OUR TEAM
Stephanie Devitt
Stephanie Devitt is a veteran strategist known for her keen understanding of how different policy issues come together to impact people. She is respected for careful listening that unearths community insights and thoughtful processes that bring unity to diverse coalitions.
Almost two decades of consulting in community engagement, public outreach and multi-channel communications has left her with an understanding of the unique and common threads across issues like healthcare and public health, public sector management, water and natural resources, Native sovereignty, redistricting, workforce development, agriculture, housing, corrections and transportation. Now, Stephanie applies these experiences to help clients build trust, engage communities, and lead change for more just and equitable programs, policies and initiatives.
Stephanie holds a bachelor of science in Sociology and a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Her multi-national research with Dr. Jeff Broadbent on the role of advocacy networks in adopting climate change policy was at the forefront network mapping in academia. Board leadership roles have included serving on Hennepin Healthcare's Mission Advancement Committee, Vail Place, Women's Foundation of Minnesota, Humphrey Alumni Mentoring and chairing the parent volunteer committee for her daughter's school.
Free time is best spent with her husband, Jay and their two young children. Stephanie also loves to relax with gardening, catching up with friends, and plotting home improvement projects.
Andy Meyer
Andy has been working with SDK to provide technical project coordination and execution for several years, bringing a strong background in digital marketing communications. In this role, Andy manages customer relationship management systems, StoryMaps, online events, and other tech needed to facilitate engagement on behalf of clients. He also provides social media strategy and social media monitoring, always at the forefront of executing smart new social media and tech-based communications strategies.
Andy is an active professional networker and has served leadership terms at the Minnesota Health Strategy & Communications Network (MHSCN) and Brooklyn Center Business Association (BCBA). He and wife Carolyn volunteer with sports and fine arts parent booster groups at Robbinsdale Cooper High School. They have two sons in high school and college.
Maureen Ramirez
Maureen is an experienced leader in public sector management, policy analysis, community engagement and organizing. Previously Maureen worked at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) as the Director of the Office of Public Engagement leading the agency's outreach and community relations activities with nonprofit partners, community leaders, small business owners, and job seekers. During the pandemic, she led efforts to connect BIPOC communities to state resources like unemployment benefits and small business relief grants. Prior to the role, she led DEED's Office of Economic Opportunity where she helped close opportunity gaps and grow the state's workforce from under-represented communities.
Maureen started her career at the U of M in 2001 as an admissions counselor with a focus on Latino recruitment and then as an advisor in General College with the TRIO and McNair Scholars programs. She then went on to work as the Director of Policy and Research at Growth and Justice before working for Propel Nonprofits as their Development Director and for Northside Funders Group as their Director of Integrated Strategies. In these roles, she increased economic opportunities and community vitality through policy research, grants, philanthropy, storytelling, and community partnerships.
She graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2007 with a Master's in Advocacy and Political Leadership (MAPL). Maureen was named a 2014 Bush Leadership Fellow and earned an Executive Master of Business Administration (CEMBA) from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management in 2016.
Maureen served on the U of M Board of Regents from 2007 to 2013 and also served on the ISD 197 West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan school board from 2027-2021, including as vice chair. She currently serves on the boards of the U of M Raptor Center and Springboard for the Arts. She's the mother of two teenagers and lives in West St Paul with her husband. She's been a writing fellow at the Loft Literary Center in 2022 and 2023, writing about Mexicans in Minnesota, nature, and family.
Matthew Rezac
Matthew Rezac is an adjunct professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a practicing graphic designer. He began design consulting in 2006 after completing a two-year design fellowship at the Walker Art Center. Select clients include Blu Dot, Chronicle Books, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota Fringe Festival, Northern Lights, and Weisman Art Museum. Matthew was part of the team that created and led Northern Spark, an annual all-night art festival leverages urban spaces in the Twin Cities, including transportation assets like the Green Line, to create unique experiences. His work has received numerous honors and awards including both the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers and AIGA 365 Awards and has been published in HOW, Idea, Print, and STEP magazines.
Jacob Wasculas
Jacob is an experienced researcher who examines quality-of-life issues through a mixed-methods approach.
For more than a dozen years Jacob has blended quantitative and qualitative analysis, interviews with subject-matter experts, primary data collection, and geospatial analysis to better understand the conditions that affect the well-being of Minnesotans and the health of the environments they live in. Most recently, he worked as a research scientist at Wilder Research, a researcher and writer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and a community GIS researcher at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.
He has written dozens of articles on topics ranging from transportation and affordable housing to economic and workforce development, and he has contributed chapters to books about local data systems and the economic opportunity of regional food networks. His writing has appeared in MinnPost, the Minneapolis Fed’s Community Dividend as well as books published by the Urban Institute, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Community Indicators Consortium.
Jacob holds a master's degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs as well a bachelor’s degree in English literature from James Madison University.
When he’s not seeking answers to life's tough questions, Jacob feeds his pizza obsession by scheming up plans to build a wood-fired oven in his backyard. In his ideal reality, he’d top his pizzas with wild mushrooms he foraged earlier that day.