The Dubuque Initiatives Board is made up of community members and City representatives. The Board meets bi-monthly to collaboratively work toward achieving the organization’s mission, align with City of Dubuque key initiatives, and support the projects of other impactful community organizations.
Kevin Lynch
Mike Jansen
Poppy Conlon
Brad Cavanagh
Rick Dickinson
Susan Farber
David Resnick 
Kristin Dietzel 
Yindra Dixon 
Caprice Jones
Mike Van Milligen
Dawn Lueken
Jeff Vaassen
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President & CEO of Net-Smart
Community Involvement: Former Dubuque City Council Member, Dubuque Racing Association, Finley Hospital, Dubuque Initiatives, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
Senior Project Manager & Structural/Civil Engineer at Strand Associates, Inc.. Former CEO & Principal Engineer at IIW, P.C..
Michael was born and raised in the Tri-State Area. He was on the East Dubuque Savings Bank Board of Directors, UW-Platteville Foundation Board, UW-Platteville Alumni Board, and was involved in numerous community service activities over the course of his 32+ year career as a professional engineer.
Michael and his wife Paula have 4 adult children and 5 grandchildren.
Poppy Conlon works for Conlon Construction as Vice President and Director of Marketing. She holds a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Colorado State University and a master's degree in education from DePaul University. After spending over 20 years in Colorado and Chicago, she moved back to her hometown of Dubuque in 2015.
Community involvement:
Finley Health Foundation Board of Directors
Dubuque County Historical Society Board of Directors
Dubuque Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors
Two by Two Character Development Board of Directors
100 Women Who Care Dubuque chapter steering committee
Brad Cavanagh, of 565 Fenelon Place, was elected as Mayor in November 2021. Previously, he served on the Dubuque City Council representing the city’s Fourth Ward
beginning in 2019.
Brad is a social worker with over 20 years of experience working in a variety of practice settings with diverse populations. He spent the last decade at Loras College in Dubuque as an associate professor of social work. He holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in social work from Saint Louis University. Brad and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons.
President & CEO of Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
Community Involvement: Dubuque Racing Association, Iowa Legal Aid, CIRAS Advisory Council
David Resnick, of 2341 Coventry Park, #207, was first elected to the Dubuque City Council in 2007. He was re-elected in November 2019 and is currently serving his fourth term. He is one of two at-large members.
Councilman Resnick is a native Iowan and has resided in Dubuque since 1984. He was on the Fine Arts faculty of Clarke University in Dubuque from 1993 to 2018 during which time he held many leadership positions at the college and was a presenter for the prestigious Mackin-Mailander Lecture Series. He is currently the executive director of the Northeast Iowa School of Music (NISOM) in Dubuque. Councilman Resnick and his wife, Mimi, have four children.
Councilman Resnick holds a Master of Music Education degree from Northern Illinois University and a permanent professional teaching certificate from the State of Iowa. He has been involved in a broad spectrum of community organizations including the Dubuque Arts Council, Dubuque Chamber of Commerce, the Langworthy Neighborhood Association, and the Grand Opera House. He is also a member of many professional and musical performance organizations.
Founder and CEO of M & M Sales Enterprises.
Raised on Iowa Farm, trained as an Engineer and work as a serial entrepreneur;
Community Involvement:
Startup Dubuque Board Member
Member of St. Anthony parish
External Advisory to University of Illinois
Kristin Dietzel, CEO, Painted Sky Designs
a wholesale and retail outdoor furniture company founded and operating in Dubuque. Kristin graduated from University of St. Thomas in 2004 and earned a master’s degree from University of Iowa in 2006 and a Certificate of Analytics from Loras College in 2014. Kristin and her husband Kevin moved to Dubuque in 2009, where she served at Northeast Iowa Community College as Director of Grants and Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness. From 2016-2021 Kristin led Greater Dubuque Development Corporation’s Office of Workforce Solutions, where she oversaw a comprehensive community workforce recruitment, retention, and education and training program. Kristin serves on the board of the Dubuque Museum of Art and the Dubuque Senior Educational Foundation. Kristin and Kevin have two school-age children, Charlotte and Beckett.
Yindra Dixon is a collaborator, innovator and strategist. She is the Managing Partner of Blackbox Consulting Group and in February 2020, founded MPower 360, a non-profit focused on engaging and mobilizing Black voters in Nevada. The organization is committed to long-term power building in the community alongside all other organizations and has recently advocated to pass resolutions at the state and county levels declaring systemic racism a public health crisis. As owner of Blackbox Consulting Group, Mrs. Dixon has worked with various government organizations to help make racial justice a reality through training, developing programs and building coalitions.
Mrs. Dixon worked as a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture supporting international trade in fruit and vegetables as well as specialty crops like citrus. She participated on Emergency Response teams to protect our food supply from threats of disease and invasive species developing outreach strategies and communications to engage affected communities. As owner of Blackbox Consulting Group, she has worked with U.S. Senators, including former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), members of Congress, State Legislators, educational institutions, government agencies and labor unions on outreach campaigns, policy initiatives and projects that unite disparate communities.
Yindra has an undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.B.A. in finance and international business from New York University. Her professional experience includes Fortune 500 companies, like Hewlett Packard and Ford Motor Company, as well as local elementary schools and churches. She is driven by her passion for equity and inclusion and strives to make a considerable impact in every community of which she is a part. Mrs. Dixon lives in Dubuque, Iowa, and is married with three children.
Current Affiliations
- Board Chair, Nevada Alliance
- Board Chair, Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada
- Board Member, Dubuque Initiatives
- Member, Community Equity in Education Advisory Committee, Dubuque Community School District (subcommittees: Community Engagement, Policy, Climate and Culture)
- Previous Coalition membership:
- Clark County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
- West Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood
- HIV Modernization Coalition of Nevada
- Nevada State Revenue Coalition
- Nevada Black Legislative Caucus COVID-19 Response Task Force
Previous Experience
- Advisor, Forward Majority
- Philanthropic Services Committee, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
- Public Affairs Specialist, APHIS, US Dept. of Agriculture
- Director of Academic Outreach, College of Southern Nevada
- Executive Director, Urban Chamber of Commerce
- Project Manager, Pershing, a division of Credit Suisse Group
Bio Coming Soon
Dubuque City Manager
Community Involvement: Dubuque Racing Association Board Member, Dubuque Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Board Member
Dawn Lueken has worked for John Deere Dubuque Works for almost 20 years in a
variety of roles in Supply Management and Operations. She currently leads a cross
functional new product development team as the Program Manager for Crawler Dozers
and Loaders. Dawn and her husband, Chad, are natives of the Dubuque area and have
5 children.
Community Involvement:
Dubuque Initiatives
Carnegie-Stout Public Library Foundation Board
Jeff Vassssen is Vice President Business Lending at Dupaco Community Credit Union
Experienced Commercial Banker and Business Development Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry. Strong banking, business development and management professional skilled in Business Financial Planning, Coaching, Sales, and Team Building.