Minnesota Council on Foundations Names Two Senior Officers:
Jane Ferguson Otis, VP-Communications and Information Services;
Chuck Peterson, VP-Member Services and Operations

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (March 31, 2005) The Minnesota Council on Foundations, a membership organization that works actively to strengthen and expand philanthropy, has filled two senior positions. Jane Ferguson Otis is the new vice president of communications and information services and Chuck Peterson has returned to the post of vice president of member services and operations.

"We are pleased to have our management team in place," said Bill King, Council president. "Jane brings a wealth of experience in all aspects of communications and public affairs, and Chuck has been an ally and an important part of our work for many years. We are poised to take on several new initiatives to serve our membership and the philanthropic community as a whole."

In her new position, Ferguson Otis is responsible for communications, research and information services, as well as public affairs. Most recently, she was communications consultant at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Ferguson Otis has held senior-level positions at several public relations, marketing communications and advertising firms, including Padilla and Speer (now PSB), Rowland Worldwide, Strother Communications Group and The Foley Group. She began her career in Minneapolis 30 years ago as press secretary to the Mayor of Minneapolis.

Peterson, responsible for member services, finance and administration, was operations executive at the Council from 1999 to 2001, leaving to become director of finance and administration and director of special projects at Artspace Projects, Inc., a national nonprofit low-income housing developer for artists. He has worked in nonprofit management and fundraising since the late 1980s. He was executive director of Grace House of Minneapolis, and director of development at Theatre de la Jeune Lune, The Dale Warland Singers and Film in the Cities. He also was grants analyst for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Victim Services Unit.

Founded in 1969, the Minnesota Council on Foundations serves the Minnesota community of grantmakers. The Council is a regional membership association working to improve the vitality and health of our communities. Council members include family and private foundations, community and other public foundations, and corporate foundations and giving programs.