Matt Kendziera

Matthew Kendziera is a non-profit leader and dynamic communicator with over 2 decades of experience in justice related work. He served for eight years as prison Chaplain at Stanley Correctional Institute and has since worked with non-profits fighting against poverty, human trafficking and school violence both on a local and national level partnering with dynamic organizations including Rachels Challenge, Fierce Freedom, Soularize, Celtic Way, Ashoka and others.

Matt is a lover of all things outdoors including canoeing, kayaking, bicycling and cross country skiing. He has been married to the love of his life, Suzie, for 27 years and has two adult children, August and Macia.

Executive Director

Rhonda Lindner

Interfaith Organizer

Jill Olson

Rhonda Lindner is an incredible networker and collaborator. She has cultivated relationships with many of WIVEC’s partners in the civic engagement landscape, as well as many interfaith and community organizations all over Wisconsin. She currently serves on committees focusing on voting rights, housing equity, racial justice, Interfaith collaboration, and Interfaith engagement. Rhonda also currently works as the Education Director at Tikkun Ha-Ir, a partner of WIVEC. In her time at WIVEC,

After 27 years as an English and Spanish teacher in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Rhonda says her work with WIVEC and Tikkun Ha-Ir is "the opportunity of a lifetime, and the fruition of her goals for social justice.” She currently lives in Grafton with her husband, Rob. She has two grown children, a son in Milwaukee, and a daughter in Lincolnshire, IL.

Jill Olson is a seasoned non-profit professional with more than twenty years of experience in higher education, where she has focused on program development, communications, and event management. With academic roots in comparative studies in religions and political science, Jill has spent much of her career engaged in nonpartisan civic engagement, interfaith programs, and social justice education. Through all of her work Jill has loved engaging with community members from all faith traditions and worldviews to find the common threads that connect us. 

Jill is also a textile artist who loves giving new life to old materials, finding creativity in upcycling. She recharges through time with her family, catching live music, and getting outside in every season. Jill is the proud and enthusiastic cheerleader of her two youth athletes. She lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin with her husband and their two sons.



Communications Coordinator

Board of Directors

  • Reverend Larry Sexe

    Board President

    Deerfield, WI 
    ELCA

  • Vicki Berenson

    Board Secretary

    Madison, WI 
    Society of Friends (Quaker)

  • Rev. Nick Utphall

    Madison, WI 
    ELCA

  • Rabbi Marc Berkson

    River Hills, WI
    Reform Judaism

  • Professor Charles Cohen

    Madison, WI
    Reform Judaism

  • Reverend Selena Fox

    Barneveld, WI
    Nature Spirituality (Pagan)

  • Reverend Willie Brisco

    Milwaukee, WI
    Baptist

  • Kyle Leggett

    Madison, WI 
    Non Denominational  ​

  • Cecilia Gillhouse

    Madison, WI, Lutheran
    ELCA