WILLMAR — Three new members are joining the Ridgewater College Foundation’s board of community volunteers — Amber Erickson of Hutchinson, Kristie Haefner of Litchfield, and Leslie Valiant of Willmar, according to a news release from Ridgewater College.
The three will fill vacancies left by Robert Hantge, of Hutchinson, Mark Olson, of Willmar, and Eric Lipke, of Stewart, who served one-, two- and three three-year terms, respectively.
The board oversees and governs the activities of the foundation, which raises, manages and distributes resources to support the educational opportunities offered by Ridgewater College on campuses in Willmar and Hutchinson.
Erickson is a social producer for a company called Goodbye Vanilla, specializing in social media marketing and video production development. She is also a member of the Think Local committee and Hutchinson Area Dollars for Scholars.
Contributed / Ridgewater College
Erickson and her husband, Andrew, reside in Hutchinson with their five children.
Haefner is a 2002 alumnus of Ridgewater College who rounded out her college experience at Winona State University in 2004 with an undergraduate degree in human resources management.
Contributed / Ridgewater College
She joined the team at Doosan Bobcat in 2020 as a human resources manager supporting multiple manufacturing sites. Her work history involves experience in nonprofits, hospitality, accounting, consulting and corporate manufacturing.
Haefner has been a board member with United Way of West Central Minnesota since 2014, serving in several roles including president. She is also a 2016 alumnus of the Vision 2040 program.
Haefner and her husband, Travis, and their two children recently relocated to Litchfield.
Valiant holds an accounting associate degree from the former Willmar Vo-Tech and accounting and business administration degrees from St. Scholastica.
Contributed / Ridgewater College
Her work experience includes accounting and finance work for the Litchfield Public Utilities Commission and the city of St. Joseph, and city administration for Spicer and now Willmar.
She has owned her own business, and was the gambling manager for the Litchfield Baseball Association for 12 years.
