Our Team – Minnesota

JR Tomkinson is a seasoned operations executive with leadership experience spanning the K12 public, private and nonprofit sectors. He most recently served as Managing Director for City Year Chicago, where he led service implementation for the largest of City Year’s 29 regions. Under his leadership, City Year Chicago deployed 265 AmeriCorps members to serve as near-peer mentors to students in 32 Chicago Public Schools partnerships at the height of the pandemic, driving significant gains in the rate of students on-track to graduate at City Year’s partner schools from SY19 to SY21 even as the district’s overall average on-track rate declined.

Among other previous experiences, JR led the development and launch of a $6 million shared services center at the Chicago Public Schools district, an initiative that encompassed the restructuring of the district’s non-instructional departments into a new multisite, cross-functional unit that would substantially improve the quality of principal support by the district’s central office, leading all CPS departments in principal satisfaction ratings in its inaugural year.

JR earned his bachelor’s’ degree from Dartmouth College, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Julio Vargas-Essex is the Vice President of Student Success at North Hennepin Community College, a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

In his position, Mr. Vargas-Essex provides executive leadership to campus student services including Admissions & Outreach, Counseling, Advising & Career Planning, Disability Access Services, Financial Aid, Records & Registration, Student Life & Recreational Sports, Testing Center, Student Conduct, Outreach, Career Programs and Veterans Affairs. These departments support and facilitate services related to recruitment, admission, orientation, retention, transfer, graduation, student activities, international students, PSEO students, student employment, assessment of student success, etc. With a tremendous desire to see students succeed, Mr. Vargas-Essex places a significant importance on making higher education accessible and achievable for everyone. His experience with culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse communities has reinforced the importance of helping others find their vocation in life. With a holistic approach, Mr. Vargas-Essex believes that individuals can realize their true “calling” in life through education and by focusing on values that inspire others to be “Idealistic Leaders.”

Prior to North Hennepin Community College, Mr. Vargas-Essex served as the Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions at Metropolitan State University from 2012 – 2019; Director of Enrollment Management at Perpich Center for Arts Education, in Golden Valley, MN since March 2011; and, worked at Augsburg College as an Associate Director and Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment from 2008. In his formative years, he was a Student Services Coordinator and Adjunct instructor at Rasmussen College, Eagan, Minn., and a Crisis Intervention Specialist at the Eau Claire Academy.

He holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Stout and M.A. in Psychology from Metropolitan State University–St. Paul, MN.

Dave Anderson currently serves as the senior vice president of portfolio management at Medtronic, delivering high-quality, evidence based, innovative solutions that improve patient lives. As president of the Neuromodulation Operating Unit at Medtronic, he led a $2 billion business treating pain, movement disorders and epilepsy and new therapies in research. He previously led the Enabling Technologies business for Medtronic and has held leadership roles in general management, M&A, R&D, operations, and quality for multiple innovative companies in healthcare. His prior board work includes board chair for Trinity Classical Academy, Love SCV, industry advisory board for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and board observer for Proteus Biomedical. His passion for serving the community centers on addressing barriers to growth including helping scholars rise, entrepreneurs innovate and the under-resourced be well equipped to live life to the fullest.

He holds a BS in manufacturing systems engineering from Kettering University, an MBA from Pepperdine and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

Elle Grothaus holds dual roles as Global Talent Leader for corporate functions and Global Human Resources Business Partner for Commercial Excellence at Cargill, Inc.  She has more than 20 years of HR leadership experience across business partner, talent management, organization development, and global inclusion and diversity.  She works with and coaches leaders in solving critical talent challenges required to drive business performance.

Prior to joining Cargill, Elle thoroughly loved her seven years as a college admissions counselor and is excited to serve and support College Possible.  Elle received a bachelor’s degree from Concordia College - Moorhead and a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame.  She and her husband, Daren, have a daughter, Loren, and son, Leo.

Douachee Lee is a Marketing Generalist at IntriCon Corporation. In her position, Douachee designs marketing materials, manages web content, and assists in other tasks to support the company’s marketing needs.  Prior to her position at IntriCon, she has experience working with the AmeriCorps program, first, as an AmeriCorp member at College Possible from 2009-2010, and then as a Program Coordinator at Minnesota Reading and Math Corps where she supported and managed AmeriCorps members, from 2011-2014. Not only is Douachee is a former College Possible AmeriCorps member, she is also a College Possible student alumnus, where she graduated from Patrick Henry High School. Since her high school graduation in 2004, Douachee has been an advocate for equal opportunity in education and a strong supporter of College Possible.

She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2009 with a B.S.B in Marketing, from the Carlson School of Management, and a B.A. in Strategic Communications, from the College of Liberal Arts’ School of Journalism.

Dee is a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young where she’s spent the past decade serving a wide variety of multinational financial services clients with a focus on Banking & Capital Markets organizations. Beginning her career in the Minneapolis, she’s gone on to serve some of the firm’s largest banking clients in the US, UK, and India.

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Dee is passionate about closing the achievement gap and creating opportunities for others through education. She enjoys reading, travelling, and conversations with friends.

She received her B.Sc. from Winona State University, Minnesota (07) and her Graduate degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dee currently serves as Co-Chair for the D&I network at EY Minneapolis. After spending the last 2.5 years working in Europe, Dee returned to EY Minneapolis in 2018 and is excited about the opportunity to serve and support College Possible.

Chris Staley is a co-founder of Horizontal Integration, a company focused on helping Fortune 500 clients via two business lines - a staffing agency, proving talent to meet their contingent labor needs as well as a digital agency focused on helping companies along their digital transformation journeys.

For the last 15 years, Chris Staley and his two business partners have built Horizontal Integration into a global business with multiple offices in the U.S., India and the United Arab Emirates with annual revenue over $100 million with no investors and zero debt. In his current role Chris oversees the Digital Agency, globally working with his team to build friction-free digital experiences for their client’s end customers such as Sub-Zero, Formica, Cushman & Wakefield, UnitedHealth Group, New York Life, Raymond James, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Mayo Clinic Health Systems and many others.

Prior to Horizontal Integration Chris spent time working within multiple large digital agencies at the McCann Erickson agency.

Chris has served on other Non-Profit Boards and has been a part of the long range strategic planning process. He also plays an active role on his own family’s foundation and is involved in various initiatives related to its philanthropic activities both in and outside of the U.S.

Zer Vang is the Director of Student Recruitment for the Morrison Family College of Health at the University of St. Thomas. Prior to this role, she was the Director of MSW Admissions and Alumni Relations at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities' School of Social Work. She has more than eight years of experience recruiting undergraduate and graduate students and over a decade working and supporting students in higher education. In her previous roles she has served as an Academic Advisor in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota; Student and Family Services Director at LearningWorks at Blake: A Breakthrough Program; and High School Program Coordinator at College Possible. Zer served on the College of Education and Human Development's Alumni Society Board of Directors (President in 2014) and currently serves on the College Possible Minnesota Board and Alumni Leadership Council.

Zer is a dedicated and passionate advocate and educator for students, particularly those who are underrepresented. Coming from a low-income background and being a first-generation student, she has committed her personal and professional work to supporting students in accessing and navigating higher education and creating and maintaining inclusive and equitable spaces. She has a Bachelor’s in Family Social Science, a Master of Social Work (focused on community organizing and advocacy), a post-baccalaureate certificate in Multicultural College Teaching and Learning, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development focusing on Higher Education. She lives in Oakdale with her partner, son (4 years old), and daughter (1 year old).