sarah webster norton
she/her | founder, executive director
Sarah worked in the service industry for nearly 25 years before leaving the industry to run Serving Those Serving full-time. Having stumbled into activism a few years ago, she has enjoyed a personal transformation that has led her to her life’s work: helping the service industry succeed and thrive. Sarah is most concerned about the combination of excessive stress and the lack of benefits available to members of her beloved industry. She is very excited to have created a never-before-seen program to bring mental health and workplace wellness services to industry workers. Sarah believes in being the change she wants to see in this world. She is supported by her family including many friends and her children (ages 25, 21, and 12).
LINDSEY HOFER
chair
Lindsey started in the service industry when she was 14 years old, waiting tables in her rural Nebraska hometown. She stayed in the industry for the next 12 years, working in high-volume restaurants around the country until she landed in Minneapolis in 2016. The money she made from serving gave her the ability to pursue higher education. After graduating with a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota in 2018, she left the industry to work for the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. Despite her departure from the restaurant world, she hopes to create positive change for those in the industry by using data and research to drive decision-making.
ANNA (nelson) SHIELDS
she/her | CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
A self-proclaimed “lifer,” Anna has worked in the service industry for over 15 years. From coat check to bartender to manager and all that lives between- she has worked in a variety of roles that today motivate her to connect to people of all kinds.
Anna lived her dream of opening and operating a beach bar in Southeast Asia for many years. While there, she was a part of the Sihanoukville Tourism Association, a volunteer group dedicated to educating locals and visitors on sustainable tourism and fundamental sanitation issues. She also owned and operated a clothing boutique called Serendipity Road on Lake and Lyndale in Minneapolis. She served on the Board of the LynLake Business Association, helping coordinate community events and bring neighborhood issues to the local community’s government.
She has a BS in Advertising from The Art Institutes International Minnesota and a PMP certification from The Project Management Institute. Today, Anna is the Director of Marketing for Your Boat Club, the largest family-owned boat club in the world. This is after she was acting Director of Operations for Empire Entertainment, a Minneapolis-owned-and-operated events and entertainment company for over ten years. She has genuine compassion to make a daily difference in an industry that forges lifelong relationships in the workplace. In her free time Anna is an avid reader, home chef, cat mom, and foodie date to her husband Nick.
Haley Simon
SHE/HER | Chief Financial Officer
Haley is dedicated to continuing the trend of accurate, ethical and transparent accounting support for the hospitality industry. She grew up serving and bartending, and has a deep love for the industry. Her knack for spreadsheets and love for numbers is unlike anyone. She is also committed to serving as a young female leader, and is invested in her personal and professional growth. Haley serves on several Boards of Directors to advise in the Financial realm of operating businesses both for profit and not for profit. In her spare time, Haley loves going to concerts, spending time with family, and reading.
KELLI EISENBRAUN
BOARD MEMBER
The service industry is weaved into Kelli’s DNA. Her father worked in kitchens long before she was born and continued to do so while raising her and her three other siblings. She witnessed the emotional, physical, and mental stress that late nights and long hours had on him once he was home. However, going to restaurants to visit him also meant mingling with the always enthusiastic FOH staff that gave her ramekins of maraschino cherries while she learned to roll silverware and her very first tip was from a bartender ($1) for helping separate the beer cans to be recycled. This manifested a 25+ year BOH v FOH rivalry that is still something they joke about today.
Kelli moved to Minneapolis in 2002, making immediate connections in the service industry while bartending and serving at popular punk rock bars, restaurants, and venues. During this time, she made a connection to another calling, and attended MCTC for studies in Human Services. After a break, she went back and completed her A.S. in Human Services and did her internship under Sarah Norton.
She is still rockin’ the service industry and is also pursuing her B.A. in SUD counseling and advocacy. In her spare time, she loves to bike, cook, read, and make herself laugh with her cats and her partner.
Creative/Design
Who starts an agency in the middle of a pandemic? These guys. Because that’s what rebels do. Zag where others zig. Skully Rebels is a Minneapolis-based, punk rock creative brigade formed by advertising veterans Jordan Rohweder and Darren Tibbits. With decades of award-winning experience and very few **** to give, they took their black t-shirts and baseball hats and left the milquetoast agency world filled with half-baked ideas and misguided intents. Their goal? To shake things up and re-shape the way people see brands. Also to have a tattoo artist in their office. That’s still in the plans, but for now they’re making sure everything they do is cool and means something. Everything from print to video, digital to experiential is in their creative wheelhouse. They have a lot of friends in the service industry and are proud to work with Serving Those Serving| to help them and their co-workers maintain their health and wellness. If you’re ever up for a pint or a shot, Jordan and Darren are available. Because there’s always room for more rebels.
