Deborah Kjerstad is a lifelong South Dakotan- raised on a farm near Bear Butte, graduating from Sturgis HS and then attending Dakota Wesleyan University as a theatre and music major.
She built a 40 year career based out of Rapid City with several retailers as a district manager covering ND, SD, IA, MN and NE with a focus on building teams and developing leaders which led to much success along the way. Her first promotion to DM was with Hallmark cards becoming only the second woman and also one of the youngest DM's in the US and after 8 years was recruited by Limited Brands. During her 20 years there she was certified to be a corporate mentor and coach for district and regional leaders across the country. She left Limited Brands when she was tapped by the Bishop of the United Methodist Church to serve as their newly created Leadership Development Director for the 200 UMC churches of ND and SD. She is most proud of leading Clergy Leadership Academy-a program for new clergy, raising almost $1million in 4 months for a program called Thrive to infuse churches with training and support for creative programs for youth and outreach in their communities, and also for co-authoring and receiving a $1Million Lilly grant aimed at clergy wellness- which she used to create a program called Higher Ground to address the crisis of clergy burnout. Her final 4 working years was as a DM for Starbucks where she opened 8 stores in SD while also leading the Indigenous Partner Network across 9 states- writing grants to the Starbucks Foundation to support efforts in communities around reconciliation and inclusion- including ones for Feeding SD, WAVI, and for the Remembering the Children memorial here in Rapid City.
Within the Rapid City area- she has sung with Dakota Choral Union for 15 years also serving on their board and was president for a term. She also served a term on the Rapid City Arts Council and worked alongside members for many years on the Allied Arts Fund Drive.
Currently "retired"- and enjoying being the part time Tasting Room Manager for Firehouse Wine Cellars.
Deborah has been married to Darrel Kjerstad for 43 years and they have 2 children Lauren, 23 and Nolan 20. (Darla Crown and her husband Doug are their godparents.) Besides loving everything in the arts world-she also enjoys cooking and entertaining, and the beautiful outdoors in the Hills- hiking and camping.
Deb believes in modeling servant leadership and radiating positivity in everything she does-
always admiring the work of Rotary- and attending many fundraisers and events- she is excited to finally be a part of this wonderful organization!