Our Staff & Board

Audrey is a wife, mother, and grandmother with a wealth of experience working with vulnerable populations. After the death of a dear family member from AIDS in the early 90s, her compassion for the HIV community grew more. Audrey served as a volunteer with an AIDS organization answering calls on the crisis line from individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Audrey relocated to the Twin Cities in the midst of the COVID pandemic. She continued her work with people living with HIV/AIDS as Director of Advancement at Rainbow Health.

Throughout her career, Audrey has worked for multiple nonprofits and governmental agencies working with at-risk populations in a variety of program areas, to include, housing, prisoner re-entry, public/private schools, medical research, public health, domestic violence, federal government, population health, social & racial justice, in addition to, HIV/AIDS. Audrey has extensive experience in fundraising, management, DEI, program development/management, strategy development, and grant writing. She has transformed numerous organizations and communities, raising millions of dollars, creating innovative programs, enriching lives, and providing hope for a promising future of sustainable growth. 

Audrey is a collaborative leader with keen business instincts and commitment to success. Audrey’s calming spirit allows her to gain the confidence of those who work for and who have any interaction with her. This quality has built her a reputation as an articulate implementer of strategies that easily transform into action with top-line results. Inspiring loyal team members by modeling leadership along with a commitment to excellence to earn respect through open communication. Audrey’s unique advantage is her ability to be authentic and make deep connections with various audiences that establish trusting relationships, resulting in organizational change.

Audrey is excited to be at the helm leading Hope House into their next chapter of excellence.

Erin is a Stillwater resident loving life with her husband and three young children. She has extensive experience in producing both private and community events of all scales, but her passion has always laid within non-profit organizations. Prior to coming to Hope House, Erin worked with arts organizations, theaters and most recently as head of Events and Marketing at Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater. Born and raised in Minnesota, Erin takes great pride in her home state, nature, family and her community.  

Alicen joined the Hope House Board of Directors with a desire to contribute her professional expertise working in HIV/AID research in a way that could more directly benefit community members impacted by HIV. She has 15 years of experience working in public health research and infectious disease epidemiology, many of which were focused on HIV/AIDS research. She has previous volunteer experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer and current experience as a member of the University of Minnesota Medical Reserve Corps and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health Alumni Board. Her current position focuses on strategic planning for pandemic preparedness at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Vaccine Research Center. She lives in Golden Valley with her husband and two children.

Sue Schettle is the CEO of ARRM, a trade association representing over 160 home and community based service provider organizations supporting people with disabilities. Sue became the CEO of ARRM in November 2017 after a more than 30 year run in the health care industry, most recently as the CEO of the Twin Cities Medical Society, a membership association representing more than 4,000 physicians. Under her leadership, the Society led groundbreaking public health advancements including smoke-free public policies, obesity prevention efforts and normalizing end-of-life care conversations through an initiative she co-founded called Honoring Choices Minnesota.  In addition to being a published author and receiving two Emmy Awards, Sue has also been consistently named as one of the top 100 health care leaders in Minnesota. Sue is excited to now be at ARRM and leading efforts to refocus the organization to look forward toward the future of disability services in Minnesota.    

Dennis joined Little Brothers –Friends of the Elderly in August 2019. Prior to joining LBFE, Dennis was the Digital Experience Manager with Andersen Corporation, he has also held positions in Corporate Communications and Marketing Communication at Valspar Corporation, as well as H.B. Fuller Company, The Dow Chemical Company, Rohm and Haas Company, Lenox Brands, as well as other boutique NY agencies. Dennis brings a deep, expansive experience delivering solutions that lead to innovation in product marketing, demand/lead generation, and customer nurturing. Dennis is dedicated and passionate about achieving sustainable measurable results and ensuring great customer experiences. Dennis has a bachelor’s degree in Media Communications from the School of Visual Arts, in NYC. Dennis resides in Stillwater, MN, where he enjoys road biking and restoring his 1898 home.

Casey vanderBent, with his wife Teresa, lives in St. Croix Beach, MN. His early work life was in the business world, but he left that to co-found Hope House of St. Croix Valley, with Teresa, in the early 1990’s. In the years since that work, Casey went to seminary and became an ordained minister.  He served churches in Minnesota and Ohio, as well as serving as the interim executive for his denomination’s national office. In the last few years, his health has kept him from continuing paid employment, but he is thrilled to offer what he can to Hope House as it begins a new phase in its important mission.