Our Team

JOHN HIMLE
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
John founded our firm based on his public service and corporate expertise and the principle of aligning strategy to clients’ business and organizational goals.

John originally founded Himle & Associates, Inc. in 1982 and expanded it into Himle Horner in 1989 with the partnership of Thomas Horner. Following Horner's departure in 2010, the firm was renamed Himle Rapp in 2011.

From 1978 to 1982, John was executive director of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council, an agribusiness trade association in Minnesota. Before that, he was government relations assistant for Northwest Bancorporation, now Wells Fargo, a multi-bank and financial services company.

First elected in 1980, John served five terms as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and held leadership positions including assistant majority leader, floor leader and assistant minority leader. Appointed by Governor Carlson in 1991, John also served eight years as a member of the Metropolitan Airports Commission where he was responsible for overseeing the governmental approvals and construction program related to the $2.5 billion expansion of the country’s 10th largest hub airport at Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP).

Raised in a southeastern Minnesota farming community, John graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Among his current outside activities, John is a corporate director of the Kraus Anderson Companies, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and a director and immediate past-chair of the Public Affairs Council in Washington, DC. John is a former trustee of the Nature Conservancy, Minnesota Chapter and Gustavus Adolphus College, he co-chaired the Breck School Annual Fund and has served on a variety of other boards.

John has received various recognitions for his service, including the "Government Affairs Service Award" from the Advertising Federation of Minnesota and the "First Decade Distinguished Alumni Award" from Gustavus Adolphus College.

TODD RAPP
President
Todd has been at the center of many of Minnesota’s most critical public affairs issues as a political operative, legislative leadership staffer, public affairs director and strategic advisor.

In 2008, Todd became a partner in the firm. Prior to joining Himle Horner, Todd served as Director of Minnesota Government Affairs for Xcel Energy (formerly Northern States Power Company). In this role, he developed and managed company strategies for legislative affairs in the areas of energy, environmental and tax policy. Todd’s corporate experience in issues management, organizational strategy and crisis communications provide significant strategic value for clients with legislative, regulatory and public communications needs.

Todd is a guest commentator on state and national public affairs for Minnesota Public Radio, and is often asked by the news media, private organizations and public entities to share perspectives on the current political environment in Minnesota and the United States.

Previously, Todd served in a number of key positions in Minnesota government and politics. As the Executive Director for former House Speaker and Majority Leader Phil Carruthers, Todd served as Carruthers’ chief political advisor for four legislative sessions from 1994 through 1997. He also worked as Campaign Director for Majority Leader Roger Moe and the Senate Majority Caucus in 1996, and as Political Director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party from 1990-93.

Managing the research, media, voter identification and get-out-the-vote programs, Todd played a critical role in the upset victories of Senator Paul Wellstone, Representatives Collin Peterson and David Minge and nearly two dozen state legislative challengers.

Todd is past President of the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, which provides non-partisan research on the impact of fiscal policies in Minnesota. He also has presented at state and national conferences on the topics of strategic communications, grassroots strategies and ethics in government.

RUTH ORRICK
Senior Counselor
Ruth has led from the inside of complex and challenging corporate environments to ensure reputation management, communications and corporate affairs strategies are integrated in companies’ business operations.

Prior to joining Himle Rapp, Ruth worked as a corporate affairs consultant and executive coach. She was also Senior Transition Advisor to Governor-elect Mark Dayton.

From 1994-2007, Ruth was a key executive at Thomson Legal & Regulatory, a $3.6 billion professional services division of the Thomson Corporation (now Thomson Reuters). As Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, she played lead roles in integrating West Publishing into Thomson Corporation’s infrastructure, communications, human resources and financial management functions. She was a strategic advisor on the senior executive team that steered the global legal and regulatory businesses to a leading position in the market through a series of acquisitions, integrations and divestitures. She also provided strategic and crisis communications counsel for market-facing, internal and organizational issues, public affairs and litigation.

Prior to her time at Thomson, Ruth was Director of public affairs at Himle Horner. From 1985-1990, she served as State Chair of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, the youngest political party chair in the United States.

