Events

Milin Dutta has been a resident of Minnesota since 1996. A PMP-certified professional with an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota, he had an early career as an IT consultant before retiring in 2017 to return to Assam and focus on creating opportunities for communities there. He has been a Rotary member since 2015 and has successfully implemented two Rotary Grants.

Milin founded the Out in the Backyard Initiative (OIBY) in Minnesota in 2011 and later founded Anaajoree in Assam in 2018. He is a national award-winning Assamese film producer, TEDx speaker, and community leader who organized North East India's first Pride. His work has focused on connecting Minnesota and Assam through knowledge, partnerships, and community action, with a long-term vision of building sustainable opportunities for communities in Assam.

Mitchell Sherman, Ph.D., is a licensed consulting psychologist and a retired professor at the College of Education, Hospitality, and Human Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.  He holds a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Minnesota and an MA in International Economics from the University of Illinois.

Since retiring he has written two books.  The first, a textbook, Human Resource Management : A Student-Centered Approach, was written in a didactic style that engages students.  In his second book, Finding Calm in A Broken Country,  he has  explored the connections between history, religion, and human behavior looking for an explanation of the current turmoil in America. 

His next project, about attitudes towards immigrants, Beautiful Strangers: A New American Freedom Myth is in process.

Cheryl Thomas is the founding Director of Global Rights for Women.

Since 1993, Cheryl has worked with partners around the world to promote women’s human rights and achieve effective systemic and legal reform to end violence against women and girls. She has participated in the drafting of laws on violence against women and girls and trained stakeholders to enforce such laws in dozens of countries.

She has worked closely with the United Nations to develop model standards for violence against women laws, leading a global consultation on the enforcement of laws in Spain in 2015. Cheryl co-chaired the United Nations Expert Group Meeting to draft UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women.

In 2021, she received the Arabella Babb Mansfield Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers, and in 2014 she received the Myra Bradwell Award from the Minnesota Women Lawyers. In 2011, she was recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of 150 Women Who Shake the World.

Former positions include Director of the Women’s Rights Program at The Advocates for Human Rights, Executive Director at WATCH, partner and Shareholder at Briggs and Morgan Law Firm, Special Assistant Attorney General at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.