NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT:
Greta Callahan, president
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers
612-529-9621
Callahan elected as new president of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers’ teacher chapter; Laden re-elected as president of ESP chapter.
MINNEAPOLIS, May 20, 2020 – Kindergarten teacher Greta Callahan was certified Wednesday evening as the new president of the teachers’ chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, or MFT59, which announced a slate of winners in its internal elections.
“I am honored and humbled to continue serving our members in this role, alongside the strong group of diverse leaders who were recently elected,” Callahan said Wednesday. “We are grateful to everyone who participated in this election and share many of the concerns that our opponents expressed. We see you. We hear you. Our union exists to support all our members and you are a critical part of our collective voice. We look forward to becoming stronger and moving forward together for our students and public schools.”
Callahan replaces Michelle Wiese, who did not run for re-election. Callahan moves up from her previous position within MFT59 as recording secretary. She was a kindergarten teacher for nine years, including seven years at the Bethune Community School. She was a finalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2017.
Callahan received 70 percent of the vote in her race against Alexis Mann, a teacher at Harrison Education Center, according to results certified by the union’s executive board Wednesday evening. Callahan ran at the top of a slate of candidates. Her entire slate was elected.
Shaun Laden was re-elected as president of the MFT chapter representing education support professionals within the Minneapolis Public Schools. Laden ran unopposed.
“As a union, we will continue to work collectively to ensure that Minneapolis students, staff and families receive the educational experience they deserve,” Laden said. “As workers around the country are getting organized in a way not seen in half a century, our public schools are facing an opportunity to come back from this global pandemic in a way previously unimaginable and I look forward to working with our newly elected leadership to make that happen. ”
The new officers of MFT59 are:
Teacher Chapter
Greta Callahan, president (new position)
Robert Kohnert, first vice president (new position)
Gary Partney, second vice president (new position)
Brionna Harder, recording secretary (new position)
ESP Chapter
Shaun Laden, president (re-elected)
Ma-Riah Roberson Moody, first vice president (new position)
Catina Neal, second vice president (re-elected)
Katrinka Zackery, recording secretary (re-elected)
Ron Simmons is the new joint treasurer for both teacher and ESP chapters.
