Youth Exchange | The Team
Jesse Steed
YOUTH EXCHANGE OFFICER
Jesse is a Realtor with Edina Realty in Northfield. He loves making international connections, having lived in France and Israel during college. He has called Northfield home since 2010 and joined Rotary in 2017.
Janice Lehmkuhl
OUTBOUND COORDINATOR
Janice has years of experience coordinating and assisting outbound students from Northfield, organizing club interviews and the grad party.
Vicki Dilley
CLUB AMBASSADOR
Vicki joined Rotary in 2005 and the world has been the better for it. Vicki has served as club president, YEO for 11+ years, North Star YEO Coordinator, and more, always a force for good and a strong advocate for the inbounds and outbounds.
John Stull
CLUB COUNSELOR
John is the club counselor for Japan.
Barb Wornson
CLUB COUNSELOR
Barb is a retired school principal and is the club counselor for Spain.
Bill Kuhlman
OUTBOUND COUNSELOR
A member of Rotary since 1990, Bill previously was a member of the Rotary Club of Duluth, the Saint Paul Rotary Club and the Minneapolis Rotary Club. Bill is a past-president of the Minneapolis Rotary Club, on the Northfield Planning Commission, and a retired attorney.
Fred Blaisdell
CLUB COUNSELOR
Fred is a retired school principal and is the club counselor for Denmark.
Jacob Hauschild
CLUB COUNSELOR
Jacob joined Rotary in 2024 and is the club counselor for Uganda.
Eric Johnsrud
TEAM MEMBER
Eric is the Chair of North Star Rotary Youth Exchange. He joined Rotary in 1985 and has been a member of the Winona and Northfield Rotary Clubs. He has served as a Club Youth Exchange Officer and, more recently, North Star Country Officer for Spain since 2014.
Sebastian Burset
TEAM MEMBER
Sebastian joined Rotary in 2022 and is a soccer coach for multiple Northfield institutions. He is the Club Counselor for Spain.
Mark Abbott
TEAM MEMBER
20 year Rotarian, father of a 2003 outbound, hosted 4 inbound students, club counselor and International Director on club board. Drawn to Rotary by our international reach. Bringing people together in service makes for a more peaceful world.
Diana Abbott
TEAM MEMBER
Diana and Mark have hosted 4 inbound students and are Club Counselors for Germany
Jill Fisher
COUNTRY OFFICER
Jill has been both a short-term and long-term exchange student. She has hosted students and has been a parent of an outbound. She is currently a country officer for Denmark Faroe Islands, and Sweden. She became a member of the Northfield Rotary Club in 2022.
Jan Stevens
OUTBOUND CLUB COUNSELOR
Jan joined Rotary in 1994 and has served in many areas of RYE.
Jim Holden
TEAM MEMBER
Jim is a retired high school English teacher who has had an interest in travel abroad since he and wife lived in England in 1965-66. So he joined Rotary in 2011, in part to become involved in the YE program.
Dorothee Ischler
TEAM MEMBER
Dorothee is a global citizen with roots in Europe and passionate about youth exchange. She has been a psychotherapist in Northfield since 1986. She also serves as a mental health advisor to North Star Youth Exchange.
Sarah Forster
CLUB COUNSELOR
Sarah and her family have hosted a student from Hungary and currently serves as a Club Counselor for Thailand. She joined Rotary in 2022.
Lee Dilley
TEAM MEMBER
Lee joined Rotary in 2007.
Wendy Sivanich
TEAM MEMBER
Wendy has served as YEO and has hosted several inbound students.
Brad Frago
TEAM MEMBER
Brad has served as club president and has been a club counselor for 10+ years.
Kari Johnsrud
TEAM MEMBER
Kari joined Rotary in 2021 and is on the North Star host family support team.
Youth Exchange Officer
YEO
The YEO oversees the youth exchange program in a Rotary club. The YEO recruits volunteers, host families, inbounds and outbounds, while managing all the moving parts on a broad scale. The YEO works closely with the youth exchange team members and other club members who assist with various events like excursions such as sporting events trips to the zoo, host family orientation, student orientation, graduation party, etc. The YEO works closely with school officials, host families, inbounds and club members and also handles the required paperwork and its processing for inbound and outbound students.
Outbound Coordinator
OC
The OC oversees the outbound students including presentations to the high schools in the fall, helping with the applications, organizing the preliminary interviews at the club level, recruiting correspondents, organizing practice student presentations, etc.
Host Family Coordinator
HFC
The HFC works closely with the host families throughout the year assisting the YEO with the student binders such as the traveling notebook, the host family binders, and assists with the host family interviews.
Club Ambassador
CA
Every program needs a champion. The Club Ambassador is a strong voice of support and advocacy, a valuable source of experience, providing advice and guidance, helping establish the vision for the program.
Club Counselor
CC
The CC works one-on-one with an inbound student as their advocate and confidant throughout their entire exchange year which begins months before their arrival. The CC maintains regular contact with the student and host families and files monthly reports in the HUB.
Youth Protection Officer
YPO
The YPO is a North Star resource, providing advice on serious issues relating to safety or of a criminal nature.
Outbound Club Counselor
OCC
A club member that agrees to communicate regularly with an outbound, usually monthly, and provides occasional reports at club meetings or submits updates to the newsletter. This is our primary method of connecting outbound students with our club. The OCC should spend time connecting with the student and family prior to departure and provide advice on exchange and reminders to utilize the Rotary network, especially the CO, for help with issues while abroad.
Country Officer
CO
North Star volunteers, the COs coordinate exchanges with their counterparts overseas.
Team Member
TM
A member of the RYE committee, a voice for the inbounds and outbounds, offering assistance with event planning and general program support.
wb-h2-anchor