Children’s Minnesota executive leadership team
Emily Chapman, MD
President, chief executive officer
Emily Chapman, MD, was appointed president and CEO of Children’s Minnesota in August 2025. She is deeply committed to delivering exceptional care and experiences for patient families, staff and community.
With over 30 years of experience in pediatric health care, Dr. Chapman previously served as chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs at Children’s Minnesota. In that role, she oversaw clinical care delivery, strategic service line growth, quality and continuous improvement, interprofessional education and research. She has received recognition for notable contributions to quality improvement, patient safety and education.
Dr. Chapman has deep roots in medical education, having served as the associate director of medical education at Children’s Minnesota and an associate program director of the University of Minnesota Pediatric Residency Program, where she is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics.
Before joining Children’s Minnesota as a pediatric hospitalist, Dr. Chapman practiced general pediatrics as owner and president of the Wayzata Children’s Clinic. She started her career as a child life specialist where she developed a deeper curiosity for medicine and the healing connection between care teams and patient families.
Dr. Chapman received her medical training at Dartmouth and the University of Minnesota. She completed a residency in pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Williams College.
Follow Dr. Chapman on LinkedIn | Read her articles in the Kids First blog.
James Burroughs
Senior vice president, government and community relations, chief equity and inclusion officer
James Burroughs joined Children’s Minnesota as the first chief equity and inclusion officer in January 2019, and is now the senior vice president, government and community relations, chief equity and inclusion officer. He is responsible for advancing equity and inclusion across the organization as well as leading advocacy, government affairs and community relations.
Mr. Burroughs’ key focus areas include patient quality initiatives, employee recruitment and retention strategies, organizational culture and increasing financial investment with diverse businesses and initiatives that address the social determinants of health for patients and families. He also leads Children’s Minnesota’s efforts to foster community relations, and accelerate engagement in government affairs to advocate for policies that positively impact the health and well-being of children.
Mr. Burroughs has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of nonprofit management, equity, diversity, inclusion, as well as employment law. Prior to Children’s Minnesota, Mr. Burroughs served in the Office of Governor Mark Dayton, where he was the State of Minnesota’s first chief inclusion officer. Mr. Burroughs has a juris doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and completed his Bachelor of Arts in political science at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the proud father of Teresa Ann Burroughs.
Follow James on LinkedIn | Read his articles in the In the Burroughs blog.
Laurin Cathey
Senior vice president, chief human resources officer
Laurin Cathey joined Children’s Minnesota in September 2019, and is responsible for all human resource functions including HR business partners and consultants, labor relations, organizational development and learning, talent acquisition, benefits and compensation and information systems.
Mr. Cathey brings more than 20 years of experience working in labor and employee relations with considerable experience in and a passion for diversity, inclusion and change management. Prior to joining Children’s Minnesota, Mr. Cathey worked at St. Paul Public Schools where he was the executive director of human resources and ING as HR director. Within those roles, he led diversity management operations, culture and employee engagement efforts, performance management and executive coaching.
Mr. Cathey holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University.
Mr. Cathey’s interests include cooking, playing golf and attending the arts or athletic events of one of his three children.
John Harding
Executive vice president, chief operating officer
John Harding joined Children’s Minnesota in April 2026. As executive vice president, chief operating officer (COO), he provides operational leadership across the organization’s hospitals, specialty centers and clinics.
Mr. Harding brings more than 25 years of experience. In his role, he partners closely with leaders to translate strategy into action, strengthen multidisciplinary leadership of care delivery, and help ensure high-quality and equitable care for patients and families.
Mr. Harding formerly served as COO at Riley Children’s Health. He has also served as COO at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters Health System and held leadership roles at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and Children’s National Medical Center, where he built deep expertise in strategy, operations and program development.
Mr. Harding earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University, a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University Maryland, and a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt Peabody College.
Dave Lundal
Senior vice president, chief information officer
Dave Lundal joined Children’s Minnesota in March 2019 and is now senior vice president, chief information officer. He is responsible for the strategic direction and technical support of all information systems supporting the hospitals and clinics. He also provides leadership for the Health Information Management department, which maintains the confidentiality, quality and timeliness of medical records and health information.
Mr. Lundal brings more than 25 years of experience in health care information technology and leadership in domains including ambulatory, hospital, home care and insurance. He recently held leadership positions at WellStar Health System, Presence Health and SSM Health.
