Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota's Foundation board welcomes three new members

MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, Minn., April 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Gill, Irvin Kessler and Charles J. Maxwell, Jr. to Children's Foundation board. In addition, Children's announced that Patrick G. Ryan and David Miller have chosen to renew their positions on the Foundation board for a second 3-year term. Children's Foundation helps ensure every child in the region has access to comprehensive, high-quality, patient- and family-centered care, while providing resources for innovation so that Children's of Minnesota continues to help advance care nationally.

The dedicated members of the Children's Foundation board helped Children's of Minnesota raise $27.2 million in 2013, the board's inaugural year.

"As we build on the Foundation board's success in its first year, we are thrilled to add Scott, Irv and Charlie to help further its exceptional work in 2014 and for years to come," said Mike Ciresi, chair, Children's Foundation board and name partner at Minneapolis-based Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi. "They each are deeply committed to Children's, and bring skills and expertise that will be critical to supporting the Foundation board, and ensuring the organization's future success."

Scott Gill is the CEO of Milestone AV Technologies, the leading global supplier of projection screens and architectural mounting solutions for AV products. He has been a member of Children's Pain and Palliative Task Force and the Mother Baby Center Task Force. Along with Scott's involvement with Children's, Milestone has provided products over the last four years to support Children's expansion in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Scott and his wife Jennifer have four school-age children.

With more than 35 years of financial services experience, Irv Kessler currently serves as the vice-chairman and the largest individual shareholder of Silver Bay Realty, the first public real estate investment trust focused on strategic residential real estate investments and purchasing single homes to rent, with hubs in Minnesota, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Georgia. Silver Bay evolved from Provident Real Estate Advisors LLC, a company Irv founded in 2007. Previously Irv served on the board of the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Cincinnati Stock Exchange. Passionate about causes for children, Irv and his wife have been long-time supporters of initiatives focused on children's health and wellbeing. The couple has three children of their own, and recently welcomed their first grandchild.

Charlie Maxwell is chairman and CEO of Meristem Family Wealth and has more than 27 years of family wealth management experience. Charlie is involved with Children's Mother Baby Center Task Force as well as serving on the Foundation board. He is a past board member of Fraser and now serves on the Fraser advisory board. He also serves on the board of Social Venture Partners Minnesota. Charlie and his wife are parents to teenage triplets.

The two members renewing their terms on the Foundation board each have many years of experience in business and the Minnesota community:

• Pat Ryan is president and chief executive officer of Ryan Companies US, Inc., a national builder, designer, developer and real estate manager. His community work includes serving as past chair of Children's Corporate board of directors; trustee of the University of St. Thomas; trustee of Artis REIT; chair of the Education Committee /member of Executive Committee of Minnesota Business Partnership and board member of Mate Precision Tooling. He is a founder of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School and chairman of the Spring Point Project which is focused on finding a cure for diabetes. Pat and his wife, Ann, have five children and three grandchildren.
  
  
• David Miller is the chief executive officer of Minnetonka Moccasin Company, a manufacturer and wholesaler of casual footwear founded in Minnesota in 1946. He has held a number of corporate board positions on both public and private companies. He has served as a trustee for Lake Forest College and has sat on the boards of the Jane Goodall Institute, MELD, and Sing for Hope. David was on the Children's Hospital board for 6 years, was a member of the Children's Mother Baby Task Force and is a past chair of the Children's Foundation Board. David lives in Minneapolis with his wife Jennifer and has three grown children.

"The members of the Foundation Board have a shared passion for keeping children's health a top priority today and in the future," said Theresa Pesch, president, Children's Foundation. "We believe every child deserves access to the best specialized health care available and Children's is and has been Minnesota's pediatric care leader for decades."

Gill, Kessler and Maxwell join current Foundation board members, including:

• Mike Ciresi, Chair
• Greg Goven, Vice Chair
• Russ Becker, Hospital Board Chair
• Gary Blackford
• Robin Bristol
• Patricia Comeford
• Shannon Evenstad
• Betsy Ferguson
• Greg Frankenfield
• Bill Jeatran
• Matt Majka
• Tom McGough, Jr.
• David Miller
• Mike Richards, MD
• Patrick Ryan
• Jonathan Wood
• Alan L. Goldbloom, MD (ex officio)
• Theresa Pesch (ex officio)

About Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children's serves kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, 12 primary and specialty-care clinics and six rehabilitation sites. Children's maintains its longstanding commitment to the community to improve children's health by providing high-quality, family-centered pediatric services and advancing those efforts through research and education. An award-winning health system, Children's is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children's hospital and by The Leapfrog Group for quality and efficiency. Please visit childrensMN.org.

SOURCE Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota