Former MAPE Statewide Treasurer debuts as new Operations Director

MAPE members will be seeing more of a familiar face as former Statewide Treasurer Todd Maki transitions into his new role as MAPE’s new Operations Director (OD), taking him from the ranks of membership and elected leadership into a full time staff role at MAPE.

When Maki heard that MAPE’s current OD, Paul Schweizer, was planning to retire, he saw that role as one he’d be excited to apply for and step into at MAPE.

“I’ve been around long enough that I know what MAPE does on a biannual cycle, and I’ve been able to help some of my coworkers as a MAPE steward, so jumping into the MAPE OD role is a pretty good fit for me,” Maki said. 

Maki said the hardest thing as a statewide elected leader in MAPE was trying to do all the things he wanted to do in that role and keep that in balance with work and family life.  

“When you’re a volunteer leader with MAPE, it’s a three way balance between work life, family life and MAPE,” he said. “There’s so much more I think needs to be done at MAPE, and that was hard to squeeze into the work day, so I’m happy to be here full time and able to do this work five days a week instead of just a few days a month.”

MAPE President Megan Dayton understands all too well the push-pull of maintaining a State job while pouring energy into an elected leadership role, and said she’s thrilled to welcome Maki to his new role at MAPE.

“I am thrilled Todd pursued the OD role at MAPE because when I see the energy he has for this union and the potential we have as a united workforce, I know bringing him into leadership on staff is going to help advance our goals, initiatives and processes,” Dayton said. “We are fortunate to have his continued leadership at MAPE!”

Maki’s long history with MAPE involvement and most current statewide treasurer position will ease his transition to MAPE staff leadership, he said.

“I’ve enjoyed my time working with Paul and the rest of the admin staff here as statewide treasurer, so that will be a super helpful thing as I transition into the OD role since I already know the staff and know our process around finances,” Maki said.

Coupled with his previous support of various MAPE committees and the building corporation, Maki will not only be able to transition seamlessly into his new role on staff but also support MAPE’s next statewide treasurer.

“MAPE is a world full of opportunity at the moment,” he said. “MAPE likes to experiment with different things at the statewide and local levels and take those results and learn from them.”

He said exploring additional technology resources is at the top of his list as he kicks off the next chapter of his career at MAPE.

“Technology is how we’re connected these days, so that’s important for us as staff and also how our member leaders run their meetings and connect with their membership,” Maki said. “MAPE should be a technology leader if we can get there.”

Maki called this period of transition a “win-win-win” as he currently shadows the retiring OD and plans to help mentor MAPE’s next statewide treasurer when they’re elected. 

As he packed up his office after 32 years with the Minnesota Lottery, Maki said he almost shed a tear, but is thrilled to be coming on in a leadership role at MAPE.

“I can take the things I’ve learned as a research analyst for the State and use my skills in my new job here as Operations Director,” he said. 

Maki said it’s the promise of innovation and opportunity to advance MAPE that gets him out of bed in the morning. 

“Nothing has to stay the same. Just because it’s worked in the past doesn’t mean it has to stay the same,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of good traditions at MAPE, but we can experiment with new things and make our processes better.”

“It’s so much fun to think about what the future could look like if we just do things a little differently, while not ignoring traditions and history. I want to be a steady hand as Operations Director as we sail this thing forward together.”