel is an enrolled member of the Lower Sioux Community, married to an artist, and father to a first grader. He is thrilled to be supporting Tofte Lake Center and the many artists and organizations whose capacities and impact are furthered through its residencies.