New members were named to the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Boards of Trustees, effective on July 1.
Complete bios of all board members can be found on the Boards of Trustees webpage.
The new trustees are:
Shelly Bauerly Kopel ’90
Bauerly Kopel serves as partner for Granite Partners, leading governing activities and has been a key operating partner with the firm since its founding.
Bauerly Kopel brings considerable prior experience from her work with Venture Allies, the management consulting firm she co-founded and managed. Before that, she was program director for the Bush Leadership Program at the Carlson School of Management.
She is a Saint Ben’s graduate and holds a Master of Education from Harvard and MBA and Ph.D. in education administration from the University of Minnesota.
Mark Fisler
Fisler is a partner and managing director of Ocean Park. During the last several decades, he amassed significant senior leadership experience as an investment banker, a corporate financial advisor, a business executive and an owner.
In addition to his extensive experience as a corporate financial advisor, Fisler has experience as a C-suite executive in ag processing. He has also served on numerous boards within the ag supply chain and biofuels industries. During his 18-year tenure at Piper Jaffray, Fisler managed the offering of over $10 billion in investment grade rated bond offerings, structured debt financings and securitizations, and led more than $500 million in private equity offerings for food, agribusiness and biofuels companies including placement of LP units for an Iowa-based private equity fund.
Fisler received both a bachelor’s degree in finance and a bachelor’s degree in economics, cum laude from the University of St. Thomas.
Heidi Hovland ’88
Hovland is founder of Altitude Co, a boutique communications company that drives clarity, distinction and impact for leaders, brands and companies. An award-winning communicator, Hovland is passionate about creating strategies and campaigns that drive companies forward, solve business problems, create new opportunities, influence internal and external stakeholders and protect and strengthen reputation and leadership.
A former agency CEO, Hovland led practices and sectors for the world’s leading agencies, including DeVries Global, FleishmanHillard and Edelman. With broad sector expertise and a generalist’s ability to shift easily between a wide range of client needs, Hovland has served as trusted advisor to C-level and senior executives within some of the world’s most respected companies, including Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Celebrity Cruise Lines, IHOP and Chobani.
A first-generation Norwegian-American, raised in the Midwest, Hovland is a graduate from Saint Ben’s with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and communication.
Colette Peters ’93
Peters is the Federal Court–Appointed Receiver for CDCR’s Mental Health Service Delivery System, appointed in August 2025 and charged with creating a constitutionally adequate mental health care system in California prisons.
She previously served as director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (2022–25), leading 40,000 employees, 160,000 incarcerated individuals and an $8 billion budget, with a focus on safety, rehabilitation and humane correctional practice. She served as director of the Oregon Department of Corrections (2012–22), leading data-driven reforms grounded in normalcy and humanity and employee wellness.
Across a 36-year career in public safety and law enforcement, her work focuses on humane, evidence-based corrections improving outcomes for employees and people in custody.
She is a proud alumna of Saint Ben’s.
Xiani Medina ’28
CSB Student Trustee Representative 2026-27
Medina is a junior at Saint Ben’s, majoring in sociology with a minor in psychology. She plans to pursue a Master of Social Work following her undergraduate studies.
Medina is actively engaged in campus life, singing in the Women’s Chorus, working at Saint John’s Institutional Advancement and leading efforts to reestablish a service sorority on campus. She brings a strong commitment to community, leadership and service, grounded in her passion for connection and dialogue.
Francis Koll ’29
SJU Student Trustee Representative 2026-27
Koll is a sophomore at Saint John’s, majoring in English and political science with a minor in theology.
He serves on the Saint John’s Senate and works at both the Eugene McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement and the circulation desk at Clemens Library. Koll also sings in the Chamber Choir and cantors at SJUfaith’s 9 p.m. student Mass.
