Citizens League – Minnesota’s leading nonpartisan, nonprofit civic engagement and public policy organization – is proud and excited to welcome four new prominent civic and community leaders to its Board of Directors this year:
- Michelle Benson, Director of Commerce and Utility Policy for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce; former State Senator
- Ron Harris, former Minnesota State Director for the Harris-Walz presidential campaign
- Dave Kleis, recently retired five-term mayor of St. Cloud, Minnesota; small business owner; former State Senator
- Hue Nguyen, Assistant Vice President, Policy Development and Community Affairs Officer, Community Development and Engagement at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Citizens League’s Board represents a variety of backgrounds, political views, ideologies, and professional expertise, with the shared goal of engaging diverse perspectives in civic life and public policy to make Minnesota a better place to live and work for everyone.
Read on to learn more about our new board members or click here to view our full board list.
Michelle Benson is a lifelong Minnesotan and former Republican State Senator. During her 12-year tenure she served as Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, Deputy Majority Leader and as part of the budgeted negotiations. She had the privilege of serving as HHS Chair during the COVID pandemic. She currently works as the Director of Commerce and Utility Policy for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
Michelle grew up on a small farm in Central Minnesota, surrounded by a large and supportive extended family. She and her husband, Craig, have been married for 33 years and are blessed with three children, two daughters-in-law and one grandchild. She is excited to work on good policy and civic engagement, and in her free time, she travels, improves her pickleball game, and takes care of her family and friends.
Ron Harris is the former Minnesota State Director for the Harris-Walz presidential campaign. A former adviser and strategist to city governments around the country, Harris was also most recently a candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 3rd district, and he previously worked as the Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Minneapolis and as a City Council President Chief of Staff.
He is an effective leader with both a history of working within systems to bring about positive change as well as the lived experience to take on the issues close to home.
As a key community and policy member, Ron helped build and guide the coalition that successfully expanded paid sick leave to 144,000 workers across the city and inspired Saint Paul and Duluth to do the same.
Dave Kleis was first elected mayor of St. Cloud, Minnesota in November 2005. He was reelected in 2008, 2012 and 2016 all while running unopposed and was most recently elected for his fifth term in 2020, before choosing not to run again in 2024. He is the longest-serving mayor in St. Cloud history and has earned several awards and accolades, including being selected by the St. Cloud Times readers in 2010 as the most influential person of the last decade and in 2014 as the League of Minnesota Cities C.C. Ludwig Leadership Award.
During his tenure, Mayor Kleis served on many public committees, including the Governor’s Task Force on Government Financing. He is also a founding member and co-chair of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative.
Mayor Kleis grew up in Litchfield, Minnesota, and later graduated from St. Cloud State University. He is a nine-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserve and became interested in politics while stationed at the Pentagon and as an Air Force liaison on Capitol Hill in D.C. He owns a driver’s education business in St. Cloud and when not advocating for his city or teaching young drivers, he travels the world and has visited more than 130 countries.
Hue Nguyen currently serves as the Assistant Vice President for Policy Development and Community Affairs Officer leading the work of the Community Development and Engagement department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis to identify and develop policy solutions for issues affecting low- and moderate-income communities and tribal nations.
Hue has extensive experience facilitating community engagement and leading policy teams in both the executive and legislative branches in Minnesota state government. Hue has spent over 20 years advancing policies in the areas of housing, education, and taxation. She previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Legislative Affairs for Governor Tim Walz, and as Assistant Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Education.
Hue also served as a director of government affairs at Target Corporation, a leadership advisor to the Senate Majority Leader and Committee Administrator for the Senate Tax Committee. She is also active on several community and statewide boards. Hue holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and journalism from the University of Minnesota.