Meet the Board and Staff
Paula
O'Loughlin
Board Member
(she/her)
As a Korean adoptee raised by white parents, Paula is committed to co-creating brave spaces where individuals can explore their own racial identity without judgment or shame. Her transformative experience in an Antiracism Study Dialogue Circle led to her desire to join the ASDIC board in 2018. Paula believes in the power of relationships, her community, and that change is possible. She is grateful for her peers who work and walk alongside her in her pursuit of racial, social, and economic justice.
Sue K. Hammersmith, Ph.D.
Board Member
(she/her)
Sue K. Hammersmith is a Board Member and ASDIC facilitator. Sue is a sociologist and the retired president of Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. She has worked with ASDIC since 2014 and is particularly interested in the racialization of American education and culture. She loves travel and the outdoors.
Marquita Stephens
Board Member
(she/her)
Marquita is a Board Member and facilitator for ASDIC. She is a 30+ year advocate for Black and Brown people in education and the child services systems in multiple major markets. Prolific in developing programmatic response to the need of targeted constituencies she now serves as the VP of Strategic Engagement at Urban League in the Twin Cities.
Davis Parker
Board Member
(he/him)
Davis is the son of ASDIC Co-Founder Margery Otto and has been a member of the ASDIC board since 2017. He has 15 years of experience in non profit programming and admin, youth development and supportive housing. Davis has held roles in fundraising, grant writing, and program evaluation with the goals of supporting continuous improvement and sustainable programs. Davis lives in Minneapolis, often rides his bicycle, and also works in grant writing and program evaluation at Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative.
Paul Wymar
Board Member
(he/him)
Paul joined the ASDIC board in 2020.He works as a Senior Project Manager for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in its Watershed Division. Paul coordinates state agency work, facilitates public conversations and organizes around the topic of water quality and pollution. As such he develops, oversees and manages state grants and contracts. Through MPCA Paul has experience with the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and is a part of a group that meets regularly to work on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access within the agency. In addition to his employment Paul is active in his local church serving as the treasurer for the First Congregational Church (UCC). As a part of the church’s social justice work Paul has helped host regular engagement with community members in hard conversations about racism and religious prejudice.
Paul is known for his work with his community focused Organic Apple Orchard near Montevideo, MN. Some of his hobbies include camping, canoeing and beekeeping.
Ricky DeFoe
Board Member
(he/him)
Ricky is a Board Member and ASDIC facilitator. He is a carrier of the Ojibwe Language and Culture and a Fond du Lac Reservation Band Member. Ricky graduated from the Federal Indian Boarding School in South Dakota and served in U.S. Army National Guard. He is a retired Union Journeyman Ironworker and has served on Duluth Indigenous Commission as Chair. He also has co-chaired the Anne Casey Foundation Initiative of Reducing Racial Disparities in Juvenile Detention. and served on Ad Hoc Committee in Duluth creating the Duluth Civilian Review Board. Ricky is currently working for the Fond du Lac Reservation at the Museum with Ojibwe history, culture and language.
Wendy Vang-Roberts
Board Member
(she/her)
Wendy is a first-generation Hmong American from the Twin Cities who is dedicated to taking action to dismantle racism and inequities through training, storytelling and creating spaces for meaningful dialogue. She is the Training Director at the Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement (MAVA) where she manages, develops and facilitates professional development for volunteer engagement leaders globally on topics of volunteerism and diversity, equity and inclusion. Wendy holds a Master of Public and Nonprofit Administration from Metropolitan State University. In addition to the ASDIC board and marketing committee, she also serves on the Asian American Organizing Project (AAOP) board as Vice Chair. In her spare time, Wendy enjoys cooking, traveling and spending time with her husband and two dogs.
Maria McNamara
Associate Director- Staff
(she/her)
Maria is the Associate Director and longtime facilitator for ASDIC. Maria came into racial justice work from a background in NYC community organizing and St. Paul neighborhood activism - where, as a white woman, she learned about deep racial dynamics primarily by making many unfortunate mistakes. Her goal now is to walk with others through the process of unpacking history, sitting with it, and envisioning a future of "beloved community" that might really work. She is a strong proponent of empathy, curiosity, and even laughter in doing this work. Maria is also a professional craftsperson with credits in theater, opera, film, and TV. She lives in an old house on St. Paul's West Side and has, so far, spawned two more generations of West Siders.