Who We Are
Meet Project Optimist's Board of Directors, staff, and Advisory Board.
Board of Directors
Mahado Ali, Bloomington
Abdi Mahad, St. Cloud
Jenelle Hanson, Minneapolis
Anna Sibenaller, Winona
Jeff Wig, Big Lake
Jen Zettel-Vandenhouten, Superior, Wis.
Staff
Nora Hertel, Founder and Executive Director
Nora Hertel is the founder and executive director at Project Optimist, which serves greater Minnesota with solution-focused news. Nora has more than 10 years of experience as an award-winning investigative reporter, political and public issues correspondent, and environmental journalist in the Midwest and earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She has worked for The Associated Press, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, the St. Cloud Times, and USA TODAY Network-Wisconsin. She has won many awards from Best of Gannett to the Minnesota Newspaper Association and Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Nora has earned fellowships from the Reynolds Journalism Institute, the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, Minnesota's Initiative Foundation, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Contact Nora: nora@projectoptimist.news
Jen Zettel-Vandenhouten, Managing Editor
Jen Zettel-Vandenhouten became the managing editor at Project Optimist more than a decade into her career as a journalist in the upper Midwest. Jen's work has received awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. She also led teams honored with awards from MNA and WNA, including Best of Division from WNA in 2022 and 2023. She was part of the team that received the 2017 Gannett Purpose Award for coverage of youth mental health in Wisconsin.
She launched her career as an education reporter in Watertown, Wisconsin, then Appleton, Wisconsin, after earning a bachelor's degree in journalism and English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jen served as an engagement editor for USA TODAY Network-Wisconsin and as regional editor for the Duluth News Tribune. Jen is an experienced solutions journalist, and has stories included in the Solutions Journalism Network's Story Tracker. She grew up in northeastern Wisconsin helping with her family's cherry orchard. As its first managing editor, Jen is helping shape the Project Optimist newsroom.
Contact Jen: jen@projectoptimist.news
Alexa Shapiro, Event Manager
Alexa Shapiro is the event manager for Project Optimist, responsible for organizing and planning the organization's moderated discussions and community events. She launched Project Optimist's Shades of Purple: Dialogue across difference series in 2023. She created a training program for volunteer moderators and transitioned our moderated discussion framework to a new model.
A key part of Alexa's role is establishing and fostering relationships with local organizations across Minnesota who partner with Project Optimist on events.
Alexa is passionate about the outdoors, and established a nonprofit organization called the Winona Outdoor Collaborative.
Contact Alexa: alexa@projectoptimist.news
Erica Dischino, Visual Storyteller
Erica Dischino is the visual storyteller at Project Optimist responsible for the organization's presence on Instagram and Facebook and key in selecting art for the newsletter and website. She launched the organization’s TikTok channel in 2024. Erica is also a visual journalist and documentary photographer with interests in anthropology, human culture, and social issues.
She earned a master's degree in photography from Ohio University before moving to Duluth, Minnesota. Before that she worked for the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, the West Central Tribune of Willmar, Minnesota, as well as Ithaca Times and Made in Shoreditch. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Minnesota Star Tribune, AARP and more.
Contact Erica: erica@projectoptimist.news
Advisory Board
Melinda Vonderahe, Lebanon, Ohio, and Sartell
Jill Greendeer, St. Michael