Matthew Frost
Secretary, Board of Directors

Matthew Frost is the son of two English teachers from the White Bear Lake (Minnesota) school district, and has much experience working with youth, beginning as a worker at summer recreation programs to his current position working for Meridian Services as a mentor for teen aged at-risk youth in Ramsey County. This past school year he worked at two elementary schools for the Athletes Committed to Educating Students (ACES) program in St. Paul, mostly working with 5th grade students. He also spent two years in California as a coordinator for a before- and after-school program overseeing eight elementary schools.

In addition to his experience with kids, Matthew brings a unique perspective to Ampersand Families. He lived at Seventh Landing in St. Paul, a home to young adults with histories of out-of-home care and who are homeless, and understands first-hand some of the struggles of being a part of ‘the system’.

Matthew is honored to be a part of Ampersand Families, as he feels the need for this work is extremely important.

Michael Goldfarb
Member, Board of Directors

Michael began his social work career working with homeless youth, many of whom were at one time cared for within the child welfare system. He then obtained his masters of social work degree from Augsburg College. Michael has worked in a variety of settings that youth in the system often find themselves. He has worked in juvenile probation, residential treatment, alternative schools, private treatment foster care, and a county child protection system.

Michael currently works for Hennepin County Family Court Services where he provides mediation and evaluative services to families working through custody and parenting time challenges. He also provides individual and family therapy at Moxie, Inc.

Michael is passionate about supporting youth and families as they work to build and maintain supportive and responsive connections through secure relationships.

Jennifer E. Joseph
Vice President, Board of Directors

Jen is an attorney who works with families in transition to develop child-centered solutions to custody and parenting time challenges. She currently serves as a Guardian ad Litem in the First Judicial District, where she advocates for children’s best interests in both child protection and family law cases. Jen also maintains a private practice, where she represents parents in the Collaborative Law process. In addition, Jen is a Qualified Neutral under Rule 114 of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and helps guide families toward positive parenting and co-parenting through her work as a mediator, custody evaluator, parenting time expeditor and parenting consultant.

Jen started working with children in 1995, when she was an AmeriCorps volunteer in La Crosse, Wisconsin. While there, she developed and administered several programs for “at-risk youth.” In 1997 she moved to Minnesota to attend law school at the U of M. After she graduated, Jen spent eighteen months as a law clerk in Hennepin County Juvenile Court, with the Honorable Heidi S. Schellhas, before moving into private practice. Jen is very excited about the work of Ampersand Families, and is honored to be involved with an organization that offers hopeful solutions for traditionally under-served kids.

Michelle Kellogg
President, Board of Directors

Michelle holds a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. After a brief time as an oncology social worker, Michelle worked with youth in the child welfare system in Honolulu, Hawaii. As the therapist for a residential treatment program, Michelle worked with older youth who were transitioning out of child welfare and into adulthood- often without a support system to help them navigate the difficulties and complexities of the adult world.

Michelle currently works for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in the position of Coordinator of Volunteers and Community Partnerships. Michelle also has experience in grant writing and event planning- working on athletic fundraising events for non-profits including the Lance Armstrong Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Steve Kenney
Member, Board of Directors

Steve Kenney joined the Ampersand board because he believes that every young person has the right to a permanent family and lifelong family relationships. He is the father of three grown children and spent their formative years volunteering in youth group activities at their church. He has worked extensively with both senior and junior high students in this capacity. He has also volunteered in a variety of capacities at the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. In addition, he has worked in development and fundraising activities in a number of settings, including chairing a multimillion dollar capital campaign and helping to manage annual giving campaigns.

Steve’s training is in accounting and finance, and after a ten year career as a small company controller, he has spent the last twenty plus years managing the financial placement function for a national staffing agency. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Molly.

Laura Lassor
Member, Board of Directors

Laura Lassor has worked on behalf of children and families for over 15 years. In 1995 she started working with kids in a residential treatment program setting. After graduating from NYU School of Law, where she participated in the pioneering Family Defense Clinic, Laura spent almost a decade as a staff attorney for legal aid programs in Delaware and Minnesota, working on legal solutions to the many challenges that put low-income families at risk.

Laura is now a parent and freelance writer who remains committed to promoting innovative solutions for children that restore belonging, dignity and hope.

Ann Schaibley
Member, Board of Directors

Ann has been a practicing family law attorney and mediator for the past 12 years. After graduating from Hamline Law School and clerking for a family court judge, she entered private practice where she currently limits her representation of clients to the Collaborative Divorce Process. The process focuses on finding "out of court" solutions that fit the needs and interests of all of the family members, but especially the children.

While Collaborative Divorce was started in Minnesota 20 years ago and has now spread around the globe, it is still considered new and progressive in legal circles. Ann is motivated to grow the acceptance of Collaborative Process and has served in leadership roles on the Minnesota Collaborative Law Institute's board of directors and is seeking the passage of legislation to advance this cause.

Just as Ann is drawn to the alternative Collaborative Divorce offers families, she is drawn to the work of Ampersand Families because of its innovative approach to working in a system that has left so many children without families. Ann is committed to creating system change for the benefit of children and looks forward to working with Ampersand Families and its supporters to make those changes a reality.

Ann is also a member of the Board of Directors for Family Child Development Center, a nonprofit early childhood education and childcare center. She resides in Minneapolis with her husband, David, and their daughter, Elizabeth.

Kim Stevens
Consultant Member, Board of Directors

Professional experience includes eight years at the Massachusetts Families for Kids program of Children's Services of Roxbury. In this position, Kim moved from part-time Family Advocacy Coordinator to Co-Director of MFFK. Early in 1997, Kim established the Speak Out Team, a nationally recognized model for youth advocacy and awareness raising. The seven founding members and staff were able to support and facilitate a Team that grew to more than 130 members. She also launched the Lifelong Families for Adolescents initiative with the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and assisted in a successful coalition advocacy effort to establish a post-adoption services model for the state.

Currently, Kim works at North American Council on Adoptable Children as project manager for the Jockey-funded Community Champions Network. CCN is working to support eight North American communities in building coalitions to advocate for funding and implementation of effective post adoption support services. In addition, she does training and consultation on foster care, adoption and youth permanency issues.

Kim and her husband, Buddy, have six children, four of whom were adopted from the public foster care system.

Al Willig
Treasurer, Board of Directors

Al is Director of Finance & Operations for Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, a shelter for children at risk of abuse and neglect, where for the past 9 years he has been responsible for the internal administration, finance and operations.  He brings twenty years of non-profit finance and administration experience to Ampersand Families. Prior to arriving at the Nursery he spent three years as Chief Financial Officer of Minnesota Institute of Acupuncture & Herbal Studies, a master’s-level program in acupuncture, and was Financial Analyst at Minnesota Orchestral Association. 

As represented by his work at the Nursery, Al has a passion for children and making sure they have a safe and loving environment in which to learn and grow.  The Nursery works with children through age six and the mission of Ampersand Families gives Al the opportunity to help in strengthening the lives of older children as well, making for “bookends” in the continuum of child well-being.  Al has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.