Mao Yang
Community Coordinator
I am a Daughter, sister, friend, auntie, author, disability rights, inclusion, awareness, disability and justice advocate. I am obsessed with all things pink and sparkly. in my spare time I like to eat spend time with my friends and play mobile games for money. My hope is to use my experience living with the developmental disability cerebral palsy as a resource to draw from and be a vessel for others with intellectual developmental disabilities and leave the world a more inclusive place for them that I found it.
Bryan Boyce
Community Leader
Bryan Boyce grew up in Waseca, MN, and graduated from Grinnell College before teaching high school English in Lesotho and the Rosebud Lakota Reservation and serving as Assistant Director of Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano, which he led to nationally recognized student gains. He is the Founder and Director of Cow Tipping, a social venture dedicated to changing our narratives on developmental disability, for which he is the winner of Grinnell’s Wall Alumni Service Award, Teach For America’s Social Innovation Award, and a 4.0 Schools Tiny Fellowship. As the sibling of a brother with developmental disabilities, Bryan knows firsthand the value and richness of exchange across neurological differences. As a LEND Community Fellow, he is particularly excited to explore the tensions and possibilities between disability justice in theory and our systems in practice, as well as to just carve out some space for long-term, big picture think as Cow Tipping enters its sixth year of programming!
Board of Directors
Leah Welch
President
Leah Welch is from Minneapolis and now lives in St. Paul. She studied theology at Duke Divinity School, where she learned about L’Arche, and spent a summer as an assistant at L’Arche Daybreak in Canada. Following seminary, she joined L’Arche Seattle and lived there for six years. She has been part of the founding group of L’Arche Twin Cities since 2014. Some of her favorite L’Arche experiences are L’Arche retreats (Core Member & Ignatian), making candles from recycled wax in the L’Arche Seattle Activity Center, community talent shows, and perusing Henri Nouwen’s personal library while staying at the house where he lived in L’Arche Daybreak.
Sheena Schar
Treasurer
Sheena Schar grew up in the Twin Cities and currently calls Bloomington,MN home. She has a degree in Religion and Classical Studies from Concordia College. After college, Sheena found a passion for nonprofit work while in Wilmington,DE while in Lutheran Volunteer Corps. She worked for many years in day and employment services for those with developmental disabilities before transitioning to accounting. Seeking more connection with the disability community, Sheena joined the L’Arche board in 2024 and currently serves as its Treasurer. She is excited to see all the ways that L’Arche TC can foster community and connections.
Kat Kohorst
I’m from northern MN, but was able to spend some life-altering years with L’Arche in Vancouver, BC. I am also a special education teacher, mostly working with kiddos who are deafblind and/or have autism. I am so excited to see this community grow and have an impact in the Twin Cities. Guitar player extraordinaire.
Danielle Mahoehney
I grew up in a small town in southeastern Minnesota and learned about L’Arche in college. After graduating, I spent two years living in a L’Arche community, where I met my husband. We moved to the Twin Cities in 2012 and soon began connecting with others interested in growing L’Arche in the Twin Cities. We live in Saint Paul with our four children, and I work in higher education on training, consulting, and research projects to increase the inclusion of people with disabilities within their communities.
Maeve McDevitt
Maeve McDevitt is a young woman who wishes she could time travel to times of past years especially the 1920s (only to visit). For now she gets to live in a different time as she writes a historical fiction novel about a Deaf woman living during the 1920s and 1930s and has to put up with living in the modern world ugh. She is a curious soul who loves not only history and antique/vintage items but traveling,cooking,hanging out with friends,family and boyfriend, is an animal lover and last not least enjoys reading books and writing stories.
Adam Ruff
I grew up in New Brighton and moved to Minneapolis to attend college at Augsburg University and have been living in Minneapolis ever since with my two cats Prin and Gus! Whether I’m working at Advocating Change Together, sitting in a park birdwatching, or at a Timberwolves or Loons game, promoting disability inclusion is a passion in all aspects of my life. This passion started as a career path for me and has recently grown into a special interest in my personal life. I’m excited to be a part of the L’Arche community where I can contribute my skills professionally while exploring my personal connection to the disability community.
