Meet Your Executive Committee

The USM Executive Committee makes up the governance structure of our union. Our elected officials are listed below.

Sam Jasenosky

President

Sam (she/her) was appointed Vice President in November 2021, elected in 2023, and elected President in 2025. After starting at Education Minnesota in 2015 as an assistant in the policy department, Sam took on a few different roles, including temporary campaign digital organizer, and she currently serves as the organizing assistant. She also served as co-bargaining chair in the 2023-25 and the 2025-27 USM negotiations cycles. In her spare time she likes to collect indie nail polish and watch reality TV with her husband. She's a first-generation homeowner in St. Paul with her husband and three cats, Fox, Squid, and Maple (none of which are in the picture above--that is Big Joe from Catzen Coffee in St. Paul!).

Contact Sam at sjasenosky@gmail.com

Clara Waddell

Vice President

Clara (she/her) was appointed to the USM Grievance Chair in January 2024 and appointed to Vice President in September 2025 to fill the vacancy left when Sam became President. Clara has worked at Education Minnesota since 2016 as a Field Office Assistant for the St. Cloud office. She also was on the 2023 and 2025 USM bargaining teams and in the past four years has been involved with the Education Minnesota FIRE team and Wellness team. In her spare time, Clara likes to write screenplays/novels, explore new parks and trails, relax with a good book, and enjoy quality time with friends and family. She lives in Golden Valley with her partner, and Catahoula dog, Louie.

Contact Clara at waddell.clara.r@gmail.com

Rhonda Hopkins

Treasurer

Rhonda was appointed USM's Treasurer in 2011. She has worked for Education Minnesota (first for the Minnesota Federation of Teachers - MFT) for over 26 years. All of those years have been spent in the Detroit Lakes (formerly Dilworth) field office. She was USM's Northern Area Director for many years before being elected Treasurer. She has been involved with bargaining USM's contract for over 20 years and is currently Bargaining Chair.

Contact Rhonda at usm4em@yahoo.com

Stephanie Berg

Secretary

Stephanie was elected Secretary in September 2015. Since October 2019, she has worked as an Office and Events Specialist in the ESI department. Prior to that, she worked as an Accounting Specialist in the Finance department at Education Minnesota for 11 years. Stephanie has a husband, Erick, and 3 children, Ashley, Alexis and Allison. In her spare time, she loves to read! Any recommendations are welcome and appreciated. She also loves to bake any sweet treat (she has an awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe!). Another fun fact is that she works in the same department as her mom.

Contact Stephanie at stephanie.berg29@gmail.com

Sarah Litz

Grievance Chair

Sarah Litz (she/her) has been a legal assistant at Education Minnesota since January 2014. She switched to the legal assistant/HR role when Lisa Enwright moved to the exec office, at which time she took over as chair of the Wellness team. She has also served on several committees: pension/401k review, safety, new staff training and induction, mentor training, and currently pension and the Safe People Squad. A lot has changed during her tenure, both personally and professionally, but she's excited to take on the role of grievance chair, which she was appointed to in 2025. In her spare time, she likes going for walks, playing with her toddler, reading, and watching movies and TV with her husband. She also does Jane Austen-based improv with a group called Manners and Misconduct
(feel free to ask!).

Contact Sarah at sarahturner25@gmail.com

Karen Martinez

Southern Area Director

Karen Martinez was elected Southern Area Director in 2022 and has been part of the Rochester community since 2006. She began her work with Education Minnesota in 2020 as a Political Organizer and currently serves as a Field Office Assistant in the Rochester Field Office. Prior to that, she worked for six years with students in the Spanish Immersion Program at Rochester Public Schools.

Karen has contributed to several community initiatives, including the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge, the Coalition BIPOC Home Ownership Project, and the Racial Justice S.T.E.A.M Collective at the Science Museum of Minnesota. She was also named a rising Minnesota leader through the Minnesota Young American Leaders Program and is trained as a Co-Design Facilitator.

She identifies as a Latinx, Mexican American, Person of Color, woman, mother and community advocate, and she is proud to serve as United Staff of Minnesota’s Southern Area Director, where she is committed to building connections, amplifying diverse voices, and advancing equity within Education Minnesota.

Jake Ertz

Metro Area Director

Hi! My name is Jake, and I am the HQ building Rep. I came to Education Minnesota in early 2023 as a Human Resources Assistant. I have always been interested within the labor movement, but haven't had an opportunity to be active within a union until joining Education Minnesota. Funny enough - in college, one of my classes taught lessons around negotiating and bargaining, but the focus was on the other side of the table! I'm excited that I get to play for the good guys and hope I can leverage my knowledge and experience from HR/Administrative work to help with any work issues you may be having. In my free time, I love watching sports (T-Wolves, Vikings, & Liverpool FC are my favorite teams), golfing, trying out new restaurants with my fiancée, and playing with our cat Chimi (short for Chimichanga). I'm a talker and would love to chat with you whether it's work related, union related, or just socializing - So stop by HR to say hi if you are around!

Contact Jake at jakeertz08@gmail.com

Andrea Johnson

Northern Area Director

Andrea was appointed the Northern Area director in 2012. She decided she wanted to run for the position when it became open. In 2013, she was elected the permanent northern area director and has re-ran every two years unopposed and continues to serve the northern area field offices. Andrea started working for Education Minnesota in the summer of 2011 in the Bemidji field office. She currently sits on the technology committee and Insurance committee.

In her spare time she loves to tend to her 15 chickens “mommas” and plays with her 1.5 year old German Shepherd dog Cooper. She also enjoys fishing (ice and open water), gardening and making wine (winning best and first place wine at the August County Fair).

Contact Andrea at johnson6680@hotmail.com