Denise Mayotte named Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow

Sheltering Arms director is one of 40 selected for program

Denise Mayotte, a resident of Minneapolis and the Executive Director of the Sheltering Arms Foundation, has been named a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. She is one of 40 individuals selected for this year's program.

Sheltering Arms is administered by Episcopal women, and evolved from the Sheltering Arms Orphanage founded in 1883 by Episcopal deaconess Annette Relf. The foundation's mission is "to enhance the lives of children and help them reach their full potential, especially those experiencing barriers to success." As a grantmaking organization, the Foundation supports programs benefiting children and their families in Minnesota who are most vulnerable, have least access to resources, and are least likely to have a wide array of choices about their future.

Prior to her work with Sheltering Arms, Denise Mayotte served as a program officer with the McKnight Foundation, as General Manager of KFAI (Fresh Air Radio), and as Executive Director of the Neighborhood Resource Center.

About the Policy Fellows

The Humphrey Institute Policy Fellows program prepares individuals to assume public affairs leadership roles. Through a nine-month educational esperience that includes conferences, seminars, and leadership development activities, Policy Fellows examine national and international issues confronting the United States. Fellows are selected from Greater Minnesota as well as the Twin Cities, increasing interaction and understanding among those who affect communities throughout the state of Minnesota.

Begun by Vice President Walter Mondale and Geri Joseph in 1990 and co-directed for dozen years by former congressmen Tim Penny and Vin Weber, the program is now directed by nationally-prominent political science professor Lawrence Jacobs, the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies.

We are thrilled to admit an outstanding new class of policy fellows who stand out for their accomplishments and future promise," said Jacobs. "The program for the coming year will equip the fellows with the leadership skills to advance Minnesota's common good. The new fellows represent the diversity of Minnesota's thinking and changing demographics, and they join a distinguished group of over 400 prominent Minnesotans who are alumni of the fellows program and hold key leadership positions in government, business, and the non-profit sector."

Click here to learn more about the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
Click here to learn more about the Sheltering Arms Foundation.