Strong Towns Staff

President: Charles L. Marohn, Jr. PE AICP

Charles Marohn - known as "Chuck" to friends and colleagues - is a Professional Engineer (PE) licensed in the State of Minnesota and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). He has a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute.

Chuck grew up on a small farm in Central Minnesota. The oldest of three sons of two elementary school teachers, he graduated from Brainerd High School in 1991. Chuck joined the Minnesota National Guard on his 17th birthday during his junior year of high school and served for nine years. Besides being passionate about planning and small towns, he loves playing music, is an obsessive reader and is a season ticket holder of the Minnesota Twins.

Chuck married his girlfriend-since-junior-high in 1995. They live with their two daughters and two Samoyeds just north of Baxter, Minnesota.

Executive Director/Treasurer: Jon Commers

Jon brings fifteen years of experience analyzing, developing and implementing policy and public finance strategies to his work at Strong Towns. As a consultant to cities and private parties involved in redevelopment – primarily in core urban areas – Jon’s work has been devoted to understanding what distinguishes successful places. Managing the policy and practice of municipal finance is a critical element of Strong Towns, and Jon’s expertise supports the organization’s work in this area.

Jon also writes the Cents of Place blog, a forum for discussion of the financial issues around placemaking, and is a regular contributor to the Star Tribune’s online forum, Your Voices. In addition to his work with Strong Towns, Jon is a member of the Planning Commission for the City of St. Paul, Minnesota. He has served as a Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute Policy Forum, and as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the College of Saint Catherine. He has served on many community boards, including current service as a director for the Neighborhood Energy Connection. Jon holds an MBA (University of Saint Thomas, St. Paul, MN) and a BA in History and Political Economy (Carleton College, Northfield, MN). He lives in St. Paul with his family.

Director/Secretary: Ben Oleson, AICP

Ben Oleson grew up on a 19-acre hobby farm near Duluth, MN and graduated from Duluth East High School. Ben obtained a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from St. John's University (MN), including a semester abroad near Galway, Ireland and a month backpacking through Europe. He went on to obtain his Master's Degree in Planning from the Univeristy of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute in 1999. Oleson is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

Ben lives outside of Alexandria, MN with his wife of 9+years and two children. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, reading, camping and generally enjoying the Minnesota outdoors. Ben also enjoys a good healthy debate about just about anything.

Photos taken by the highly recommended Molly Brendmoen, who can be contacted by email for your photo project at mbrendmoen@msn.com.