cwendt@suradacademy.org

Cheryl is passionate about helping others with their personal and educational goals. Cheryl has spent the majority of her career as a public educator, in various roles including School Social Worker, Special Education Director, and Executive Director. As a Faribault community member, she is excited to offer Surad Academy as a school choice for students to learn, grow, and soar.

amadar@suradacademy.org

Dr. Madar is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, twin
cities, Minnesota. He is the medical director of the Utilization Management of Hennepin HealthCare and
an academic hospitalist in Internal medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
Dr. Madar previously held positions include Medical Director of Inpatient Medicine and Surgery at Hennepin
HealthCare hospital-care ring.
Dr. Madar received his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine (School of Medicine) Le Sapienza, Mugadisho (
Somali National University); he completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Hennepin County Medical
Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He completed leadership in Healthcare training offered by the Society of
hospital medicine and subsequently, the “LEAN in Healthcare” from Belmont University Massey, Pennsylvania,
USA.
Dr. Madar received a Master's in health economics policy and Management from the London School of Economics
and political science (LSE), London, United Kingdom.
In his work in improving healthcare quality, Dr. Madar established a Quality Improvement (QI) program in
Somaliland by incorporating the QI course into the curriculum for the College of Medicine and Health Science,
University of Hargeisa. Dr. Madar founded the Somalilander-American health association (sahainfo.org), an a501-
3-c non-for-profit Medical Charity organization based in the USA.

rcorneille@suradacademy.org

Dr. Renee Corneille was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Rochester, Minnesota. She considers herself a true Clevelander, and is extremely proud of her 100% Italian roots. Corneille currently resides in St. Anthony with her husband Mike, daughter Gianna, and son Luca. She is an avid runner, with a goal of running in all 50 states. She enjoys spending time with her family, and rooting on the St. Anthony Huskies. As a former varsity softball player for the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, she credits much of her leadership skills, grit, and determination to athletics, activities and team sports (and of course, her 100% Italian roots).

Education background

Corneille graduated from Mayo High School in Rochester, Minnesota, and continued her educational career at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UofM). She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, with a minor in history, from the UofM. She then went on to earn her Masters in Education, and Doctorate in Education, at the UofM. She also obtained both her Principal License and Superintendent License from the UofM. Corneille is currently the Superintendent of St. Anthony-New Brighton School District (ISD282), in St. Anthony, Minnesota. This is a role she has held since 2018. Learn more about ISD282 at isd282.org/AboutUs

Career in K-12 education

Corneille’s career in education began in 1998 at Bloomington Public Schools (BPS) in Minnesota. For seven years she was their varsity softball coach. During this time, she was also a teacher at their middle and high schools for a total of five years. Then in 2006, she moved into an administrative role at BPS and was named the Middle School Dean of Students. She held this position for a total of two years, before becoming the Middle School Assistant Principal at BPS. In 2010, Corneille left BPS for a position as Principal of St. Anthony Middle School, at the St. Anthony-New Brighton School District (ISD282). Shortly after, she was named the Interim-Principal at St. Anthony Village High School. In 2012, Corneille took on additional roles as the Director of Technology, and the Director of Teaching and Learning at ISD282. She held this dual-role for a total of six years. Cornielle is incredibly passionate about ensuring children are seen, heard and cared for while they are at school. She’s dedicated her life’s work toward kids receiving high-quality education, high support, and equitable access to education and resources.

Career in higher education

In addition to her K-12 educational work, Corneille also holds positions as a facilitator for the Minnesota Principals' Academy, and as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota’s Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development program.

Honors, awards

Corneille is not one to boast about her own accomplishments; she is really in it for the kids and their life-long success. Yet, she understands the importance of demonstrating achievement (again, this was difficult for her to do; she’d much rather brag about the accomplishments of others—especially kids). Below is a list of awards and honors that she has received over the years:

• Winner of the 2021 Richard Green Scholar Award from Minnesota Association of School Administrators for a White Paper: Schooling and Education in The St. Anthony-New Brighton Using Context to Help Understand This Moment and Provide a Path for the Future.
• Received University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Excellence in Education Leadership Award 2017: (http://www.ucea.org/2017/10/05/recognizing-strong-school-leadership-national-p rincipals-month/)
• Selected as Minnesota’s 1999 Sallie Mae First Class Teacher Award: (https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1999/10/06/06honors.h19.html)
• Honored as University of Minnesota Women’s Athletics 1999 Alum of the Year.
• University of Minnesota Varsity Softball, Four-year Letter winner 1993-1997.
• Academic All-Big Ten, 1996 and 1997.

mmeagher@suradacademy.org

Chief Impact Officer - Crisis Text Line

Margaret is a senior non-profit leader and systems thinker with 20+ years growing and managing complex research and evidence-based portfolios focused on leveraging research and data to improve equity and wellbeing of diverse populations around the world. Specializing in activating and catalyzing collective impact at scale, she has expertise in mixed methods research, developmental evaluation and impact assessment across sectors and industries. As Chief Impact Officer, she leads internal and collaborative efforts to evidence and amplify Crisis Text Line’s impact for texters, volunteers, communities, and the broader mental health field.

Prior to joining Crisis Text Line, Margaret founded Be the Change Inc., where she  provided humanitarian relief consultancy focusing on education and social transformation for under-represented populations by offering evidence-based approaches to improving program quality and impact.  Over the course of her career, she has led and scaled innovative social impact and research portfolios (more than $250 million, 25+ countries) in senior roles with mission-driven organizations such as Mastercard Foundation, American Institutes for Research, African Leadership Academy, and Care International, and served as advisor and collaborator with a host of governments and organizations such as UNGEI, UNESCO, and the Brookings Institution. 

Margaret received a Master’s degree in Comparative International Development and Education, and holds a PhD (ABD) in Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development with supporting emphases in public health and evaluation from the University of Minnesota. 

twieand@suradacademy.org

Tom Wieand has been a member of the Global Investment Staff at the MIT Investment Management Company since August 2008.  His team manages the endowment, pension, and other financial assets for MIT.  Mr. Wieand focuses on external investment manager relationships and capital allocation decisions across all asset classes and geographies. 

Prior to joining MITIMCo, Mr. Wieand was Director of Research at Flagg Street Capital, where he analyzed global equity and debt investments.  Previously, he was an Analyst at Lakeway Capital, specializing in value-oriented equity investments.  He started his career at Fidelity Investments as a Research Associate focused on fixed income securities.  Mr. Wieand received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA/MA in mathematics, summa cum laude, from Boston University where he was a Trustee Scholar.  He is a CFA charterholder. 

Mr. Wieand serves on MIT’s 401(k) Plan Oversight Committee and on the investment committees of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

somar@suradacademy.org

sahmed@suradacademy.org

Humanities Teacher - Surad Academy