Pollen couldn’t be more excited to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors:
Sarah Clyne & Damon Shoholm—both longtime Pollenites and community leaders.
Sarah and Damon both understand how narrative change can shift power. They know that human connection is the pulse that sustains our ability to create, work, and push for solving some of the biggest challenges we all face. And their voices and experiences will strengthen Pollen’s work to grow a new narrative for our community by sharing stories, art, and connections — all nourished by the courage to imagine a new, different, and better future, and examine the steps toward that future.
Get To Know
Sarah & Damon
Sarah Clyne
“I’m so excited to deepen my relationship to Pollen’s work by joining the board and continuing my commitment to support. Pollen has created a community that allows for me to lean into my values and a space that pushes all of us to be better and do better in the world to advance social justice, healing and a world where we are all liberated.”
Damon Shoholm
“Pollen provides our community with an incredible mix of insight, joy, reality, vibrancy, innovation and connections in a manner not found in other spaces. Continued build out and support of this organization and its fabulous staff is truly a privilege.”
Sarah applies her experience at the intersection of education, social justice, ending gender-based violence, and building cross-sector relationships to all aspects of her work. Over the past two years, Sarah served as Executive Director of Northside Funders Group (NFG) where she led in gathering resources and investments to learn, leverage, influence, and invest in opportunities to advance social, educational, and economic opportunities in North Minneapolis. Prior to joining NFG, she was the Executive Director for Domestic Abuse Project (DAP) where she helped establish a birth-to-3 therapy program, reinstated adolescent programming and engaged in projects within Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis to end gender-based violence. During her time as the Executive Director of Joyce Preschool, she won the 2013 Nonprofit Excellence Award. She served on Mayor Hodges’ Cradle-to-K Cabinet and the Governor’s Council on Law Enforcement and Community Relations. She currently serves on the boards for Propel Nonprofits, Serve Minnesota, and Gender Justice..
Find Sarah on Twitter: @sarahyclyne
Currently Damon serves as a Partner of Counsel at Ballinger | Leafblad and as the lead facilitator for the DEI Collaborative Cohort and Leadership Saint Paul both programs of the St. Paul Chamber. Previously he has served as the Director of the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation since 2014. Damon has come to a critical understanding of self that serves as the foundation for his own engagement across communities. He sums it up in the statement, “I support the change makers among us.” Not only does he feel this is a better description of his work, it gets to his core belief that we can all be a change maker, leader or influencer no matter where we are positioned in organizations or community. In his work, Damon focuses on creating the conditions for effective reflection and analysis that serves to increase the capacity of individuals in most effectively living into their best self. Damon feels it is a privilege to work with individuals as they do the deep, personal work of understanding self in order to better serve others.
Find Damon on Twitter: @DamonShoholm
