Cantus is thrilled to announce three new members joining our Board of Directors. Jessica Etten, Karen Himle, and Kelley Lindquist each bring their own experience and expertise to our dedicated Board. We look forward to working together with them to advance Cantus’ mission. Read more about each of them below.
Jessica Etten serves as Associate Vice President of Advancement Operations and Chief Administrative Officer in University Advancement at the University of St. Thomas, where she has held a variety of advancement leadership roles for more than a decade.
Before joining St. Thomas, Jessica spent 15 years with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, where she led fundraising, marketing, communications, and digital media efforts. Earlier in her career, she worked as a management consultant at Accenture, specializing in change management for clients in the retail and financial services sectors.
Jessica earned a B.A. from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas.
A lifelong music enthusiast, Jessica grew up playing the oboe and piano and singing in choirs. Music remains central to her family life: her husband teaches choir at Irondale High School, her son is a member of the St. Olaf Choir, and her daughter, a 2026 graduate of Roseville Area High School, served as concertmaster of the school’s symphony orchestra and violinist in All-State Orchestra.
In her free time, Jessica enjoys spending time in nature and currently serves on the board of Friends of Roseville Parks.
Karen L. Himle was named Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs for Thrivent in November 2018 and retired from Thrivent in February 2023. She joined Thrivent in November 2014 as Vice President Corporate Affairs. Karen was responsible for leading the enterprise corporate and crisis communications, reputation and public policy, government affairs and community relations functions of the organization.
Immediately prior to Thrivent, Karen was affiliated with the retained search firm, DHR International as Executive Vice President in the Minneapolis, MN office. Karen served on the Board of Directors and Chaired the Compensation Committee of HMN Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMNF), a Rochester, MN based public bank holding company from 2005 to 2015.
From 1985 to 2002, Karen worked for The St. Paul Companies rising through the ranks from Senior Government Affairs Manager to Senior Vice President for Corporate and Government Affairs. Her leadership at The St. Paul was profiled in the book Swim with the Dolphins: How Women Can Succeed in Corporate America on their Own Terms. From 2004-2006, Karen served as Executive Vice President and President of the foundation at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics where she led the hospital’s foundation, government affairs, and communications functions. She had previously served as a member of the hospital’s Board of Directors.
From 2007 to 2011, Karen served as Vice President for University Relations at the University of Minnesota, leading the University’s branding, marketing, public relations, communications, government and community affairs functions. She had previously served the university in a volunteer capacity as a member of the Humphrey Institute’s Advisory Board and the School of Journalism’s New Media Task Force. From 1990 to 2006, Karen appeared as an on-air host for Twin Cities Public Television and moderated the 1990 and 1994 Minnesota gubernatorial debates.
Raised in Chicago, Illinois and Columbus, Nebraska, Karen manages a family farming business dating to 1882. She graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration and a J.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Karen also received an M.A. in Systematic Theology at Luther Seminary, with a concentration in ethics.
Karen is a board member of the Minnesota Orchestral Association, having served on the board for over twenty years in non-consecutive terms. She is also a board member for Tee It Up For The Troops. Prior national board service includes Lutheran Services of America (Chair of the Governance Committee) and the Public Affairs Council (Past Chair), both based in Washington, D.C. Karen has also served on the boards of Greater Twin Cities United Way, the Basilica Landmark and many other civic and arts organizations. Karen served two four-year terms as a Supreme Court appointee to the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection. She was elected the first female president of the Minneapolis Club and served as the Chair of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce.
Karen and her husband John Himle have two adult daughters and a grandson and reside in Minnetonka, MN.
Kelley Lindquist is renowned for building Artspace Projects, Inc., America’s leading nonprofit real estate developer for creative communities. When he joined as its sole employee in 1987, Artspace had a budget of $20,000; under his leadership, it grew into an organization with a team of 70, a national Board of Directors, and an annual average budget of $20 million.
Kelley stewarded 63 mixed-use projects that Artspace owns and operates nationwide, representing more than a $800 million investment in America’s urban and rural arts infrastructure. These properties provide more than 2,200 live/work units to low-income artists and their families, along with more than $3 million in rent subsidies delivered annually. Nearly 500 commercial tenants—including arts and cultural organizations, creative entrepreneurs, and small businesses—also benefit from below-market-rate spaces. In 2017, Artspace established the Lindquist Legacy Fund in recognition of his 30 years of leadership advancing the organization’s inclusive work with culturally distinct and underserved communities. Kelley retired from Artspace in 2024 and continues his work in the national community by sitting on a number of non-profit boards.
Under Kelley’s leadership, Artspace earned numerous honors, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Honor Award, the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the Louisiana Landmarks Society’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation, the Affordable Housing Finance Reader’s Choice Award in Historic Preservation, and Minnesota Brownfields ReScape Awards for Community Impact, among others.
Kelley holds a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, in European History from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
In 2022 Kelley was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the University of Minnesota as a distinguished graduate of the University of Minnesota and as the President and CEO of Artspace Projects, Inc. In 2025 Kelley was inducted into the Minnesota Real Estate Hall of Fame by the University of St. Thomas, Opus College of Business.
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