Board of Directors

Dave Connor – Board Chair

Born and raised in Owatonna, Dave moved to Mankato in 1999. After more than 13 years as a manager at Sam’s Club, in 2015 he accepted a management position at Play It Again Sports. He is active in the Mankato recovery community, and enjoys his volunteer position as a Board Member at the House of Hope. In his free time, Dave enjoys playing golf in the summer, tinkering on things around the house, and spending time with his wife, Sarah.

Karen Luepke – Board Vice Chair/Secretary/Treasurer

Karen was born in Owatonna, MN and grew up primarily in Fennimore, WI and Mankato, MN. She attended Minnesota State University, Mankato majoring in psychology with a double minor in therapeutic recreation and technical writing. After college Karen moved to Denver, CO where she worked as a counselor for teenagers with mental illnesses. While in Colorado she began her employment as a Special Investigator Retained by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. She has worked in this capacity in many different locations in the U.S. For two years Karen worked as a manager for many different territories. After living in Denver, CO she moved to Raleigh, NC, followed by Fort Collins, CO. Karen recently returned to Mankato, MN to be closer to family.

Steve Olson – Board Member

Steve is the President and CEO of MinnStar Bank N.A. located in Mankato and Lake Crystal. He has been a House of Hope board member for 14 years. He is the past Chairman and current Board member of the Independent Bankers of Minnesota (ICBM). He also serves as a Federal Delegate representing Minnesota to the Board of Governors for the Independent Bankers of America (ICBA). He is also on the Board of Governors for the City Center Partnership (CCP) in Mankato and a Board Member of the South Central College (SCC) Foundation. Steve is a 1978 graduate of the University of North Dakota.

He is married with two daughters. In his free time he likes to golf, fish, travel with his family, and work on remodeling projects around his house.

Lora McCollum – Board Member

Lora is a Mankato native and a proud Mankato West and Minnesota State University – Mankato graduate. Lora is an insurance producer for Brown & Brown Insurance of Mankato since 2007 and enjoys working with clients in the region relating to commercial insurance and employee benefits. Lora is married to Eric McCollum and together have three children, two adult and one teenager all doing well in life. Lora enjoys watching sports, especially basketball and volleyball, hiking, being outdoors and most of all family time.

Robert Tanhoff- Board Member

Rob is the owner and financial advisor at Good Counsel Wealth Management. He is native to Mankato – graduating High School at Loyola Catholic School and college from MSU-Mankato with a degree in Business Management. Rob and his wife, Michelle, have 3 children (including a set of boy/girl twins) that keep him quite busy. However, in his free time, he also enjoys multiple hobbies that all include the outdoors – hunting, fishing, cycling and hiking.

Bridget Norland- Board Member

Mark Johnson President/CEO – Board Member

Mark joined our staff in November 2010 as Marketing Director and in 2014 became the Chief Operations Officer, in 2017 Mark became the Senior Executive Vice President, Operations. He served on the Board of Directors at the House of Hope for 3 years prior to becoming an employed at the House of Hope, most recently as Chairman. He served as the President of the HOH alumni program for several years. For the past 20+ years Mark has worked in many different management positions for local businesses. His passion is in helping other people and their struggles with addiction. Mark is very active in other recovery based programs in southern MN, and enjoys going out and speaking about his life’s struggles and experiences with alcoholism. Mark and Joan have 3 adult children, thier 2 oldest son’s work in Mankato and there daughter is a student at the University of Minnesota, Mankato. He and Joan enjoy spending time outside and doing family activities. Mark enjoys playing golf, all sports in general, and helping his dad on the farm.