MARK PETERSEN
Founder
Was born in Montana and raised in Wyoming. Right out of high school joined the military (ARMY/Army National Guard) and served 14 years. Got his degree in Psychology and Education in both Physical Education and Social Studies and has a Masters in Education.
Mark’s heart and dreams originally, although always in serving and leadership, was working with troubled teens and helped develop and build several residential treatment centers for young men.
After settling down, Mark got married and had two amazing teenage children, a son in the the service (Army) and a daughter going into the medical field.
After serving on his local fire department, Mark received the vision and started building THE PEOPLE’S PATRIOT PROJECT, housed in his previous Limited Liability Corporation, Providence Farms Enterprises Incorporated.
Mark is very excited to be working on this project and hopes that he is able to serve the community and his fellow brothers and sisters in arms to open up opportunities that will make life more fulfilling for them and many others.
“Plant beans, get beans” – unknown
Andrea Eichmann
Executive Director
Andrea was born in Iowa and grew up in Southwestern Minnesota, the heart of the Midwest Patriotism. She resides in Hastings, MN, with her husband and children. She has four wonderful boys and a beautiful daughter. There are in-laws and grandchildren, and her time is spent with all of them. Andrea has always been involved in working with children and volunteering. Besides staying home with her own children, there were quite often other kids that just kind of “lived” with the Eichmanns, staying because they enjoyed it there. With over 25 years of teaching youth and confirmation age in her church, she decided to become a teacher and currently teaches seventh and eighth-grade students in Language Arts.
After meeting Founder Mark Petersen and hearing about his project, Andrea found his vision and goals very appealing and attainable. She decided to offer help and support for the cause, and has grown to be one of the spearheads of the growth and dynamic planning that has gone into getting the program on its feet.
Andrea is thrilled to be working with a team of the most supportive and striving people imaginable, and to be a part of making the mission and vision of supporting veterans and active duty service persons and first responder personnel a successful endeavor.
“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the
way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” -Virginia Satir
Jesse Sams
Vice President
Jesse was born in Cambridge MN and grew up in Chaska MN and joined the U.S. Air Force in 1995 and entered the Security Forces field. Jesse was active duty from 1995-1999 and supports the veteran community in many aspects. He is skilled in assisting with Addiction Recovery as he has beat addiction himself.
Jesse resides in Waconia, MN, with his two boys, Owen and Zack. Jesse is a devoted father to both boys who are 10 and 8 respectively.
Jesse loves working with Veterans and First Responders. His passion for personal connections and being resourceful has and continues to help the People’s Patriot Project members.
Ray kane
Treasurer
Raymond Kane, Army Veteran and Cottage Grove, MN Area Chamber Volunteer of the Year (2021).
Raymond’s talents include service to others through training, mentoring and volunteering his time.
He served in the MN Army National Guard as an Infantry Sgt. and weapons specialist, receiving several awards.
Raymond’s experience is in retail operations and finance, helping to open 15 large corporate retail stores. He currently works for St Paul – Newport Lions Club as the Gambling Manager.
He has dedicated his life to volunteerism, serving his community and veterans. Ray currently serves as the President of the Mississippi River Valley Beyond the Yellow
Ribbon, the CFO of the People’s Patriot Project, on the Media and Communications
Committee for the American Legion Department of MN, and as Finance Officer for
his local American Legion Post.
Raymond is a foodie, who enjoys tattoos, spending time with friends, and riding his
motorcycle. He lives in Cottage Grove with his two beloved dogs.
Lee williams
member at large
Lee was born in Brazil, raised in Louisiana and has now lived in Minnesota for almost 30 years. The Williams family has a history of military service. His grandfather served at Pearl Harbor during the December 7th attack and his great uncle still lies in state aboard the USS Arizona. He joined the Louisiana Army National Guard in 1987 and eventually served with Mark in the Minnesota Army National Guard. He was honorably discharged in 2003. He currently works as a Right of Way manager for the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Metro Transit Section. He purchases property for light rail and bus rapid transit projects. Lee has been married for 25 years and has three daughters. One in college, one in high school and one in junior high.
