Meet the Cultivate the Karass Team
Lori Brewer Collins
Founder & Executive Director
Ctk.campfire lead facilitator
As the Founder and Executive Director of Cultivate the Karass, Lori is the heart of the organization. She had the privilege of being Jake Brewer’s mother. Cultivate the Karass is an extension of Jake’s legacy; he continues to inspire her, and us, every day.
She is a sought-after speaker on Cultivate the Karass’s behalf and works to raise awareness, engender participation, find alliances, and represent Cultivate the Karass alongside other groups. She spearheads fundraising efforts and oversees all Cultivate the Karass activities.
Lori is an internationally recognized executive development facilitator and coach. For over 20 years she has worked with leaders in complex, cross-cultural settings including Fortune 100s and global multinationals. She is especially effective working with senior-level leaders.
Lori served as Manager of Custom Solutions for the Center for Creative Leadership – EMEA and was Lead Faculty. She was also one of CCL’s original thought leaders in the Organizational Leadership practice. She served as senior principal and executive coach in two firms: Cambria Consulting and Axialent. Earlier in her career, she was Manager of Leadership and Corporate Culture at Saturn Corporation, General Motors.
Lori has an M.Ed. in Human Resource Development and Counseling from Vanderbilt University, a B.A. in Business Management from Michigan State University, and is a Certified Executive Coach through the Hudson Institute of Coaching.
Jeff Buenrostro
Co-Founder & Board member
Jeff was one of Jake Brewer’s closest friends, in whose memory Cultivate the Karass is founded. Jeff provides insight and direction to all Cultivate the Karass activities through his role as founding member of the Board of Directors and his commitment to keeping Jake’s legacy and vision alive.
Jeff is Founder and COO and CPO of Metric Theory, a digital services marketing company. Jeff holds responsibility for overseeing general business operations. His main focus is attracting, developing and retaining team members through an award-winning company culture. He creates and implements work/life integration programs and culture initiatives that support individuals and teams in exceeding their personal and professional goals. Jeff is also an ongoing contributor to Forbes where he writes about his programs and other relevant topics.
Jeff holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business with a focus in in Public Management and Global Management, and a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University.
Mindy Finn
Board Member
Mindy Finn is a media strategist, an early founder of the digital democracy movement, and specializes in brand marketing, issue advocacy and civic reform. She was also a candidate for Vice President in the 2016 election, as the running mate of Evan McMullin. Along with McMullin, she is Co-CEO & Founder of Stand Up Republic, which is building a movement to defend democracy in America through the promotion of liberty, equality and truth.
Mindy is also the founder and current president of Empowered Women, a non-profit working to inspire, educate, and give voice to a bold new generation of American women—the leaders of today and tomorrow.
Previously, Mindy headed up strategic partnerships for Twitter in Washington, D.C., specializing in business development, and was a founding partner of Engage, an online media strategy company, which she left in 2011 to join Twitter.
Mindy has worked on digital programs for President George W. Bush and Governor Mitt Romney, and started her career as a Congressional correspondent for the Waterbury, CT Republican American and as a staffer for Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX).
Mindy graduated from Boston University with a degree in Journalism, and earned an MS in Political Management from the George Washington University. A Texas native, Mindy lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, David Feinberg and two sons.
BILL POTAPCHUK
Co-faciltator ctk.Campfire
Bill Potapchuk has helped organizations and communities reach collaborative agreements and make progress on critical issues for more than 30 years. His work ranges from catalyzing, designing and guiding large-scale, inclusive community processes to skilled facilitation of retreats, workshops, and summits. Bill helps leaders work toward collective impact, find impactful harmony among competing initiatives, build consensus on contentious policy issues, develop outcome-focused strategic plans, and build effective coalitions.
Bill started his peacemaking career at the Conflict Clinic, Inc., an organization first conceived in the book Getting to Yes and then launched at Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation. He has served as Executive Director of the Program for Community Problem Solving (PCPS), a partnership of the National League of Cities, International City/County Management Association, National Civic League, American Chamber of Commerce Executives.
In 1999, Bill founded and still serves as President of the Community Building Institute. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and was recently named as a Fellow in their Center for Peacemaking Practice. A native of Cleveland, Bill received his BA in Urban Studies from Case Western Reserve University, his MA in Political Science from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and his MS in Conflict Resolution from George Mason. He is widely published, has co-authored chapters in major textbooks for the field as well as a wide array of monographs and journal articles.
Meet our advisers
Eli Lehrer
Eli Lehrer is president of the R Street Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization (“think tank”) whose mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government. R Street works extensively on both state and national policy, focusing on issues that other groups tend to neglect: tackling issues that are complex, but don’t necessarily grab major headlines. As president, Eli oversees all R Street operations, makes major strategic decisions and is ultimately responsible for all of R Street’s products. He also tells pirate jokes.
He is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today and The New York Times, among other publications. Eli serves as a contributing editor of National Affairs and writes regularly for The Weekly Standard. He also serves on the board of the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization for LGBT conservatives and their allies.
Eli graduated cum laude from Cornell University with a bachelor’s in medieval studies. He received his master’s in government with honors from The Johns Hopkins University.
He lives in Herndon, Virginia, with his wife, Kari and son Andrew.
Sarah Longwell
Sarah Longwell is a Senior Vice President and Partner at the communications firm Berman and Company in Washington D.C. She has delivered expert testimony before numerous state legislatures, appears frequently in the national media, and is quoted in hundreds of news stories each year. Her opinion pieces have been published in top tier newspapers including in the New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
Sarah Longwell joined the Log Cabin Republicans National Board in 2011. She is the organization’s youngest board member and the first woman to ever serve as Log Cabin Republican’s National Chairman. She has also served on the Leadership Committee of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.
She has delivered expert testimony before numerous state legislatures and appears frequently in the national media. Her opinion pieces have been published in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. In 2010, she was named a "Rising Star" by Campaigns & Elections Magazine and was recognized by the American Association of Political Consultants as a member of the class of 2016's "Top 40 under 40."
Sarah is a graduate of Kenyon College in Ohio and lives in Washington D.C. with her wife and son.