This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Marketing Coordinator, 612-215-2564
Courtney Algeo received her BA in English at Temple University where she completed a super awesome editorial internship at the Temple University Press. This experience helped her understand that—contrary to the belief of some—finding a fulfilling career, armed with only a liberal arts degree and some gusto, is definitely possible. Now, some amount of years, internships, blogs, and networking events later, her theory has been proven. It is no small victory for her to join the ranks of the passionate at The Loft Literary Center. In her free time, she serves as the current editorial director at Paper Darts, and, among other freelance opportunities, writes a weekly column on the subject of local literature at the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Deputy Development Director, 612-215-2597
At heart, Tanner will always be a farm boy from Iowa. He grew up on an acreage near Charles City, Iowa with about 100 grass-fed Angus beef cattle. He earned a BA in English and creative writing at Coe College. At the Loft, Tanner is responsible for memberships and other development projects. In his free time, Tanner dabbles in playwriting and the development of new works for the stage–he is a connoisseur of good conversations and delicious sandwiches.

Favorite quote: “If you’re going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise, they’ll kill you.” –George Bernard Shaw

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Young Writers' Program Coordinator, 612-215-2595
Jen has been connected to the Loft in one way or another for over ten years—as a student, volunteer, and now as the Young Writer’s Program coordinator, which is a dream job come true. When not reading or writing at a coffee shop with a cappuccino in hand, she is traveling to places she’s never been to before (India, Italy) or returning to favorite literary haunts that inspire her (City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, Poets House in New York City, the Pacific Coast Highway in California, any café in Paris). Unless wanderlust and the invitation of the open road take over again she’ll continue to plan classes, events, conferences, and literary readings for kids and teens at the Loft.

Favorite quote: “You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.” ~the great Dorothy Parker
Book: To Kill a Mockingbird
Saying: If it’s not one thing it’s your mother.
Food: Chocolate. Anytime, anywhere.
Event: Any time I get on a plane and travel somewhere I’ve never been to before.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Office Manager, 612-215-2573
Ari began writing at age six with journal entries about what he ate for dinner and poems about dinosaurs. Years later, he discovered the Loft’s classes and continued writing about the mundane and the sublime. Since joining the Loft, he has enjoyed meeting more people in its creative community. He fields questions, handles studio and book club room rentals, and facilitates day-to-day operations to create welcoming and useful space. Ari’s favorite uses of language include singing in choir, exchanging pen-and-ink letters, talking about consent and activism, getting advice on winter biking, and participating in endless meetings that sustain co-op living. He’s also a fan of movement practices rooted in nonverbal communication, such as contact improvisation.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Executive Director, 612-215-2584
Jocelyn Hale (Jocey) has been the Loft’s Executive Director since 2007. She has taken classes, attended readings, and hung around the Loft for decades. Jocelyn has twenty-five years experience including nonprofit management, philanthropic consulting, and online education. Her essays and commentaries have aired on Marketplace Radio, in OUTSIDE magazine, Minnesota Monthly, and many others. She was a columnist for the Southwest Journal for ten years. Jocelyn has an MPA degree from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute.

Her favorite books include Tortilla Curtain by T. Coraghessan Boyle, Bitter Grounds by Sandra Benitiz, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, The Soul Thief by Charles Baxter, The Empress of One by Faith Sullivan, Driftless by David Rhodes, and Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat. The list goes on and on.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Development Assistant, 612-215-2582
Hannah is the Loft’s Development Assistant. She earned a BA in theatre arts and music from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and is a freelance theater artist in Minneapolis. During her free time, Hannah also enjoys writing, painting, hyperbolizing, and baking delicious pumpkin cookies! She has always had a love for language and feels blessed to be surrounded by writers, teachers, and word enthusiasts every day.

Favorite quote: “To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting.” –e.e. cummings

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Marketing & Communications Director, 612-215-2589
Chris received an MFA in poetry from the University of Florida. He works on media relations, brand management, marketing and promotion, and print/video/Web development. Like Les Murray, he dreams of wearing shorts forever.