A native of Minnesota, Ruth graduated with a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota and was a Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

Ruth is on the board of Archipelago Learning (Nasdaq: ARCL) as the lead independent director and chair of the nominating and governance committee. A past recipient of the “Marvelous Minnesota Woman” award, she has been involved in numerous boards and organizations including The American Judicature Society, The Institute for Basic and Applied Research in Surgery (IBARS), the Candidate Advisory Council for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and a judge for The Frank Premack Public Affairs Journalism Award Competition at the University of Minnesota.

Account Team

ALLISON O’TOOLE
Director
Allison uses her background in public policy, communications and her legal experience for a variety of Himle Rapp’s clients.

  • Joined firm in 2012
  • Previous experience:
  • State Director for  U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), managing Senator’s four offices and Minnesota-based staff
    • Chief Deputy County Attorney for Carver County
    • Assistant County Attorney for Hennepin County
  • Education and community involvement:
    • B.A., Political Science, Franklin and Marshall College
    • J.D., William Mitchell College of Law

SUSIE BELL
Account Supervisor
Susie taps into her corporate and public policy backgrounds to provide senior strategic counsel and project management to clients in several fields.

  • Joined firm in 2011
  • Previous experience:
    • SUPERVALU INC., working in reputation management, public affairs and corporate communications
    • Director of Public Relations for National Journal Group, a Washington D.C. publishing group
    • Deputy Press Secretary for U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine)
  • Education and community involvement:
    • B.A., Politics, Princeton University

ELIZABETH GIORGI
Senior Account Executive
Elizabeth uses her multimedia and government experience to assist clients in developing strategy and implementation, particularly in the areas of social media and online communications.

  • Joined firm in 2012
  • Previous experience:
    • Assistant Director of Marketing for University Relations at the University of Minnesota
    • Social and Multimedia Coordinator for University of Minnesota Marketing Communications Department
    • Legislative Assistant, Minnesota House of Representatives
  • Education and community involvement:
    • B.A., Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Minnesota

STEPHANIE BORNETUN
Account Executive
Stephanie is the firm’s go-to person on navigating the media environment and identifying targeted media outlets for our clients.

  • Joined firm in 2008
  • Previous experience:
    • Intern, U.S. Senator Norm Coleman’s (R-MN) legislative office in St. Paul
    • Intern, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, assisting with outreach, materials development and creative project management
  • Education and community involvement:
    • B.A., Public Relations and Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

COLIN COX
Account Executive
Colin specializes in e-strategies, business outreach approaches and internal/project communications.

  • Joined firm in 2006
  • Previous experience:
    • HousingLink, a Twin Cities affordable housing non-profit, overseeing development of print and online resources and other outreach activities
    • Minnesota House of Representatives DFL Caucus
    • Instructor of public speaking and writing
  • Education and community involvement:
    • B.A., Communication Studies and Education, Marquette University
    • Graduate coursework, University of Minnesota
    • Presenter, Council of Nonprofits (cofounded monthly communication series)

SARA FROEHLICH
Account Executive
Our clients count on Sara for her effective management of logistics-heavy and multi-faceted efforts such as stakeholder and community outreach, campaign implementation and Web site redesign management.

  • Joined firm in 2001
  • Previous experience:
    • Carlson Companies, where she managed a crisis help team and coordinated group travel events
    • Extensive experience in research, database maintenance and project management
  • Education and community involvement:
    • B.A., Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Moorhead State University
    • Spent semester at City University, London, studying development of speech communication

JENNA KUNKEL
Assistant Account Executive
Jenna keeps a pulse on social media trends and provides second-to-none issues management research and event implementation.

  • Joined firm in 2011
  • Previous experience:
    • Legislative Assistant, Minnesota Senate, working with constituents and legislators on policy issues, developing materials and managing social media
  • Education and community involvement:
    • B.A., Political Science, Mass Communications and Sociology, University of Minnesota
    • Marketing and promotions team member, Breaking Free, a St. Paul non-profit organization

Client Support and Administrative Team

AMIE BRUNEAU, Controller, provides budgeting, accounting and client management leadership as well as managing Himle Rapp business matters

KAREN MOHN, Project Coordinator/Executive Assistant, manages vendor relationships and in-house design projects

JON GOODRICH, Executive Assistant, provides assistance with materials development, event logistics and other projects

PATRICIA CRAMER, Administrative Assistant, provides support in the areas of databases, Web site content management and e-advocacy

TANYA BOSCH, Administrative Assistant, assists with media list development, research and stakeholder/community outreach logistics