Andrew Gordon was recently appointed by Governor Tim Walz to serve as a judge in Ramsey County District Court upon the retirement of the Honorable Lezlie O. Marek. Gordon has been the deputy director of community legal services at the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis, representing indigent clients in criminal and delinquency courts and supervising the center’s community-centered legal work. Born and raised in Jamaica, he graduated from Macalester College and earned his juris doctorage at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Max Yeshaye Brumberg-Kraus has been appointed associate producing artistic director for Six Points Theater, the new name for the Highland Park-based Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company. A poet, playwright and actor, Brumberg-Kraus has worked with the Guthrie Theater, Lightning Rod at Pillsbury House Theatre, Pangea World Theater, 20% Theatre and In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. He earned a master’s degree in theology and the arts at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. He will work with Six Points founder and producing artistic director Barbara Brooks to strengthen the theater’s capacity, visibility and support.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities has received a grant of $50,000 from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America to support hands-on programs in science, technology, engineering and math. The organization sponsors 10 Boys & Girls Clubs in the Twin Cities, including three clubs in Saint Paul and five in Minneapolis. Visit boysandgirls.org.
The Reverend Dr. Russell N. Myers of Macalester-Groveland has written Because We Care: A Handbook for Chaplaincy in Emergency Medical Services (Gryphon’s Key Publishing, 2021, 148 pp.). A graduate of Ohio State University with a doctor of ministry degree from Luther Theological Seminary, Myers is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A former chaplain at United Hospital, he serves as a chaplain for Allina Health Emergency Medical Services. In his book, he draws on his three decades as a clinical chaplain to make the case for having chaplains specifically for emergency medical services.
The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts has hired LaVera Jeffrie as its new director of security. A former manager of security for Target Center in Minneapolis, Jeffrie earned an associate’s degree in business administration and nonprofit management at Minneapolis Community & Technical College. She serves as coach of the girls’ junior varsity basketball team at Como Park High School.
Saint Paul Regional Water Services was voted the winner of the 2021 “Best in Glass” drinking water taste test at this year’s annual conference for the Minnesota Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) held in Duluth. “Our water is second to none,” said Mara Humphrey, president of the Saint Paul Board of Water Commissioners. “There’s a reason that Saint Paul has some of the best breweries in the state: We have the best water.” SPRWS now advances to the Best of the Best water taste test at the 2022 annual conference of the American Water Works Association, where it will compete with other section winners from across the country.
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) has selected three nonprofits as recipients of its 2021 Minnesota Nonprofit Mission Awards. The awards have been presented each year since 1987. This year’s winners include the Family Partnership with the Innovation Award, the League of Women Voters Minnesota with the Advocacy Award and the YWCA Saint Paul with the Anti-Racism Initiative Award.
PCs for People, 1481 Marshall Ave., was named an outstanding disability employer by the Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation (MOHR) during National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October. The company recycles business electronics and provides refurbished technology to low-income households. The award was presented at the PCs for People recycling center at 2492 Doswell Ave.
Christopher Harrington became the 12th president and CEO of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in November. The announcement came ahead of the Ordway’s reopening later this month after being closed for 18 months due to the pandemic. Harrington joins the Ordway from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he worked since 2012. He succeeds interim president Chris Sagstetter, who will resume her previous role as executive vice president and CFO.
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