Favorite quote: A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. ~Mark Twain

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Education Assistant, 612-215-2595
Mandy first encountered the Loft as an intern in 2008. Since then, she has moved across the country a few times, completed a year of national service, and worked in book publishing. She is thrilled to back in Minnesota assisting with the Loft's education initiatives. She spends her days working with students, teaching artists, and the general public to ensure that Loft classes continue to nurture writers at every stage of their craft.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Education Director, 612-215-2578
Brian Malloy received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota, and has taught in the MFA programs at Emerson College, Hamline University, and the University of Minnesota. Prior to becoming education director, Brian was the Loft's development director and grantwriter for the Open Book Capital Campaign. His novels have been honored with the American Library Association's Alex Award, a Minnesota Book Award, and grants from the Jerome Foundation and Vermont Studio Center.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Education Administrator, 612-215-2587
Edward worked as a writer and editor in New York before moving to Minneapolis. He is the author of two nonfiction books—Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat and The Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats—and has written articles for the New York Times Magazine, the New York Observer, I.D., Esopus, Salon, and Talk, among others. A recipient of a Minnesota Arts Board grant, he received his MFA in fiction from the University of Minnesota. He is finishing a collection of short stories.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Information Technology Manager, 612-215-2588
Born and raised in South Minneapolis, Daniel acquired a touch of southern drawl while earning a BA in Spanish from the University of Texas. As a Loft employee, he is responsible for solving minor to severe technological maladies. Away from his desk, he devotes most of his time to soccer, both playing and watching, and music. Most of what he has written in his life has been accompanied by a guitar, but that is slowly changing.

Favorite quote: “I want to talk to you, I want to shampoo you,” ~Joni Mitchell

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Associate Program Director (Spoken Word, Community Collaborations, Inroads), 612-215-2585
Bao Phi facilitates community collaboration projects as well as the Equilibrium: Spoken Word at the Loft series. As a spoken word artist, he has appeared on HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam, and a poem of his was selected by former poet laureate Billy Collins for inclusion in the Best American Poetry series. He is a repeat Minnesota Grand Slam champion, a National Poetry Slam individual finalist, and continues to tour all over the country. He has been published in a number of anthologies including Screaming Monkeys and Bum Rush the Page!, and has published essays in subjects ranging from Korean characters on the television show Lost to Asian American representation in video games and hip hop. He was featured in the award-winning feature documentary The Listening Project, and his work appeared in the Poetry in Motion project in Minneapolis. His book Song I Sing was published in 2011 by Coffee House Press.

Favorite quote: “I guess I should have known/by the way you parked your car sideways/that it wouldn’t last.” ~Prince

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Program Director, 612-215-2586
Jerod Santek is the program director for the Loft Literary Center, where he has been employed since 1994. A poet and fiction writer, his work has appeared in the anthology Things Shaped in Passing: More “Poets for Life” Writing from the AIDS Pandemic, as well as in Blithe House Quarterly, Ploughshares, Hayden’s Ferry Review and elsewhere. He represents writers’ conferences and centers on the board of directors of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP).

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Online Education Manager, 612-215-2593
Kurtis manages the online education program at the Loft, which must be the ideal position for somebody with one graduate degree in creative writing (Maine 1995) and another in learning technologies (Minnesota 2006). He also writes children’s books about things like rain, snakes and fungi. He spends the rest of his time rooting for the Twins and enjoying family life. He has an author’s website at http://www.kurtisscaletta.com.

Favorite Quotes:

"There are few things more helpful than having once been a weird little kid." ~ Katherine Paterson, on writing for children.

"Write up, not down." ~ E. B. White, on writing for children.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Managing Director, 612-215-2580
Beth Schoeppler has been on the Loft staff since 2008 but has had a long history with the organization taking her first Loft class in 1983. She brings more than 25 years of nonprofit experience spanning finance, general management, communications, development, program planning, marketing, and evaluation to her work. As principal consultant for Schoeppler & Associates from 2001-2008 her clients included both large and small organizations in education, the arts, human service and health care. Previous positions have included executive director of the Minneapolis Public Schools Foundation, director of development and communications for Twin Cities Public Television, and managing director of The Playwright’s Center.

Beth refers to her job as money in, money out and believes with all her heart that every budget tells a story.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it —Events & Volunteer Coordinator, 612-215-2581
As a youth, Lucas won a free class in a poetry competition and has been in love with the Loft ever since. He started on staff in 2008 facilitating daily internal operations and serving as the primary contact for questions about Loft services.  Now, he manages events, conferences, volunteers, and supervises the seasonal internship program. Work life is new and wonderful.