MnEEP Honors 2025’s Ron McKinley Award Winners
Meet 2025's race equity in education champions transforming systems, structures, and public narratives across Minnesota
Each year, MnEEP identifies and confers a Ron McKinley, All My Relations- Equity in Action Award to racial justice and education equity leaders working across fields to undo systemic racism and colonial settler harm in education and advance an education system rooted in joy, belonging, and liberation for every learner.
Ron McKinley was a proud American Indian, and the founder Minnesota Education Equity Partnership in the late 1980s. He spent his career building the meaningful connections and cross-cultural and cross-racial community relationships and solidarity required to advance educational justice and opportunities for students of color and Indigenous students in Minnesota.
“All My Relations” is a powerful expression used by the many nations of American Indians to express the interconnectedness and oneness of humanity.
MnEEP’s 2025 Ron McKinley awardees reflect the spirit, wisdom, dedication, and love Ron founded MnEEP upon. We are honored to work alongside these leaders to advance Ron’s vision of a racially just future rooted in interconnectedness, community, and liberation for all people.
Help us celebrate and honor these esteemed leaders!
Mary Frances Clardy
Mary Frances Clardy is a lifelong champion for education, equity, and community empowerment. Since 2023, she has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing District 53A as a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. In the legislature, she brings her voice and vision to key leadership roles, including Co Vice Chair of the Education Finance Committee, and as a member of the State and Local Government, and Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committees. She also serves in the House People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus and leads as Chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus.
Mary Frances’ commitment to service is rooted in her belief that strong communities begin with strong opportunities. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato, followed by a teaching certificate from the University of St. Thomas and a Master of Education from Grand Canyon University—an academic path that reflects her passion for understanding people and unlocking human potential.
A dedicated educator for three decades, Mary Frances recently retired from Saint Paul Public Schools, where she shaped countless lives through her work in the classroom. Before becoming a teacher, she advocated for families as a housing advocate and served on the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission, grounding her career in justice and compassion.
Her leadership has been recognized across Minnesota. She was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to the Minnesota Board of Teaching and later by Governor Tim Walz to the Minnesota Board of School Administrators. She has also served on the Inver Grove Heights School Board and the Board of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.
Across every chapter of her life, Mary Frances Clardy has stood for possibility—lifting others, opening doors, and inspiring communities to rise. Her journey reflects a simple but powerful truth: when people are supported, believed in, and given the tools to succeed, they can transform their own lives and the world around them.
Khulia Pringle
Khulia Pringle is the Executive Director of S.T.A.N.D. Up Minnesota Parents United and founder of Khulia Pringle M.A. Consulting. She holds a Master’s degree in Secondary Urban Education with a focus on Curriculum, Schooling, and Pedagogy (CSP). Khulia is an appointed Commissioner on the Saint Paul Recovery Act Commission on Reparations and Co Chair of the Minnesota Literacy Coalition in partnership with Minneapolis Public Schools and Great Minnesota Schools.
Through S.T.A.N.D. Up Minnesota Parents United, she provides free, individualized support to families navigating the Pre K–12 education system. Her work is rooted in equity and justice, with a strong focus on literacy, non exclusionary discipline policies, the rights of EL learners, and academic outcomes for Black children.
Karina Villeda
Karina Villeda is a University of Minnesota graduate, a mother, and a child of Salvadoran parents. Her passion lies in addressing inequities in her community and expanding access to higher education for marginalized and underrepresented populations. She believes in the greater good we can offer each other when equity is at the center of helping everyone around us succeed.
She is an aspiring lawyer and, over the last four years, has worked on many higher education initiatives at the state and federal levels. Her work includes helping pass the North Star Promise, increasing the Pell Grant, and allocating funds for mental health and basic needs at Minnesota colleges and universities.
She is currently the program director of Campus Compass, where she helps student parents understand the tips and resources they can use to succeed in college and graduate with little debt. Through her work, she is committed to ensuring individuals not only have access to higher education but are supported in fully realizing its transformative potential.
Jerry Von Korff
Jerry Von Korff is an attorney with Rinke Noonan whose commitment to educational equity began during his civil rights work in Mississippi in 1964–65. There, taught in Freedom Schools and participated with one of Mississippi’s early school integration efforts—experiences that shaped his lifelong dedication to ensuring fair and adequate public education for all students. Jerry served 15 years on the St. Cloud Board of Education, where he focused on strengthening public schools and expanding opportunities for underserved communities.
For more than two decades, Jerry has been an advocate for the constitutional right to an adequate education in Minnesota, with an emphasis on equitable school finance and the state’s responsibility to ensure all students receive the resources they need to succeed. During that effort, Jerry has linked with MnEEP, which Jerry regards as a pre-eminent advocate for the rights of students of color, English language learners and indigenous students.
Jerry was an active member of the 2025 School Finance Task Force. Jerry advocates that it is time for Minnesota advocates for children to join together to implement Minnesota’s constitutional right to an adequate education in the legislature, community and courts.
Megan Rozowski
Megan Rozowski is the Director of Research and Policy Development at the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC). MPCC has 18 private nonprofit higher education institution members.
Megan chose to major in Economics at Carleton College after taking an intro course where she learned that Economics was a gateway to policy work around educational access and attainment. As a Pell Grant recipient, she understood the hard work her parents had put in to make her life easier than theirs and wanted to somehow work to make higher education accessible for more students. Through her work at MPCC, and her volunteering with MnEEP, Megan feels thankful she has found a way to contribute towards increasing race equity in higher education access and completion.
Megan has been involved in MnEEP through the Research Collaborative Table (RCT), College Race Equity Advocacy Advisory Council (CREAAC) and has served on the board for two terms, starting in 2022, serving on the Board’s Executive Committee for three of those years. She is extremely honored to receive this award. Megan considers her work with MnEEP to be some of the most important and rewarding of her professional and personal life.