His education includes Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University Bloomington and an MBA from Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind.
In his spare time, Mr. Lundal enjoys reading, hiking, coaching youth sports, and spending time with his wife and their three children.
Brenda McCormick
Executive vice president, chief financial officer
Brenda McCormick joined Children’s Minnesota in August 2019 and leads our finance, supply chain and real estate departments.
Previously, she was the chief financial officer and senior vice president at Smiths Medical. She’s also served as the vice president and principal accounting officer at Valspar, and has held financial leadership positions at Lawson Software, International Multifoods, The Pillsbury Company (Diageo) and Coca-Cola Enterprises.
Ms. McCormick has been recognized as a top CFO by Women We Admire, Becker’s Hospital Review, Twin Cities Business, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, and Finance and Commerce. She received her bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College and her MBA from the University of Minnesota.
Ms. McCormick volunteers her time as the Children’s Minnesota representative on the Ridgeview Medical Center Board, as a member of the St. Olaf College Board of Regents, and as member of the Animal Humane Society Board.
Caroline Njau, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC
Senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer
Caroline (Ndungu) Njau joined Children’s Minnesota in March 2021 and is responsible for patient care operations, including nursing and patient and family services, as well as nursing strategy, education and professional development.
Ms. Njau previously served as the director of hospital and nursing operations at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital where she also co-led the Health Equity Initiative for last several years. Caroline was broadly accountable for inpatient flow and efficiency initiatives, served as a consistent dyad partner to the chief medical officer in joint clinical improvement initiatives, and engaged significantly with union relationships. She began her nursing career in medical-telemetry units at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Ms. Njau earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Kennesaw State University in Georgia and a Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas.
Ms. Njau’s interests include spending time with her husband and two children, mentoring teenagers in her faith community and cooking.
Andy Pugh
Senior vice president, chief legal officer
Andy Pugh was appointed senior vice president, chief legal officer of Children’s Minnesota in April 2022. Mr. Pugh oversees legal services, risk management, compliance, and information security and serves as Secretary to the Board of Directors. He joined Children’s Minnesota as deputy general counsel in July 2011. In that role, he oversaw the legal department and served as primary legal support in key areas such as health care transactions and tax-exempt compliance. He also provided direct legal support to various departments and functions across the organization and its related entities. Mr. Pugh has a deep commitment to equity and inclusion and has served as a member of Children’s Health Equity Council.
Prior to joining Children’s Minnesota, Mr. Pugh served as deputy general counsel at Allina Health. He began his legal career at Honeywell Inc. and spent several years in private practice. He earned his juris doctorate from Mitchell Hamline School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Arizona State University.
Hillery Smith Shay, MBA
Chief marketing and experience officer, senior vice president of communications
Hillery Shay joined Children’s Minnesota in 2021, as VP of marketing and communications and is now chief marketing and experience officer, senior vice president of communications. She provides strategic direction for organizational marketing and communications. She is also responsible for defining and building an organization-wide experience strategy.
Ms. Shay brings nearly 25 years of leadership experience in health care and mass communication, with a proven track record of success leading national and global public health campaigns and marketing initiatives. Prior to her role at Children’s Minnesota, Shay served in leadership roles at Abbott Labs leading professional education, marketing, communications and scientific congress strategy. She also served as a journalist and team leader for more than 10 years at the Associated Press and the Baltimore Sun, including as a photojournalist covering two sitting U.S. presidents as well as the Pentagon on 9/11.
Ms. Shay earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in business administration from Bethel University in Minnesota. She is an active member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, inc.
Jennifer Soderholm
Senior vice president and chief development officer, Children’s Minnesota President, Children’s Minnesota Foundation
Jennifer (Jenny) Soderholm has over 34 years of health care fundraising and development experience. Before joining Children’s Minnesota, she served as executive vice president and chief development officer at Planned Parenthood North Central States, where she oversaw all aspects of fundraising strategy and operations for the five-state region. Ms. Soderholm has also held executive leadership positions in management, fundraising and development for health care and higher education institutions, including Children’s HeartLink, the University of Minnesota Medical School and M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center and Masonic Children’s Hospital.
Ms. Soderholm has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech-Communications from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and received the 2019 Association of Fundraising Professionals, Minnesota Chapter, Outstanding Professional Fundraiser Award.
