When calm, kindred spirit Joan Semmer walks into a room, people listen. Joan’s background in strategic marketing and communications has served hundreds of brands, businesses and nonprofit organizations in the Upper Midwest. We are grateful she continues to choose Interfaith Outreach as one of the organizations she supports. She is a smart, caring, compassionate, community-minded leader who volunteers her professional skills and helps move Interfaith Outreach forward. Joan helped guide staff through the process of developing a revitalized brand identity for Interfaith Outreach. She was also the driving force behind rebranding Resale Select in 2016 – holding listening sessions with volunteers, leading strategy sessions with staff, generating names and taglines, and consulting on the visual brand identity.
Joan currently uses her people skills and writing wisdom to create the monthly Volunteer Spotlight features that highlight our amazing volunteer power. She also shares her gifts with Kairos Alive!, a nonprofit that uses dance and storytelling to create a sense of community and well-being in participants of all ages and walks of life. As she was raising her children, Joan encouraged them to be involved with Interfaith Outreach by participating in food drives, as well as donating to the food shelf and Holiday Gift Program. Joan believes in the importance of nurturing the human spirit and is honored to be working with Interfaith Outreach.