Board Members

Martha Lee (Marti) Zins, President

Photo of Marti Zins

Elected Trustee (Retiree representative), mzins@minnesotatra.org

Martha Lee (Marti) Zins, Board President and Elected Trustee (Retiree) was a media specialist, then media director for the Hopkins School District. Marti was elected to her sixth term on the TRA Board of Trustees in 2009. She is a past president of the Minnesota Education Association, and represented Minnesota teachers as a director of the National Education Association (NEA). A TRA trustee since 1989, Zins serves the needs of Minnesota teachers with a special emphasis on the expansion of automated services that increase accessibility of information to members and retirees throughout the state. She works to maintain the funding stability of TRA and of defined benefit public pension plans.
Start date: July 1, 1989 Term expires: June 30, 2025

Luke V. Olson, Vice President

Elected Trustee (Active representative), lolson@minnesotatra.org

Luke has been teaching in the South St. Paul schools since 1990 and served as an officer of the district’s teachers association, first as vice president and later as president, from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics. He holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and Mankato State University. Luke was a member of the Education Minnesota Pension Task Force in 2017 and is a strong advocate of defined-benefit pension plans for educators.
Start date: July 1, 2019 Term expires: June 30, 2023

Joel Stencel

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Statutory Member, Minnesota School Boards Association Representative (MSBA), jstencel@minnesotatra.org
Start date: June 20, 2018

Jim Schowalter, Commissioner

Photo of Jim Schowalter

Statutory Member, Minnesota Management & Budget

Thomas Carr

Thomas Carr

Statutory Member, Minnesota Management & Budget designee, thomas.carr@state.mn.us
Start date: January 19, 2023

Willie Jett, Commissioner

Willie Jett

Statutory Member, Department of Education

Denise Anderson

Photo of DENISE ANDERSON

Statutory Member, Department of Education designee, denise.anderson@state.mn.us

Denise currently serves as the commissioner’s appointee on the Teacher’s Retirement Association Board of Trustees. She is the chief financial officer for the Minnesota Department of Education and also serves as a governor’s appointee on the state of Minnesota’s Investment Advisory Council (IAC).

Start date: August 18, 2015

Julie Reno

Elected Trustee (Active Representative), jreno@minnesotatra.org

Julie Reno is a math teacher in the Moorhead school district who brings to the board a good understanding of how retirement accounts work. In her role as a board member, she hopes to help keep TRA financially sustainable as well as help deepen understanding among teachers about how TRA works.

Start date: July 1, 2021 Term Expires: June 30, 2025

Kevin Lindstrom

Elected Trustee (Active Representative), klindstrom@minnesotatra.org

Kevin Lindstrom is a counselor at Anoka Technical College. As a board member, he wants to focus on communicating a shared vision regarding the value of a robust defined benefit plan. He also hopes to work toward building a strong and broad coalition in support of enhancing the benefits of the TRA plan.

Start date: July 1, 2021 Term Expires: June 30, 2025

Wendy Drugge Wuensch

Elected Trustee (Active Representative), wdruggewuensch@minnesotatra.org

Drugge Wuensch was a math teacher in Burnsville for 18 years before becoming the full-time president of the Burnsville Education Association. As a board member, she hopes to help find new ways to educate teachers about their TRA benefits in order to attract and retain more people to the teaching profession.

Start date: July 1, 2021 Term Expires: June 30, 2023