Janis Clay

Janis Clay is an experienced attorney with a keen interest in public policy and corporate governance and many years of business and nonprofit board service. She became executive director of the Civic Caucus in 2017, and became chair in 2020. In addition to the Civic Caucus, her board service has included the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, North Shore Scenic Railroad, Red River Valley & Western Railroad, Twin Cities & Western Railroad, Minnesota Prairie Line, the Western Railroad Equipment Company, Way to Grow, Magnum Chorum, Minnesota Zoo Foundation, Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association, and the Woodbury Chorus and Orchestra. She graduated from St. Olaf College with a bachelor’s degree in economics, and from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she was a managing editor of the Minnesota Law Review. In private law practice, she has received the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating of AV Preeminent for ethical standards and legal ability every year since 2001.

Paul Ostrow

Paul Ostrow was named chair of the Civic Caucus effective January 1, 2017. Ostrow served on the Minneapolis City Council from 1998-2009. He was president of the City Council from 2002-2005 and the chair of the Ways and Means/Budget Committee from 2006-2009. During his service on the Council his efforts included the implementation of long term budgeting, service redesign, commercial corridor revitalization and partnerships with the business community including the development of Target Field.

Ostrow is currently an assistant Anoka County attorney. He serves on several other boards including Grace Center for Community Life and the Northeast Minneapolis Artists Association. He received his bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College with a major in political science and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Luka Jacobi-Krohn

Luka Jacobi-Krohn has a passion for public policy and has lived in three countries – United States, Germany, and Canada – where he explored each political system, which started his interest in politics. He was born in Mainz, Germany, and later moved to Minnesota with his family and became a U.S. citizen in 2024. He has a passion for public policy, having lobbied at the local level for policies ranging from juvenile probation to electric buses. At the national level, he has advocated for policies ranging from the READ Act to tuberculosis. 

He has loved working on political campaigns, in virtually every role from door knocker to manager. His favorite part has been connecting with people, especially those in his community, and having meaningful discussions about change. His favorite experience has been serving as a representative on the Minnesota Youth Council, and as chair of its Juvenile Justice Committee. He met other like-minded youth from all across Minnesota, and they advocated for legislation and provided feedback about bill language for the Legislature.

He is studying political science at the University of Pennsylvania, and hopes to continue to have in-depth conversations that lead to meaningful change.

Jacob Tosto

Jacob Tosto has a bachelor’s degree in history from Augsburg University. His primary interests are in American history, including the Civil War, U.S. presidents, national elections, and America's military aid around the world. Tosto can name all 47 presidents in order.

Tosto is a student of the news. He watches the "NBC Nightly News" and the "PBS NewsHour" every evening and "60 Minutes" every week. He serves as breaking news announcer to everyone on his family's text string. He is interested in politics because he cares deeply about democracy and social issues. Two areas of particular passion are gun control, specifically a permanent national ban on assault weapons, and ensuring all our elections are free and fair for all citizens. He closely watches the presidential debates every four years, and likes to discuss the candidates' policy proposals and strategies.

Tosto is also committed to local food security. He volunteers weekly at Prism Marketplace Food Shelf in Golden Valley. During college, he volunteered weekly at a nonprofit grocery store in an underserved Minneapolis neighborhood. In high school, he volunteered regularly at Simpson Shelter in Minneapolis, serving hot meals to guests.

Tosto suffered a traumatic brain injury at age 4, so he processes information more slowly and works at a slower pace than others. He attended Groves Academy and graduated from Hill-Murray School in 2019. He loves physical and slapstick humor shows. He recently discovered French food and loves making French meals. He hopes to someday combine his love of French cooking with philanthropy.

Marta Cleaveland

Marta Cleaveland grew up on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi, but she has dared to cross the river several times to live and work in St. Paul, which is now her home. Cleaveland is a long-time journalist, serving as an editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1998 to 2017. She also worked in corporate communications in the business software industry, first at Lawson Software and later Infor Global Solutions from 2007 to 2023. Her professional past also includes public policy staff roles in the Minnesota Legislature, State Planning Agency, Department of Agriculture, the nonprofit Land Stewardship Project, and reporter/editor jobs at newspapers in Idaho, South Carolina, and rural Minnesota. Currently, she is freelance writing and editing through her company, WordWolf.

Cleaveland has a bachelor’s in mass communications from Moorhead State University in Minnesota and a master’s in journalism and public affairs from the American University in Washington D.C. She loves gardening, reading, wilderness camping, hiking, kayaking, traveling, DIY home-improving, cooking, singing, literature, theater, history, dogs and cats. Her favorite things are dinner parties serving great conversations.