Our Staff at BrightStar Care® South Minneapolis Metro

Debra started at BrightStar in 2019 as our Senior Director of Nursing. She has worked in healthcare for over 20 years, from humble beginnings as a nursing assistant in long term and memory care units, to Director of Nursing for a large Health and Human Services provider in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. Having cared for her own parents after graduating from nursing school, home health care is extremely close to her heart. She is most passionate about helping individuals maintain their health in the comfort of their home, which aligns perfectly with the values of BrightStar Care. She truly leads by example for the entire Clinical Team.

Renee joined the BrightStar team in 2019 with prior experience in Long term care, transitional care and mental health.  She has always had a passion for helping others and working for BrightStar has allowed her a pathway to continue that passion.  She takes pride in being able to provide personalized one on one care in a home setting and continues to grow and develop as an RN. Renee is originally from Nebraska and moved here in 2008.  “I grew up with Nebraska football - Go Big Red!”  When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her wonderful husband and three amazing children.

Jeremy has practiced in various settings throughout his career, including outpatient orthopedics, transition care, and home health. He brings extensive knowledge relating to the geriatric population, including fall prevention and home evaluation/safety. He has worked with patients who have had various disease processes and conditions, including dementia, s/p lung and heart disorders, head trauma, and post-ops with musculoskeletal impairments, among other pathologies.

He is an excellent addition to the BrightStar team because of his passion for his work. In his words, "I enjoy having the opportunity of working with my patient/clients to increase their abilities to be as functional and independent as possible in efforts to improve their quality of living."

He was born and raised in Southern California but has now been living in Minnesota for ten years! He spends his free time outdoors, enjoying every season of the year. His driving force to pursue Physical Therapy was an opportunity to volunteer at Courage Kenny in Golden Valley in their ABLE program (Activity Based Locomotor Exercise).  This encounter led him to where he is today.

Akqwana enjoys the journey and experiences her career in nursing is providing. Meeting wonderful people and learning from their experiences is fulfilling. Her educational background as a LPN for about nine years provided her great experience and the foundation in my current position as a Case Manager at BrightStar. She loves that at BrightStar we provide care to help clients remain in the comfort of their homes.

When Akqwana is not working, traveling is her passion. She also enjoys spending time with nature and biking.

Laura has many years of experience in various clinical settings including cardiac/renal, home care, and as a nursing educator.  She received her BSN and Master’s through University of Phoenix.  Laura tells us, “I have always wanted to help people and give them the same opportunities for healthcare we all deserve.”

She grew up in Wisconsin, but lived in MN most of her adult life, except for a hiatus in New Mexico for 2 years. We are happy she came back to the Twin Cities!

Krissy joined BrightStar in May 2021. She has a BS in Applied Psychology and Biblical Studies from a tiny college in Northern MN that even some locals don’t know exists. This has come in handy when communicating with clients, families, and caregivers. Krissy is a self-proclaimed craft nerd, though right now, she mostly focuses on crochet and paper crafting.

Taylor started her journey with BrightStar Care as a Customer Care Manager, gaining experience in homecare and medical staffing while working her way into the Branch Manager role. Now, Taylor leads operations for all of our branches. She brings over 10 years of management experience and is passionate about sustaining a supportive and positive team environment at the St. Paul Office. Over her years in the healthcare industry, Taylor has maintained excellent care and advocacy for those who need it most. Client satisfaction and communication are her priority! She attended Century College for medical coding and office technology degrees and Metropolitan State University for a Bachelor’s degree of Business Administration.

Outside of work, Taylor enjoys exploring the great outdoors, traveling, baking, reading, and spending time with her husband and her cat named Jerry.

Stacie serves as President of BrightStar Care, bringing more than 25 years of experience in business leadership, operational excellence, organizational transformation and strategic growth.  Throughout her career, she has led initiatives that improved performance, strengthened governance, developed leaders and created meaningful, lasting results while keeping people at the center of every decision.

At BrightStar Care, Stacie is committed to ensuring clients and their families receive compassionate, high-quality care they can trust.  She works alongside the leadership team to strengthen clinical excellence, enhance the employee experience and continuously improve the systems, processes and technology that support exceptional care.

Before joining BrightStar Care, Stacie built her career with a Fortune 500 organization, where she held leadership roles, including Lean Six Sigma Manager, leading enterprise-wide initiatives focused on operational excellence, business transformation, customer experience and technology.  Her experience partnering with executive leadership teams and boards of directors has shaped a collaborative leadership style grounded in accountability, continuous improvement and long-term thinking.

Stacie earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) and serves on several business and advisory boards.  She is passionate about developing leaders, building strong organizational cultures and thoughtfully embracing innovation that allows employees to spend more time focused on serving clients and families.

She believes exceptional care begins with exceptional people.  By fostering a culture built on integrity, compassion, accountability, leadership and community impact, Stacie is dedicated to helping BrightStar Care make a meaningful difference in the lives of those it serves every day.