Chief Executive Officer
Christy Shannon
Christy Shannon joined the CornerHouse team in February 2024, bringing demonstrated leadership experience in the victim services field and a passion for serving survivors of abuse. Her prior positions were with Safe Nest, Nevada’s largest nonprofit agency providing comprehensive domestic and sexual violence services, which she joined in 2011 as a volunteer victim advocate in the court and shelter programs; she became a member of the Safe Nest leadership team in 2015, serving as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, where she supported the agency through extensive program, operational, and funding growth to better meet the needs of survivors in the rapidly expanding Southern Nevada community. Christy holds a Master of Public Administration in Nonprofit Management from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a Master of Arts in English from the University of Northern Colorado.
Organization Directors
ELIZABETH Eagle, M.S.C.J, Response Services Director
Elizabeth has undergraduate degrees in Law Enforcement with an emphasis in Community Violence Prevention and Intervention and a Master’s in Criminal Justice from Metropolitan State University. Prior to joining the CornerHouse team she worked for the Hennepin County Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation, serving in a support capacity for the Mental Health and Veteran’s Courts Programs. In 2016 she took a position with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office working in Juvenile prosecution. Elizabeth is originally from Ft. Yates, North Dakota and a proud member of The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Jane Straub, Training Director
Jane joined the CornerHouse team in August 2021 as the Training Manager. Jane has worked as an advocate and trainer for over 25 years and brings a wealth of training experience related to abuse and trauma across the lifespan. She has had the opportunity to create curriculum and educational materials with a special passion for trauma-informed care and the impact of trauma. Jane looks forward to helping families, professionals and communities identify, intervene and interrupt trauma in the lives of children and adults. Jane has a dual degree from Arizona State University in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, a certificate in ASL and a tennis coaching certification from MSHSL.
JEn markworth, MA LP, Clinical services Director
Jen serves as CornerHouse’s Mental Health Services Director. She has over 20 years of experience and expertise providing an array of leadership and therapy services in various mental health settings. Jen has developed and managed training programs for both graduate students and post graduate practitioners that emphasize providing quality supervision and robust clinical development. Jen has vast experience providing direct therapy services as well as clinical supervision, utilizing trauma informed therapeutic interventions. She is passionate about assisting the healing process for clients of all ages. Jen holds a master’s degree focused in Counseling and Psychological Services from the University of St. Mary’s of Minnesota.
Lisa Bennett, Finance Director
Lisa joined CornerHouse in September of 2022 as the accountant after returning to Minnesota from Southern California. She brings a large amount of varied nonprofit finance & accounting experience, including a 4-year stint in the Palm Springs area as the Finance and Operations Officer at Guide Dogs of the Desert, and Finance Manager at United Way of the Desert. In Minnesota, Lisa was the accountant at the Walker Art Center, and long-time Controller at the Minnesota Council of Churches. She expresses her joy at landing at CornerHouse: “I love being able to make a living while improving my community, serving children, & aiding in all the important work that happens here every day.” Lisa holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from National University. Outside of work she enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, playing with her granddaughters, and enjoying all the fun Minnesota has to offer.
See who else helps make CornerHouse the best it can be on our Staff page!
Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Chair: Lisa Hauser, Community Volunteer
Vice-Chair: C. Skye Cook, Cushman Wakefield
Finance Chair: Dianne Austgen, Community Volunteer
Secretary: John Betzler, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office
MEMBERS
Brad Carlson, Tradition Mortgage
Jason Francisco, Community Member
Debbie Goettel, Hennepin County Board of Commissioners
Lieutenant Dennis Hamilton, Minneapolis Police Department
Richard Jacobson, Kraus-Anderson Construction
Karin Keitel, Community Volunteer
John Marti, Dorsey and Whitney, LLP
Julie Drysdale, Community Member
Kristen McHenry, Allina
Karen Melby, StevenDouglas
Linda Schmidt, Deloitte
Leanne Thyken, Community Volunteer
Young Professionals Board
Mercede Defatte, Greiner Construction
Sadie Defatte is a member of our Young Professionals Board specializing in Marketing. She brings five years of marketing and client relationship management expertise to the table along with a BA in Administration with an Emphasis in Marketing. Sadie has a background of personal volunteer work, coaching youth sports, and donating time to better her community.
Born and raised in Minnesota, Sadie moved from Bemidji to Minneapolis three years ago where she began her career in commercial construction marketing, bringing her knowledge and passion for helping underrepresented youth with her.
Sadie is always seeking to build meaningful connections through every interaction in hopes of sharing knowledge, support, and human connection.
Daniel Waddell, West Monroe
Dan Waddell is originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota but fell in love with the Twin Cities after coming to the University of Minnesota for undergrad. After graduating in 2019, he’s lived all over the city but now has settled down in Saint Paul and works for West Monroe as a Senior Consultant in the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice.
Dan is passionate about local history and involvement and found the perfect outlet after discovering CornerHouse during a local networking event over a year ago. He hopes to continue making a difference for CornerHouse through his involvement in the Young Professional Board.