Nikki Flowers
WeP3 Radio Coordinator
Nikki was born in Independence, MO, and grew up in Raymore, MO, and moved to Cody, WY, as a Sophomore in high school and joined the Navy after Graduation in 1995. I served 4 yrs in Norfolk, VA. Her last duty station was with an f-14 squadron stationed on-board the USS Enterprise CVN65 and she was in the Desert Fox Conflict in 1998-1999 in the Gulf.
Nikki resides in Cody, WY with her wife of 10 years and son Jaiden. Currently working from home for First American Title as a Production support analyst (IT). I am a life member of the VFW. I am the local Cody Rotary Club Treasurer as well as a founding member of the local PFLAG chapter. She is involved with local community theater and enjoys the outdoors.
Hearing about WeP3, I was super excited to be a part of a community that is willing to help Veterans and first responders and hits the ground running.
Chris Nobles
Tech Director
Chris was born and raised in South Carolina. He has lived in South Carolina most of his life except for training and 2 deployments. He served in the Marine Corps for 8 years starting in 2002. At first, he was trained as a driver for M1A1 Abrams Tanks. A couple of years later the Marine Corps decides to reduce the tank companies and sent Chris to Light Armor Vehicle school. Their unit changed to a LAR unit and deployed to Iraq in 2007. After 2 deployments, one in Africa and one in Iraq he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 2010. Chris became a firefighter for the City of Columbia and eventually found his way on the busiest ladder truck in South Carolina. After 5 years working for the City, he accepted a federal firefighter job, that lastest 5 more years then Chris and his wife Heather started Semper Fi Design in 2020. Semper Fi Design is a web development and video company to help veteran organizations and businesses increase their web presence with a professional website and/or video for marketing. Fast forward to today, Chris operates under Semper Fi Design working with a lot of veterans and veteran organizations.
“Our only limitations are the ones we set up in our own minds.”
–Napoleon Hill
Matthew Birr
Director of Purple Heart Relations and Outreach
Matt grew up in the Minnesota town of Fridley, and attended Fridley High School. In high school, Matt enjoyed wrestling and hanging out with friends. While looking to the future, Matt spent time visiting with an Army recruiter and decided that was the direction he wanted to go. Matt enjoyed his time and was soon deployed to Afghanistan, in the Kunar Province. While he was stationed at Kunar, he would regularly visit with his mother on Skype. One evening as he was sitting at his computer, a round of gunfire suddenly came through the camp and everyone started taking cover. In a second, he was lying on the ground, and didn’t know what had happened. Matt’s story is deep and touching to the heart, and the full version will soon be published on our website.
Matt is a Purple Heart recipient, and his new goal in life is to make people smile. There was a time when all he wanted to do was get back to active duty, but that was not meant to be. The People’s Patriot Project has grown very attached to Matt, and we are happy to call him one of us. Matt attends almost every meeting, and as a director, he keeps us all on our toes. We believe Matt has been saved for bigger things in life, and we all want to be present when those times come around. In the meantime he keeps us all smiling and laughing at his stories!
Adam Bird
Consulting Director
Mr. Adam Bird is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Heroes Media Group LLC. Heroes Media Group (HMG) is a Digital Media Branding platform committed to providing a voice for our community heroes and those who support them. HMG is committed to providing education, entertainment and empowerment to: Active Duty Service Members, Veterans, Firefighters, First Responders, Law Enforcement, Educators, Medical Professionals, and Clergy.
Adam earned his Bachelors Degree in Business Management in 2011. He is an experienced entrepreneur and leader in building companies, educating, training and mentoring and empowering teams to success. Ultimately, Adam founded HMG to create jobs and reorganize the way media is consumed, delivered and trusted on a global scale.
Born in Wisconsin, Adam developed a love for the outdoors at a very young age. Fishing, hunting and playing sports was an everyday thing. After high school Adam enlisted the Army National Guard where he worked in various positions until mid 2007, when he left the Military to pursue greater opportunities and to be a full-time single parent to his son.
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