Top: Kim Club, Lars Christiansen, Robyn Hendrix, Darius GrayBottom: Melvin Giles, Lilli Post Johnson, Isaak Rooble, Michael Jon Olson
Announcing new Friendly Streets Initiative staff to complete our 2015 FSI team! We’re delighted to welcome Melvin Giles and Isaak Rooble, who joined us this month as community organizers. Read more about them both below! We’re all working full steam ahead on final details for our first event of the year, the Better Bridges Bash! on April 25th, Noon-4pm at the Griggs bridge over I-94. We’re excited to welcome Darius Gray back into our midst in mid-May when he returns from a semester in Mexico. Friendly Streets will also be working with Jon Pavlica for photography, Matty Lang for videography, Jay Walljasper for journalism, and Erin Pavlica for zero waste coordination at all our events this year.
Melvin Giles served with Catholic Charities for 15-years; the last 7-years as the Director of Catholic Charities Frogtown Center. He is a veteran peace, diversity, and dismantling racism educator. He has extensive experience working with youth, academia, government agencies, nonprofit agencies and neighborhood groups. Notable accomplishments include serving as an adjunct community faculty instructor in Bethel University’s Anthropology Department, a member of AfroEco and the Growing Food and Justice All Initiative, adviser to the Diversity Committee of Ramsey County Master Gardeners, certified facilitator of Racial Sobriety workshops, anti-racism trainer for the Minnesota Tri-Council Commission of the Council of Churches, and founding member and key organizer of the St. Paul Pluralism Circle. Melvin received the Martin Luther King “Dream Keeper” Award in 2003, the McKnight Foundation “Virginia McKnight Binger Awards” in Human Service in 2005, the “Outstanding World Citizen” Award in 2008, Bethel University’s “George K. Brushaber Reconciliation Award” in 2009, and the Morrill Hall/Rachel Tilsen Social Justice Award in 2011.
Isaak Rooble is a well-known community outreach specialist and educator. He is specialized working with Somali families and community members. Throughout his career, Mr. Rooble provided both Somali language, cultural and content consulting to organizations/agencies that targeted Somali Americans here in Minnesota. He worked at the office of MN Secretary of State as Outreach Coordinator for the Promote The Vote Program. Prior to his role at the state level job, Mr. Rooble worked with various organizations including Mayo Clinic, Rochester Public Schools, 2nd Language Testing, Somali Resources Aid Associates (SORAA), and Lionbridge Language Services. He is currently a part-time research interview/assistant for a partnership research programs of HealthPartners, Hennepin County Medical Center, East African Health Project and Wellshare International for the Somali Cardiac Metabolic Research. Isaak also works with University of Minnesota Center of Urban & Regional Affairs, Union Park District Council, and Lexington-Hamline Community Council as Research Interviewer for the East African Global Market project. He is currently a volunteer member of Minnesota Department of Health E-HealthRoadMap Social Services working group. He previously volunteered with United Way of Olmsted County as a member of the Community Basic Needs Assessment Team. He also served as Chair of the Mayo Clinic Somali Employee Resource Group. In addition, he served as a volunteering Director of Somali Resources Aid Associates (SORAA-MN) where he brought together more than 200 Somali nonprofit organizations, businesses, students, and professionals.