Events

Richard Bahr is a life-long resident of Minnesota having grown up in the Twin Cities area. For 21 years he was President of and partner in a successful manufacturing firm. He now coaches business leaders, helping them find success while leading balanced lives.

Due to his own life experiences coupled with a passion for service, Bahr has been involved with organizations that provide a “second chance” to those in need. In 2013, he co-founded a social ministry with his wife, Carla, called Threshold to New Life. The organization’s mission is to “Keep Families Home” through their partnerships and matching grant programs, effectively reducing homelessness. Their organization plays a part in assisting over 600 people and families in getting or keeping their housing each year.

Bahr has personally delivered over 40,000 pairs of socks to his “friends” in the street as a means of meeting the homeless, learning names and establishing relationships. He spends evenings in homeless shelters and other places where homeless people may hang out, connecting with, encouraging and helping to meet the basic needs of “the least of these”. He also operates as a volunteer Chaplain at local homeless shelters.

Bahr serves at and coordinates the volunteers for 2.4 Ministries which provides a daily breakfast and fellowship a Minneapolis homeless shelter. He also has volunteered at Project 6:8 providing a weekly, home cooked meal under the 394 bridge west of Dunwoody College.

In addition, he is a founding member of and served as President of the Hennepin Technical College Foundation for 16 years at which he established the Bahr Family Endowment, he also serves as a mentor to chemically dependent men and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity.

Richard Bahr is also a published author. Proceeds from his recent book, "Amazed: Why the Humanity of Jesus Matters", go towards funding his social ministry. In October 2018, Bahr released his most recent book, "Those People: The True Character the Homeless" relating stories about his homeless friends while transforming the readers’ paradigms of homelessness.

Go here to learn more about Threshold to New Life and Richard Bahr online at www.richardbahr.com.

Tom Selinger served 27 years in the U.S. Foreign Service with overseas tours in Kyrgyzstan, Denmark, Croatia, Albania, and Trinidad and Tobago and portfolios ranging from security cooperation to American citizen services. In his retirement, he works for the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, a nonprofit where he directs outreach efforts to promote public understanding of the work of America's diplomats. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, including combat service with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Desert Storm, and worked as a locally-employed political specialist for the Canadian government at their Consulate in Minneapolis, MN. His interest in international affairs began during his time in Belgium as a Rotary International Exchange Student sponsored by the Rotary Club of Golden Valley. Tom is married to fellow diplomat Kirsten Selinger and has four children and three grandchildren.

Back in 1776, America's diplomats helped win the American Revolution, and over the past 250 years, they have continued to make our country safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Tom Selinger, a retired Foreign Service Officer, will share stories of how our diplomats have saved American citizens in peril, opened markets for products from our farms and factories, and built alliances to ensure our collective security and advance our ideals. He'll highlight diplomats from Minnesota and how their work has benefited communities across the state.