Staff Bio
Dan McNeil, Executive Director
With the support of friends and family, Dan started PeaceMaker Minnesota in 1998. He was inspired in part by his college studies, his time living with Franciscan priests in Siberia, and his professional work soliciting foundations.
While a student at the University of Minnesota, Dan participated in the Student Project for Amity among Nations (SPAN) study abroad program. He spent the summer of 1988 traveling in Yugoslavia and writing a research paper on peace. After graduating from the University, he served as a Scholar’s Intern with The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and was an assistant to the Executive Director.
In the fall of 1992, Dan joined the Franciscan Mission Service as a lay volunteer. From 1993 to 1995, Dan served as the Assistant Director and then the Acting Director of Caritas for the Asian Part of Russia. The organization, based in Novosibirsk, Russia, had eight employees. Their primary work was to oversee the construction of a home for children, distribute humanitarian aid, and provide food and assistance to the city’s population of individuals experiencing homelessness.
After returning to Minnesota, Dan was hired as Catholic Charities’ Grants Coordinator and later as Director of Corporate and Foundation Giving. Dan began working for Guild Incorporated in 2000 as Development Director. He started their fundraising program while working four days a week, allowing time to develop PeaceMaker Minnesota.
In 2007, Dan reduced his hours at Guild Incorporated, becoming their Major Gift Officer, to start working for PeaceMaker Minnesota part-time. In April 2018, Dan resigned from Guild Incorporated to work full-time for PeaceMaker Minnesota.
Certifications, Awards, Board Representation, Presentations:
2008: Certified by Committee for Children for completion of Training for Trainers in the use of Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum
2012 - 2013: Served on the Jefferson Awards for Public Service/Students in Action Minnesota Board of Advisors
2014: Completed 30-hour civil mediation training
2016: Became certified in the McGrath Bullying and Harassment Solutions for Schools system for helping schools identify and investigate instances of bullying
Selected as one of 12 people by the Minnesota Department of School Safety and Technical Assistance Center to become a certified trainer
2017: Became a professional mediator
2018: Appointed as a Parent Representative to the Minnesota Department of Education’s School Safety Technical Assistance Council. Served until June 2019.
2019: Presented “Best Practice for a Positive Learning Environment at the 2nd Annual Minneapolis School Climate and Culture Symposium