Dale Yohnke, Executive Director Dale Yohnke is only the fifth Executive Director since the NCEL’s inception in 1936. He has led NCEL and its related Affiliate groups since being promoted to Executive Director in June 1994. He works side-by-side with volunteer boards of directors to maximize membership value and advance member and industry interests. Yohnke was hired by NCEL in February 1987 as Manager – Membership Services. He earned bachelor’s degrees in Communications and Public Relations, with a minor in Business Administration from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN. An avid family man, golfer, sports fan, and former college hockey player, Dale is a true Midwesterner. Contact Dale at: dale@ncel.org
Abby Andvik, Associate Director Abby has been a professional event planner for more than ten years, but her passion for events started much earlier than that. She began working in events when she was 15 years old and assisted with events throughout college. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a Communications degree. She has worked for the Minnesota Twins, Anheuser Busch InBev and a local private golf club. Abby started with NCEL in August of 2018 and has loved getting to know the industry and specifically the NCEL members. She enjoys collaborating with members and planning fun events for them! In her spare time, she is a hockey coach in the winter. Contact Abby at: abby@ncel.org
Kelly Sharratt, Coordinator - Membership & Communications Kelly has vast experiences in the services industry -- from designing promotional materials, exceling in customer service and project management, overseeing website data, implementing social media campaigns, and general office administration. Kelly has a degree in Marketing and a minor in Art from Winona State University. Kelly started at NCEL in November 2019 and has a wide variety of roles and is a great multi-tasker. She has travelled extensively and is looking forward to attending the Summer Olympics in 2021. Contact Kelly at: kelly@ncel.org
