Date: Friday, Oct. 7, 8:30-10am
Location: Blake campus, Bovey
The reunion edition of Breakfast at Blake featured our 2022 Outstanding Alumna of the Year Cathy Countryman Maes ʼ85. During her presentation, Maes shared photos and stories from her time at Blake and discussed how these experiences inform her work as a nonprofit executive. This year’s Jenny Stephens Hagen Spirit Award recipients Chris Anderson Morrison ʼ65 and Jack Morrison ʼ63 were also recognized.
Cathy Countryman Maes ʼ85, the executive director of Loaves and Fishes since 2013, has been working at an executive level to alleviate hunger in Minnesota since 2008. She is an active public speaker and a tireless advocate for those in need. In her tenure, she has guided prudent expansion alongside creative programming efforts, quadrupling the number of meals served annually. In 2019, she was named the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Transformational Leader. Maes has served as executive director of the ICA Food Shelf, vice chair of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits board and as an elected school board member for Minnetonka Public Schools. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Arizona University.
Maes entered Blake in second grade and was the president of the National Art Honor Society and captain of the girls’ basketball and softball teams. She lives in St. Paul with her husband.