Our Team

Ingrid lives in Golden Valley, MN with her husband and their three boys. Her passion for fighting poverty began in 1991 as a volunteer for a local organization impacting children in lower income areas of her hometown. A desire to be more effective led her to pursued a B.A. degree in cross-cultural studies from Moody Bible Institute. After graduating and marrying in 1997, she spent 17 years reaching out to children and youth in North Minneapolis. In 2010, the story of an Ethiopian widow inspired her to travel to Ethiopia to look for a local organization to support. After returning, her focus on poverty shifted to Ethiopia. Since January 2011, she has been supporting local organizations in Ethiopia. Ingrid uses her Instagram to bring attention to the needs in Ethiopia.

Ben’s first real experience with poverty was on a service project trip in college. The group visited a very poor community in the border town of Reynosa, Mexico. During that trip he traveled to a nearby dump and saw the people who lived there scavenging from what others had discarded. Visible in the distance was a huge mansion separating the dump by a large wall. After finishing school, he and his wife, Nicole, decided to sponsor several young boys exactly the same age as their own boys. They enjoyed the opportunity to correspond with the children and see the children develop over time~– all the while they knew they were able to play some small part in making their lives better. Ben’s family has expanded their child sponsorship and has now been sponsoring children in Ethiopia for several years. Ben is a patent attorney and a partner in the law firm of Merchant & Gould in Minnesota. In his spare time, and as an avid triathlete, he can often be found swimming, biking, or running. He also enjoys practicing taekwondo with his family, as well as spending time fishing and bow hunting.

Erin is a longtime donor to Partners With Ethiopia. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and two young children. Erin had the privilege of traveling to Ethiopia in March 2019 to see firsthand the projects we support. After that trip she joined our board of directors as treasurer. Erin started her career in public accounting and has been working for Abbott (formerly St. Jude Medical) for the past ten years doing international compliance and finance audits. She brings great passion and expertise to Partners With Ethiopia.

Dick lives in Plymouth, Minnesota with his wife Mary Lou, where three children and six grandchildren are the joys of their lives. In his spare time Dick is an avid skier, runner, sailor, and wilderness camper. He brings to our board a wide range of international experience which includes court reporting on international cases, leading his church for ten years as board chair in global outreach, and since 2015, working as ambassador to Ethiopia for Community Bible Study International. Dick’s involvement has included leading multiple teams to Mongolia and Ethiopia to partner and serve local organizations working with street kids, vulnerable women, and impoverished communities. He has firsthand experience with our projects from multiple visits to Ethiopia.

Abby lives in Northern New York and works as a bookkeeper for an oil company. Abby sponsors a little boy through Partners With Ethiopia, and loves how personal the relationship feels; more so than other sponsorship organizations she has dealt with. She hopes to someday visit him in Ethiopia. Abby enjoys music, crafts, and travel. She is very active in her church and is one of the music leaders.