BiosBoard Members
The following is the Wisconsin Faith and Freedom Board led by our Chair and former Green Bay Packers Chaplain Arni Jacobson, and finally out non-voting officers including President John Pudner. The members of our field team can be viewed here.
Governing Board
Arni Jacobson
Board Chair
Jacobson is the ultimate builder of faith-based organizations, Arni Jacobson as the first Chair of the Board of Directors.
The Wisconsin Faith & Freedom Coalition is thrilled to be led by Chairman Arni Jacobson, the former Chaplain of the Green Bay Packers who built the largest church in Wisconsin outside of the Milwaukee Metro area (see “Celebration Church”) since becoming Pastor of a couple of hundred attendees of then-Bayside Christian Fellowship. The incredible growth of the Church led other pastors around the country to ask Jacobson to guide their growth – resulting in many churches growing to thousands of attendees each Sunday.
Jacobson is a successful Pastor, Church planter, mentor and has authored books including, The Favor Factor: Living Life with God’s Advantage, 5 Keys to Reaching Your Family for Christ, and The High Cost or Resentment (the Journey to Freedom).
Jacobson is an Executive Board Member and the Director and Leadership and Church Expansion for Grace International in Houston. He is a national and international Church and business speaker. He is the co-founder of City Church in Salt Lake City. He served for many years on the Board of Church Growth International with Dr. David Yonegi Cho, Pastor of The Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea. His number one passion is to see lost people come to Christ and is known as a great soul-winner. More than anything, he loves his wife, children, and grandchildren and is a proud family man.
Bob Atwell
Board Member
A former member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and noted by BizTimes as one of Wisconsin’s most influential business leaders, Bob is the co-founder of Nicolet Bankshares, the biggest bank startup in state history at its founding, and has over 40 years of experience as a Wisconsin banker. He is a graduate of Beloit College and the Yale School of Management. Bob is also a Director of Ariens Company, Great Northern Corporation, and Relevant Radio, a national Catholic radio network with 209 Catholic-centered radio stations across the country.
Camille Solberg
Board Member
Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson’s former Central Regional Director and Minority Outreach Director, Camille is a Puerto Rico native, former bilingual journalist, and grassroots activist. Solberg served the Chairman’s Advisory Council for the American Latino Museum, in addition to having founded the Hispanic-American Council and served as Chair of Wisconsin Viva George W. Bush. She organized multiple heavily-attended Hispanic events for Scott Walker’s successful gubernatorial campaign as well as major events for Rawhide, the group formed by Bart Starr, Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former quarterback for Wisconsin’s legendary Green Bay Packers.
Solberg also served in the Trump White House, in the Trump Administration U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as in the Bush Administration.
Michael C. Larson
Rev. Michael C. Larson, Pastor serves as parish pastor at Luther Memorial Chapel & University Student Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition to preaching and teaching, he provides spiritual care to Milwaukee area university students and international visiting scholars. Michael has an interest in the intersection of faith and politics, and the church’s role in promoting the public good in accordance with natural law and our founding documents. He received a BA in Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2007), and a Masters of Divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana (2011). God has entrusted to Michael and his wife, Kristina, six children and four foster children. His commitment to these children has prevented him from continuing to run 50 mile ultra marathons, which led to fun discussions after our board meeting with former Speaker John Gard, who has coached high school cross country teams to state championships. However, Michael still enjoys bow hunting, trail running, and old movies. (John Pudner encouraged him to add one new movie to his list, since he and Kristina are doing the same Lord’s work as the inspirational Pastor and wife in the recent movie, (Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.)
Paula Quinn
Paula Quinn is an example of someone who prioritized her faith and family before venturing into politics. After raising her own children, Paula–a former college athlete–became active in local politics when she saw the liberal agenda infiltrating schools. In April 2022, she stunned the political world by defeating incumbent Douglas Brahm, who seemed invincible due to being the fire chief for years in Lisbon, a Village in Waukesha County. The election proved how important it was to vote since if just one of Paula’s voters had not shown up, she would have lost. Following her victory, Tim Michels recruited her to run operations for his gubernatorial campaign, which achieved the second-best total of 26 challengers running for governor that year. We saw during those months why Paula was so successful in business operations, as she coordinated the incredible influx of requests for signs, literature and speaking appearances, and organized who on the team would fulfill each request. We know she will be just as valuable as our newest voting Governing Board Member.
Non-Voting Board Members
John Pudner
President
John is an experienced campaign operative that has spent over 25 years running Republican political campaigns, including directing the campaign strategy of Republican Dave Brat’s historic primary upset of the-Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor, becoming the only person in U.S. history to defeat a majority leader in a primary. In the same period, he also won 185 out of 202 local zoning referenda, as well as dozens of Planning Commission and Supervisor votes, preventing poorly-devised developments and protecting local communities from overreach.
He helped to lead in the creation of Wisconsin Faith and Freedom Coalition to facilitate efforts toward increasing faith-based voter turnout and participation throughout Wisconsin – a cause he began as the lead on then-presidential candidate George W. Bush’s faith-based turnout effort in 16 battleground states and has remained passionate about since.
John also splits his time as President of Take Back Our Republic Action, a 501c3 whose main focus is on the rules that govern our elections in Wisconsin, has compiled a perfect record of five statewide referenda wins in five different states, and led a 2017 effort before the Federal Elections Commission in which Facebook was defeated, requiring the social media giant to disclose who pays for political ads on the platform.
Pastor Mari Ruh
Director of Operations
Mari is passionate about religion and politics. An ordained minister of Grace Assemblies of God with over 20 years of ministry experience, Mari has developed small group programs in multiple churches, growing leaders and fostering involvement opportunities for congregants. She has also served as an Executive Pastor and been involved in planting a church, a challenge she has enjoyed.
In 2019, Mari took a more active role in politics by serving on the executive committee of her local county party. This experience highlighted the surprising number of Christians who do not vote, leading her to shift her focus to the non-profit education efforts of the Wisconsin Faith & Freedom Coalition. Mari is dedicated to using her experience to engage Christians in researching policy issues and encouraging voter participation.
Anna Carter
Board Treasurer
Anna was one of three team members who were on the original team both for TBAF’s former sister organization and TBOR. She originally handled all compliance and accounting for both organizations as a member of the top accounting firm in Alabama, Jackson Thornton, and since 2015 as treasurer for TBAF. She oversees the annual audit, documents every expenditure and donation to provide regular running transactions to the President, and works with lobbyists to ensure TBAF is in compliance in every state.
Anna serves as Controller for a major Roadbuilding network of companies, and for more than a decade as the Financial Advisor of Delta Zeta Sorority.
The Corporation shall be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as now in effect or as may hereafter by amended (“the Code”), including, but not limited to, charitable, religious and educational activities to inform, equip, and mobilize people of faith and like-minded individuals to be effective citizens of the State of Wisconsin, including encouraging principles that strengthen families, promote time-honored values, protect the dignity of life and marriage, lower the tax burden on small business and families, and require government to tighten its belt and live within its means. The Corporation shall also engage in and support other charitable, social, and educational initiatives as the Board may determine from time to time, consistent with and in accordance with section 501(c)(3) of the Code.
Wisconsin Faith and Freedom Coalition
MAILING ADDRESS
Wisconsin Faith and Freedom Coalition
1433 N. Water Street, Suite 400
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(404) 606-3163
jpudner@wisconsinffc.com
