I first attended UniStar in 2013 to visit my then-girlfriend, Louise Livesay, and her kids, Sam and Lily Hamacher, and fell in love with camp. Louise and I were married in August 2014 at Unity Church Unitarian in Saint Paul, and have been coming up with Sam and Lily ever since. Relaxation sets in the moment we get in the car for the drive up—it’s instant, and a shared family value.

I am a partner with the 400-attorney law firm Stoel Rives LLP, where I practice business litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Public service is important to me and the firm, and I have handled a diverse set of legal issues as a pro bono attorney, most recently representing the League of Women Voters Minnesota, Common Cause Minnesota, and the Minnesota Second Chance Coalition as amicus curiae before the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court in support of the ACLU Minnesota’s voting-rights action on behalf of persons previously convicted of a felony; an issue that disproportionately impacts African-Americans and Native-Americans.

I have had the honor to serve on the board of the Como Park Block Nurse Program and on the property committee and as treasurer of the trust fund committee of Como Park Lutheran Church in Saint Paul. Since September 2003, I have been repeatedly appointed by royal decree as the diplomatic representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Minnesota. As consul, I handle trade, cultural, and consular issues (inmates, detainees, repatriation, lost passports, etc.) for the Netherlands and Netherlands citizens. For the last several years I have also been an officer (treasurer) of the Minnesota Consular Corps, an organization comprised of all career and honorary consular officials appointed by their respective governments to serve in Minnesota, and who are duly recognized by the United States Department of State.

I have one daughter, Juliette, from my first marriage and I am blessed to have Sam and Lily as “bonus children” since 2014.