Ecumen is very pleased to welcome Ann Barkelew, Dick Olson, Anne Simpson and Darrell Tukua to our Board of Trustees. More information on each new Ecumen Trustee follows:

Anne Barkelew

Ann Barkelew’s 35-year public relations career includes C-suite experience in the public sector (Los Angeles County Office of Education), the private sector (Dayton Hudson Corporation, nka Target Corporation) and with a major international agency (Fleishman Hillard).

In 1995, Ann was named by her peers internationally as “Public Relations Professional of the Year;” in 1999, was named one of the Most Influential Women in Business in Minnesota by CityBusiness; in 2001, received Fleishman-Hillard’s Lifetime Achievement Award; and in 2003, received the Arthur W. Page Society’s Distinguished Service Award for contributions that have strengthened the role of public relations in society.

Today Ann is actively involved with VocalEssence as a member of the board and with womenwinning: Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund as a past board member. She twice chaired the Children’s Theatre Company Board of Governors. She was a public member of the Minnesota News Council for six years and chaired the Council’s first board of directors. She was a founding member of United Way’s “Success by Six” program and was actively involved with the Greater Minneapolis Girl Scout Council. She served two terms on the boards of the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Minneapolis Club. She is a member of the Minnesota Women’s Forum and the Twin Cities Communications Council.

Ann began her career as a high school English and journalism teacher in Missouri and California. She headed public information programs in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles California as a school administrator before moving to the corporate sector in 1981. She earned her bachelors’ degree from Central Missouri State University and her master’s from the University of Missouri.

A. Richard (Dick) Olson

Dick enjoyed an interesting career with IBM Corp. He was an international marketing executive with a record of expansion of markets for IBM products in Asia and the South Pacific through agent sales channels. He was involved with product development of mid-range computer solutions, and played a key role in implementing the Japanese language (Kanji) on IBM computers.

When the opportunity arose, he took early retirement from IBM and moved to Singapore as Managing Director of a computer solutions company. He moved to Vietnam when the US lifted its embargo and established a consulting company to enable clients to enter that market.

He has served on the board and as treasurer of Mill City Commons in Minneapolis, a villages approach to community building for older urbanites.   Ecumen helped shape Mill City Commons and serves as its strategic partner. His board service also included two terms as president of Sawgrass Association Inc., which managed a large retirement development in Florida. He is currently an active participant in startup businesses in the Midwest.

Dick has a BA in mathematics from Luther College and a Master’s degree from Vanderbilt University. He taught mathematics for two years before joining IBM.

John Petraborg 

John Petraborg brings more than 30 years of senior leadership experience in the public and private sectors. Mr. Petraborg is recently retired from Hewlett Packard (HP).  At HP, he was the Client Industry Executive responsible for the development of health and human services solutions for HP’s State and Local government customers. Through his leadership of business transformation engagements with many government agencies in the US and abroad, he has focused on the use of innovation, application of best practice, and deployment of technology to restructure government health and human services.

In addition to many roles in government, Mr. Petraborg served as Commissioner (Acting) of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the state’s largest agency. Mr. Petraborg pioneered innovative policies for health care, welfare reform, children’s services, and child support. He led the successful business re-design and system development for several Minnesota programs.

Mr. Petraborg received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, the Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Children’s Champion Award from Children’s Defense Fund. He served as national President of the Quality Control Directors Association. He recently served as Chairman of the Human Services IT Advisory Group of Tech America, the leading technology trade association in the US.

Anne Simpson

Anne spent 18 years as a caregiver for her husband, Reverend Robert Simpson, who died in July 2011. Moving three times to get the care he needed, she became actively concerned about housing options for seniors.

During the first years of his disease, she and Bob wrote a book together: Through the Wilderness of Alzheimer’s: A Guide in Two Voices ( Augsburg Fortress, 1999). She has subsequently published a book of poems, Growing Down: Poems for an Alzheimer’s Patient and mounted an exhibit called “I’m Still Here” with Laura Crosby, pairing her poems with Laura’s photographs. Anne has written a curriculum for churches to encourage their support and inclusion of both dementia patients and caregivers; it will be published this spring.

Before she was a caregiver, Anne was a writer, a sheep farmer and a Christian educator. She holds a lay diploma from United Theological Seminary.

Darrell Tukua

Darrell currently serves as a member of several corporate boards of directors including Capella Education Company, Constellation, and Gate City Bank. He is a retired partner of KPMG LLP, a global provider of audit, tax, and advisory services. Darrell has served on the boards of numerous not-for-profit organizations. In addition to serving on the board of trustees of Ecumen, Darrell currently serves on the board of the National Association of Corporate Directors Minnesota Chapter and as a non-board member of the Finance Committee of Allina Health. 

He is the past board chair of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In addition to Catholic Charities, Darrell previously served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota, Vail Place, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, Washburn Center for Children, and West Hennepin Counseling Services. 

Darrell graduated from the University of South Dakota with a B.S. in Accounting.