Elizabeth Kluesner is the Executive Director for Minnesota Brownfields. 

Most recently, she served as Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources during the administration of Governor Tony Evers.  Prior to that, Elizabeth served as the DNR’s director of Local and Federal Relations, and held a number of other positions in the Department over the course of a 20+ year career.  She also served as the Policy Director to Dane County (Wisconsin) Executive Kathleen Falk, where her primary duties focused on conservation based land acquisition, recreation, land use, and transportation planning.  She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 2019, Elizabeth moved to the Twin Cities from Madison, WI.  She lives with her husband, Dave, in Edina and has two children, Katherine (24) and Teddy (20).  She enjoys being outdoors, particularly with her family, in Wyoming.  Dave and Elizabeth also enjoy watching their son play Junior hockey.

Contact Elizabeth at 612-405-4885 or send her an email.


Heidi Timm Bijold is the Chief Professional Officer for Minnesota Brownfields.

Heidi launched her own consulting business, HTB Project Navigation LLC, in Duluth 2019. She manages projects for large and small business, public agencies, units of government and nonprofit organizations. She secured certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute in 2019.

Heidi’s career in business development spans almost 40 years; it began in 1983 when she moved to Duluth. She worked with a series of small business organizations before being hired by the University of Wisconsin – Superior in 1989 to study, start up and direct a business incubation program that continues to serve entrepreneurs today as the Superior Business Center. She served on the boards of both state and national incubation organizations.

Following, Heidi worked at the City of Duluth for over 21 years during which she worked on many complex, high-profile development projects with the business community. During that time she secured and administered over $36 million in grant funding for both private and public projects. Much of her work revolved around brownfield remediation and redevelopment, which earned her the moniker “Dirty Dirt Gir.l” She received the Paul Hyde award from Minnesota Brownfields in 2015, and is recently completed her second term on its Board of Directors where she also serves on its Membership Committee. Contact Heidi at 218-348-8754 or send her an email.

Megan Dobberstein is a Senior Account Executive for Minnesota Brownfields.

Megan’s passion for customer service allows her to easily connect with association members in diverse industries. Members can count on Megan to ensure their needs are attended to as quickly as possible. Whether the questions are about membership renewal, event registration or other benefits, Megan works tirelessly to make sure associations and their members are always getting the most out of the organization. She also leads internal and external communications projects, creating engaging content for client social media and email marketing.

Prior to joining The Harrington Company, Megan worked at Hazeltine National Golf Club where she handled membership, event planning and communication. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University.

In her free time Megan enjoys golfing, spending time with her family, traveling and teaching yoga.
 
Megan Thorstad is an Account Executive for Minnesota Brownfields.

Megan’s attention to detail and focus on customer relations puts her clients at ease knowing that she can tackle any task at hand. Megan has a passion for using website data to drive marketing strategy and ultimately, increase brand awareness. She has an eye for design and enjoys creating marketing materials for print, digital and social media. Megan has professional experience as a writer, editor, photographer, social media strategist and graphic designer.

Prior to joining The Harrington Company, Megan worked for the City of Ramsey as its Communications & Events Coordinator. She began her career as a local reporter for the Sun Newspapers where she earned awards for “Rookie of the Year” and “Best Local New Story” from the Minnesota Newspaper Association. Megan has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing Studies from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

In her free time Megan enjoys swimming, singing, gardening and spending time with her family and pets.