IFS is pleased to welcome its new executive director, Yvonne Olsen. Yvonne comes to IFS with a breadth of knowledge and experience in non-governmental organizations, including more than 18 years at Pillsbury United Communities, an agency which grew out of the Settlement House Movement in Minneapolis. As vice president of neighborhood centers at Pillsbury United Communities, Yvonne provided leadership for more than one hundred staff at six locations. She guided an internal group charged with implementing a new data management system, and also led the team who wrote the year 2000 Minnesota Council for Quality application that resulted in a Gold level award of Excellence. In addition to her role as vice president, Yvonne served as the agency’s chief operating officer for three years and spent ten years as the director of one of the organization’s neighborhood centers.
Yvonne has a passion for program evaluation and community organizing; her previous work experience includes several years of service in community-based organizations and as a community organizer focusing on social justice issues in low income neighborhoods. Yvonne holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota - Duluth and a Masters of Liberal Studies from Hamline University. She currently serve on the Minneapolis and St. Paul Metropolitan Meals on Wheels Board of Directors. Yvonne and her husband, Craig Pearthree, live in Minneapolis with their two children, Ben and Mikhail, both of whom were adopted from Russia.