Events

Leif Hagen grew up in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and graduated from St. Olaf College in 1988 with a BA in German and French. His early career included teaching languages in Zug, Switzerland, and high school English in Gero, Japan. In 1992, he entered the financial services field as a financial planner with Lutheran Brotherhood, later joining LPL Financial in 2002. He now owns Achievement Financial in Eagan, Minnesota, offering financial planning and Medicare supplemental insurance services.

Leif has held multiple leadership roles within Rotary, including two terms as President of the Eagan Rotary Club, and serving as the two-year charter president of the MN Pride Rotary Club. His Rotary involvement includes leading a Group Study Exchange (GSE) team to Bangalore, India, hosting GSE visitors from Finland and Brazil, serving as District Conference co-chair, Assistant Governor for Area 2, and currently serving on the District Foundation grant committee. He is a Paul Harris Society member, a Major Donor, and has attended Rotary International conventions in Birmingham, New Orleans, Bangkok, and Hamburg. He will serve as Rotary District 5950 Governor for 2026–2027.

Leif lives in Eagan with his partner, Valdir Oliveira, and has three daughters — Kajsa, Svea, and Britta. He enjoys foreign languages, international travel, collecting art, and attending art shows.

John Vanderheyden (Treasurer) holds BSB and MBA degrees in international business from the University of Minnesota. He began his career in technology with IBM in 1980 followed by roles at both the University of Minnesota and Dain Rauscher. He then transitioned careers to focus on financial services while at Dain Rauscher and progressed to hold executive level positions at Fidelity, Kestra Financial and Bluespring Wealth Partners. John and his wife Mary have been involved in many charitable organizations together over the years including youth sports, scouting, church organizations, Meals on Wheels, street outreach, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and Tanzania Life Project (TLP). They have traveled to Tanzania regularly as part of the TLP team to work with the wonderful people of each village and the partners at TLP to evolve the program. John feels very fortunate to be learning so much from the people of Tanzania as he and the TLP team partner with them to solve the issues caused by a lack of clean, accessible water.

Mary Vanderheyden (Secretary) holds a BA degree in Professional Communications. Her life experience has been a mix of motherhood, entrepreneurism, teaching, and volunteerism. While raising five children in Minnesota, Mary worked for IBM and then left to create two administrative services businesses. She spent ten years teaching pre-school and later, while living in Boston, MA, worked with EduConsultants teaching computer skills to children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Throughout her life, Mary has volunteered to serve others of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Church ministry, Meals on Wheels, Caring Therapeutic Touch in a hospital setting, and being a child advocate in the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program of Travis County, Texas have all been paths of outreach near and dear to her heart. Mary travels to Tanzania with her husband as part of the Tanzania Life Project team on a regular basis. She is fascinated with the opportunity of two cultures coming together to solve problems and is working on improving her Swahili to better communicate with the people of Tanzania.

For more than four decades, Jim Brimeyer has helped organizations and communities navigate change, develop leaders, and build stronger futures through a career spanning public service, executive leadership, business, and coaching.

Today, Jim serves as an executive coach and strategic advisor, working with leaders to strengthen their organizations and maximize their impact. A certified executive coach through the Center for Executive Coaching, accredited by the International Coaching Federation, he combines practical leadership experience with a passion for developing others. He also holds a Master of Public Administration from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor's degree from Loras College.

Jim's career in public service includes executive leadership roles with cities in Illinois, Ohio, and Minnesota, most notably serving as City Manager of St. Louis Park. In recent years, he has continued to guide organizations through periods of transition as an interim administrator and executive director for several Minnesota communities and public agencies.

In addition to his public sector leadership, Jim founded The Brimeyer Group in 1992, building a successful executive search firm that recruited leaders for cities, counties, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and private companies before transferring the business to new ownership in 2013.

A lifelong believer in service above self, Jim has been deeply involved in Rotary and civic leadership. He has twice served as President of the St. Louis Park Rotary Club and currently serves on the Board of the St. Louis Park Rotary Foundation. His community service also includes serving as an at-large member of the St. Louis Park City Council and as a member of the Metropolitan Council representing the southwest metro, where he chaired the Management Committee and served on the Transportation Committee.

Drawing on a unique blend of leadership experience in government, business, and community service, Jim brings practical insights shaped by decades of helping organizations solve challenges, develop leaders, and create lasting impact. His presentation promises to offer attendees thoughtful perspectives informed by a lifetime of leadership and service.

Richard Bahr is a life-long resident of Minnesota having grown up in the Twin Cities area. For 21 years he was President of and partner in a successful manufacturing firm. He now coaches business leaders, helping them find success while leading balanced lives.

Due to his own life experiences coupled with a passion for service, Bahr has been involved with organizations that provide a “second chance” to those in need. In 2013, he co-founded a social ministry with his wife, Carla, called Threshold to New Life. The organization’s mission is to “Keep Families Home” through their partnerships and matching grant programs, effectively reducing homelessness. Their organization plays a part in assisting over 600 people and families in getting or keeping their housing each year.

Bahr has personally delivered over 40,000 pairs of socks to his “friends” in the street as a means of meeting the homeless, learning names and establishing relationships. He spends evenings in homeless shelters and other places where homeless people may hang out, connecting with, encouraging and helping to meet the basic needs of “the least of these”. He also operates as a volunteer Chaplain at local homeless shelters.

Bahr serves at and coordinates the volunteers for 2.4 Ministries which provides a daily breakfast and fellowship a Minneapolis homeless shelter. He also has volunteered at Project 6:8 providing a weekly, home cooked meal under the 394 bridge west of Dunwoody College.

In addition, he is a founding member of and served as President of the Hennepin Technical College Foundation for 16 years at which he established the Bahr Family Endowment, he also serves as a mentor to chemically dependent men and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity.

Richard Bahr is also a published author. Proceeds from his recent book, "Amazed: Why the Humanity of Jesus Matters", go towards funding his social ministry. In October 2018, Bahr released his most recent book, "Those People: The True Character the Homeless" relating stories about his homeless friends while transforming the readers’ paradigms of homelessness.

Go here to learn more about Threshold to New Life and Richard Bahr online at www.richardbahr.com.

Tom Selinger served 27 years in the U.S. Foreign Service with overseas tours in Kyrgyzstan, Denmark, Croatia, Albania, and Trinidad and Tobago and portfolios ranging from security cooperation to American citizen services. In his retirement, he works for the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, a nonprofit where he directs outreach efforts to promote public understanding of the work of America's diplomats. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, including combat service with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Desert Storm, and worked as a locally-employed political specialist for the Canadian government at their Consulate in Minneapolis, MN. His interest in international affairs began during his time in Belgium as a Rotary International Exchange Student sponsored by the Rotary Club of Golden Valley. Tom is married to fellow diplomat Kirsten Selinger and has four children and three grandchildren.

Back in 1776, America's diplomats helped win the American Revolution, and over the past 250 years, they have continued to make our country safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Tom Selinger, a retired Foreign Service Officer, will share stories of how our diplomats have saved American citizens in peril, opened markets for products from our farms and factories, and built alliances to ensure our collective security and advance our ideals. He'll highlight diplomats from Minnesota and how their work has benefited communities across the state.