Ben Brunnette is a professional musician and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) practitioner who seeks to use his talents to uncover our shared humanity and co-create a more compassionate world. Ben is a Lead DE&I Consultant at Target specializing in benchmarking, strategy building, and change management. An alumnus of the Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music and the Chicago College of Performing Arts, he has performed with the Grant Park Chorus, Cleveland Opera, Minnesota Opera, Florentine Opera, and others. He has been a Tenor in the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers since 2019. Ben is a tireless advocate for empathy-building who co-leads the Fulton Neighborhood Association’s Racial Equity Committee and is a moderator for Braver Angels, an organization committed to depolarization across political lines. He is a self-proclaimed Chicagoan who lives in Southwest Minneapolis with his husband and son. In his free time he enjoys bike rides, cooking for friends, and learning how to use new AI technology.

Amber Cales is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Best Buy Co. Inc., the leading provider of consumer technology products and services, with approximately 100,000 employees in North America and $46 billion in annual revenue.

In this role, Amber is responsible for the enterprise Human Resources support strategy, the execution of that strategy, and has end-to-end accountability for identifying and sourcing talent for the enterprise.

Amber has 19 years of field leadership experience in retail and spent more than a decade as a Territory leader. She is a champion for the employee experience, fostering an inclusive culture and is enthusiastic about making Best Buy a best place to work.

Amber worked for a variety of big-box retailers before making her way to Best Buy. She believes she’s finally found her home.

Amber resides in Orono, MN, with her wife Christy, their three boys Jagger (11), Finnegan (4) and Lochlyn (18 months), and their Vizslas London and Jax.

Autumn Gurgel has enjoyed the community, artistry, and innovation of 12 seasons of VocalEssence from her perspective in the Chorus Alto section. Autumn’s passion and time in music began in childhood as a harpist and pianist and continued through an undergraduate degree in music through to adulthood where, beginning with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus and continuing with VocalEssence, she considers choral singing and community to be a vital component of a well-lived life. Autumn holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and is a Director of Marketing Strategy at Target, where she has worked for 12 years in brand marketing and strategy positions. Autumn believes in active service to create community and has served in volunteer leadership positions in her work, church, and condo association. In her free time, Autumn pursues lifelong learning and adventure through time spent in the outdoors, reading, travel, and–most recently–exploring the country in an old RV with her husband and their dog. Autumn lives in Minneapolis and can often be found at the lakes–running, walking or trying to normalize urban birding. She looks forward to deepening her engagement with the VocalEssence mission and organization through representation of the Chorus on the board.

Kristine Oberg is Senior Vice-President, Business Banking Segment Strategy at U.S. Bank. In this role, she is focused on powering the potential of small business customers in targeted customer segments. She previously held roles in strategic planning at Elavon, Inc., a wholly-owned payments subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, as well as product management at Elavon and U.S. Bank, with a proven record in strategy, new product development and commercialization.

She is an alumna of the M.S. in the Management of Technology program at the University of Minnesota, Pacific Coast Banking School, the University of Wisconsin (M.A.-English Language) and St. Olaf College.

Kristine’s nonprofit experience includes serving The Bridge for Youth in Minneapolis in various capacities, including Treasurer and Board Chair. As Board Chair she led the most recent executive director search.  She is on the Advisory Council of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies after previously serving on the board and also is a former board member of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Doug Parish is a creative and collaborative risk leader with significant financial services experience across the banking, brokerage, asset management and insurance industries. Both a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor, Doug is a financial expert with more than 30 years of experience across a number of disciplines, including accounting, finance, audit, risk management, regulatory compliance and corporate governance. Doug is adept at quickly analyzing complex situations and delivering creative solutions. He is recognized for strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships and communicate effectively.

Doug currently serves on the Board of Directors of Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: BWB) where he chairs the Audit Committee. Doug began his career as an auditor with Price Waterhouse. He then moved into the financial services industry in progressive leadership roles with prominent institutions including Ameriprise Financial and Citigroup.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Doug is an active volunteer leader, having served a number of non-profit organizations throughout the greater Twin Cities community.

Bob Thacker has had a long career in marketing, retail, and non-profit management that included roles at OfficeMax, BBDO Advertising Minneapolis, Sears, and Target. During his time at Target, he was responsible for helping define and launch the Target brand in new markets as the company expanded from 200 to over 1,000 stores. He has twice been selected by Advertising Age as one of the Top 100 Marketers in the Nation and as one of the 24 top media authorities in the industry. After leaving corporate America, for five years Bob was the Executive Director of Adopt-A-Classroom, a non-profit devoted to helping support thousands of teachers across America. Presently Bob consults on brand strategy with numerous companies and organizations. He also coaches and supports business leaders with a peer-to-peer advisory group.

Originally a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Bob graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in marketing and advertising. He has been recognized by the University of Nebraska as an outstanding graduate and has received an honorary master’s degree from the institution as well. He has taught marketing at St. Thomas University and lectures extensively in the US, Mexico, Europe, Australia, and Africa.

Bob is active on several boards and is committed to helping with the housing crisis. He and his wife have four children and seven grandchildren. They enjoy family time, travel, entertaining, reading, gardening, and architecture.