Terri Thao is passionate about building power with community. She is currently a program director at Nexus Community Partners, a non-profit community building intermediary where she runs the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI). Terri has spent most of her professional career in the fields of community economic development, community building, leadership development, and philanthropy. She also teaches classes on leadership and advocacy at Metropolitan State University. She serves on the boards of the F.R. Bigelow Foundation, Minnesota Housing and Voices for Racial Justice. She obtained her Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees from the University of Minnesota. She lives with her family on the East Side of St. Paul and loves to read in her spare time.