Announcing Avenues' New Executive Director
Meet Katherine Meerse, PhD 
We are pleased to introduce you to Avenues for Homeless Youth's incoming new Executive Director, Katherine C. Meerse, PhD. Katherine joins Avenues on December 11, following an extensive search conducted by the Board of Directors with assistance from Ballinger I Leafblad. She succeeds Deborah Loon, who announced her plan earlier this year to step down after nearly ten years leading the organization.
Katherine comes to Avenues from Hennepin County Health and Human Services where, as Manager of Youth Education, she has led the county's work to ensure education success for children and youth receiving county services. Her prior role as Initiative Manager for "Better Together Hennepin" led a county-wide youth development and teen pregnancy prevention program. 

Before joining Hennepin County, Katherine held leadership roles at Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. She has a PhD in US Women's History from the University of Minnesota and brings almost 20 years of experience in nonprofit and government sectors to Avenues.
Please plan to meet Katherine at an open house on January 10, 2018 at 5-6:30 pm at our Minneapolis Avenues location.  To register, contact Craig Freeman at 612-844-2005 or by email.  

Thank you for your past and continued support of Avenues. Because of you, more than 300 homeless youth every year can move from surviving to thriving!