Pam Costain has been a grassroots organizer for over 30 years, working on issues of racial and economic justice, adult literacy, leadership development, labor organizing, community-based education, and international human rights. She is the new chair of the Minneapolis School Board and is former State Director of Save Our Schools (2003), a coalition that advocates for adequate funding for Minnesota public education.
Pam served as Associate Political Director for Paul Wellstone's 2002 U.S. Senate campaign, with responsibility for strategy in immigrant communities, communities of color, and the progressive left. From 1988-2000 she served as Executive Director of the Resource Center of the Americas in Minneapolis, an organization that focuses on globalization, immigration, and human rights.
A 1972 graduate of Carleton College, Pam earned her master's degree in education in 1981 from the University of Minnesota and was named a Bush Leadership Fellow in 1992.