2023 INDUCTEES

Dee Thibodeau Chief Executive Officer, Charter Solutions

Dee Thibodeau is Chief Executive Officer of Charter Solutions, an information services company consistently awarded for results in the areas of management consulting, analytics, business process, integration and application development. As CEO since 1997, Ms. Thibodeau has led the company in delivering sustained profitability with annual revenue growth and a record of outstanding customer relationships. Her expertise and passion are focused on business process improvements that profoundly increase quality and efficiency.

An experienced board member, entrepreneur, and investor in emerging companies, Thibodeau has made companies successful by creating highly productive teams focused on strategic planning, customer relationships, sound business practices, and innovative uses for new and existing technologies.

Ms. Thibodeau has served in top executive positions in the technology and financial industries since 1986, when she was vice president and later president of the largest computer training facility in the Midwest. She has been president of Milestone Investments, Inc. a national hotel investment company, and was president of Arco Transcription, Inc. one of the nation’s largest medical transcription companies.

Ms. Thibodeau has since served as president of EDI Solutions, a translation software developer, and negotiated the merger of EDI with St. Paul Software where she served as executive vice president until taking the helm of Charter Solutions. Currently, she also is a Managing Partner of Sofia Fund, an angel fund focused on women-led entrepreneurial companies.

Throughout her career, Thibodeau’ s leadership has extended to serving on the boards of directors of more than a dozen companies including BRAAS, Dri-Steem, The Credit Company, Microworx, Arco Transcription, Milestone Investments, EDI Solutions, MVNA, HCMC Advisory Board, Synerfuse, MnTech, as well as on boards of trade, professional and non-profit organizations. Currently she serves on the M Physicians Board, where she is on the Executive and Governance Committee, CEO Compensation Committee, Quality Committee, Clinical Strategy Committee as well as Credentialing for Fairview Health System and the Board of Visitors, School of Nursing University of Minnesota as well as St. Thomas Board of Nursing. Ms Thibodeau also started Minnesota Women Corporate Directors and is on the Advisory Board for Women in the Boardroom.

Ms. Thibodeau has received numerous awards for her success in leadership, her business results and her advocacy for women entrepreneurs and for women serving on boards. She received a Lifeline Award from Upsize magazine; the Minnesota Business Owner of the Year award from the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO); and recognition as one of the “Top 25 Innovative Women” by the Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal and one of 500 Top Diversity Awards in the US. She also received the “Jean Harris” award and the “21st Century Pinnacle Leader Award from the Women’s Health Leadership Trust. In 2018 she received the “Woman of Distinction” award from the Girl Scouts MN and WI River Valleys. In 2021, she received the HMG Strategy Global Leadership Institute Award.

Gloria Freeman, Founder & CEO, Olu's Home, Inc.

Seeing a critical need for community-based services, Gloria dedicated her career to helping fill that need, with the founding of Olu’s Home, Inc. in 1999. Olu’s Home operates as a licensed care organization that provides residential and in-home services to persons with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, as well as the elderly.

From a young age, Gloria recalls accompanying her mother – a prominent public speaker – on residential visits, where she would advocate for the mentally ill. This fostered a drive to serve those with mental illness or disabilities and is cited to contribute to the success of Olu’s Home.

Currently, the company operates eleven sites within the Twin Cities area and now includes in-home services.

In 2013, Gloria Freeman started collaborating with her daughter, Jessica Herod. Their new business – titled Olu’s Beginnings, LLC – is focused on providing exceptional and holistic childcare services in North Minneapolis, with a goal to expand further into the Metro area.

In late 2021, Gloria decided to expand once more and purchased a building in Uptown Minneapolis. This building has seven commercial spaces and eleven apartment units and is the first planned site of her upcoming business – the House of Beauté Atout. Set to open its doors in Fall 2023, House of Beauté Atout is a luxury incubator of spaces for sole propriety business owners in the health and beauty industry.

While developing her business, Gloria has continued her education by participating in the Small Business Administration’s Emerging Leaders Initiative, an intensive MBA-level training program for executives of high potential. In addition, Gloria attended Harvard Business Publishing through the Women Presidents’ Organization.

Lili Hall, Founder, CEO & President, Knock, Inc.

Lili Hall is Founder, CEO and President of KNOCK, inc., a Minneapolis-based independent creative agency leading strategic brand development and design thinking on a national and international scale. She founded KNOCK in 2001 with a commitment to impeccable client service and a nimble response to new entrepreneurial opportunities.

Lili’s teams design powerful experiences that matter — connecting customers to brands in all categories and disciplines. Additionally, she owns two sister companies: TREAT AND COMPANY, a strategic design studio; and NEIGHBOR, a video and animation company.

Born in Chicago to a Brazilian mother and an Irish-American father, Lili lived as a young girl in Recife, Brazil, before moving to Minneapolis to attend high school. Fluent in English and Portuguese, she graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, and from McGill University with a Master of Management. Lili worked in sales and marketing on both corporate and agency sides before starting her own venture.

Along the way, she married an Italian special education teacher and is a proud mother to two daughters. In her nearly 20 years in business, Lili has always supported Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives, investing heavily in talent, partnerships and sponsorships that support Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).

An entrepreneur at heart, she lives passionately for connecting people and opportunities, is mentor to countless young adults, and sits on numerous nonprofit boards, including the Global Thinkers Forum, C200, and the Walker Art Center.

Named one of EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women, and Most Admired CEO by Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, Lili measures success not only in the culture, growth and profitability of her company, but in the impact it makes on communities — both at home and around the world.

Miquel Purvis McMoore, Founder & CEO, KpCompanies

Miquel Purvis McMoore is the Founder and CEO of kpCompanies, a Minneapolis-based search firm that has an inclusivity-first approach to placing top talent in leadership roles across the United States. For over two decades, Miquel has been dedicated to helping companies grow by matching them with the top professionals and executives from a range of backgrounds, with the goal of fostering better representation of the communities they serve and building future-ready teams. Through her leadership, kpCompanies has successfully placed talented individuals in Fortune 1000, midsized, small, and non-profit mission-aligned organizations.

Miquel is an active member of the local business community and serves on the Board of Directors of Summit Academy OIC and Greater Twin Cities United Way, Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business Women Advisory Board.

She holds a BS from Elizabeth City State University and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Miquel takes pride in her relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.

Nancy Close, Founder & Ceo, CKC Good Food

Nancy’s heart and soul is the food world, with roots that run deep from a family restaurant to a corporate hospitality company and ultimately her own companies. She has combined delicious food and positive experiences for clients that have won her numerous honors.

She established CKC Good Food in 1990 to create delicious and nutritious food to inspire happy eaters, primarily preK-8 students at the time. Through the years, she has become a foremost authority on federal nutrition programs, food service operations, and recipe and menu development for contract food service programs, and all things food and food service. People ages 3 to 93 enjoy meals prepared by CKC Good Food today.

Nancy is also the sole owner of Menu Freedom, a web-based menu and nutritional planning platform, which was launched in 2014 to extend CKC Good Food’s intellectual property nationally.

Nancy is a Mpls./St. Paul Business Journal Women in Business honoree and a Homegrown Hero Award Honorable Mention. CKC Good Food was nominated for the Association for Corporate Growth’s Minnesota Bold Award and received recognition from the Department of Defense for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.