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Kevin B. Melvin has been on staff at Mayo Clinic since 1991. He serves as legal counsel dedicated to the Department of Development, where he manages and advises on legal issues impacting charitable activities at Mayo Clinic. In addition, Mr. Melvin serves as associate chair of gift planning for the Department of Development, where he manages the Office of Gift Planning team responsible for working with benefactors on planned giving, which comprised 34 percent of Mayo Clinic’s $3 billion campaign.

Mr. Melvin received his J.D. from Mitchell Hamline School of Law and has been a licensed attorney since 2006. He also earned a Master of Arts degree in management from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. He is a member of the Olmsted County Bar Association and Minnesota State Bar Association and is past president of the Rochester Estate Planning Council.

Mr. Melvin’s volunteer activities include Wills for Heroes, Rochester A Better Chance and LegalCORPS Business Law Clinic. He and his wife have two young children.

Adam C. Watts, J.D., serves as gift planning officer for the Office of Gift Planning, West Region, Department of Development, at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Mr. Watts partners with the West Region development officers to strategically cultivate planned gifts, and he works directly with benefactors to help them achieve their philanthropic goals through gift planning.

Before coming to Mayo Clinic, Mr. Watts worked at Dodd, L’Hommedieu & McGrievy LLC., in Cleveland, Ohio, as an associate attorney. More recently, Mr. Watts served as a gift planning officer at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Watts received his Bachelor of Arts degree from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, and his Master of Public Administration degree from Cleveland State University. He subsequently earned his J.D. degree at the University of Akron School of Law.

Connie K. Kurth is a gift planning officer in the Office of Gift Planning within the Department of Development at Mayo Clinic.

Ms. Kurth began her career with Mayo Clinic in 1984 in the Department of Finance. She joined the Department of Development in 2006 and served as an ambassador by coordinating and facilitating patient care experiences. In May 2013 she moved into a development associate role working with our generous benefactors. She transitioned to her current role in July 2015.

Ms. Kurth’s primary goal is to engage benefactors in Mayo’s mission of providing excellence in patient care, medical research and education. She brings years of customer service expertise to her role, offering benefactors the highest level of service and a commitment to discerning how their philanthropic ambitions can align with the needs of Mayo Clinic.

Ms. Kurth holds a B.A. in management with an emphasis in industrial relations and personnel from the University of Northern Iowa. She is originally from Waukon, Iowa, a small town in northeast Iowa.

Jessie J. Pridie is a gift planning administrator in the Department of Development at Mayo Clinic. As a gift planning administrator, Mrs. Pridie helps benefactors achieve their philanthropic goals by identifying strategic, creative and tax-advantaged gift solutions. She also serves as a consultant and educator on complex gift arrangements, coordinates planned giving communications and serves as co-chair of The Mayo Legacy. As a senior member of the team, Mrs. Pridie provides oversight and analytics for the gift planning program in an effort to maximize efficiency and prepare for long-term growth.

Mrs. Pridie joined Mayo Clinic in 2008 and moved into the Office of Gift Planning in October 2013. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and theology at the University of Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and completed her Master of Arts in philanthropy and development at Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota.

Originally from the Dakotas, Jessie and her husband, Jake, now live in Rochester along with their sons, Guy Todd and Gunnar Pax.

Bethel M. Ruest is senior gift planning administrator in the Department of Development at Mayo Clinic. She serves as a senior advisor in the Office of Gift Planning to identify and create strategic tax-advantaged gifts for benefactors so they may achieve their philanthropic goals. Ms. Ruest manages Mayo Clinic’s charitable trust, gift annuity and donor advised fund programs, as well as gifts of real estate and other complex assets.

Ms. Ruest has been with Mayo Clinic since 1996. Before joining Development she served in Treasury Services as a finance analyst. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, Ms. Ruest was an accounting manager and investment accountant for Strong Funds.

She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance from University of Wisconsin—Stout and her Master of Business Administration degree from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Ms. Ruest is a licensed real estate agent. She volunteers as a board member for the Minnesota Planned Giving Council and is a committee member of Leave a Legacy Minnesota.

Wendy J. Frost is a gift planning officer in the Department of Development at Mayo Clinic. As a member of the Office of Gift Planning, Ms. Frost has the privilege of helping people achieve their philanthropic goals by identifying strategic, creative and tax-advantaged gift solutions.

A Minnesota native, Ms. Frost earned the Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, magna cum laude, from the University of North Dakota. She joined Mayo Clinic in 2002 and has served in a number of positions, including financial representative, patient relations specialist and development associate.

In her role as gift planning officer, Ms. Frost offers gift expertise in such areas as bequests, beneficiary designations, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, donor advised funds, charitable IRA rollovers and gifting real estate. She strives to understand the unique life story and the values that are important to each person and provides benefactors the highest level of service and dedication in a warm and caring manner.

Ms. Frost is committed to working with benefactors and their professional advisors to ensure they find the charitable arrangements that best meet their wishes and needs.

Dominic Brodeur serves as a Gift Planning Officer with the Department of Development at Mayo Clinic in Florida. In this position, Mr. Brodeur has the privilege of working with individual benefactors throughout the eastern United States, who have an interest in Mayo Clinic and partnering in its mission through estate and planned gifts. Mr. Brodeur focuses on matching benefactors’ interests with Mayo Clinic’s priority philanthropic initiatives in research, education and clinical practice. He maintains a portfolio of major and principal benefactors and those who might consider including Mayo Clinic within their charitable plans.

Mr. Brodeur earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. He joined Mayo Clinic in 2012.

Prior to joining Mayo, Mr. Brodeur served as the Director of Development for the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville, Florida. He also served as a Development Officer for Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

He and his wife, Amanda live in Ponte Vedra with their children.

Jessica (Jess) L. Nelson LeMay, M.S., is a gift planning coordinator in the Department of Development. As a gift planning coordinator, Ms. Nelson LeMay manages the programmatic aspects of The Mayo Legacy and works with grateful benefactors to determine the best fit for their philanthropic giving.

Ms. Nelson LeMay began her career with Mayo Clinic in 2000 and has been with the Department of Development since 2007. She moved into the Office of Gift Planning in June 2017.

Ms. Nelson LeMay earned her Bachelor of Arts in business administration at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota, She completed her Master of Science in project management at Saint Mary's University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ms. Nelson LeMay and her husband, Todd, split their time between Rochester and St. Paul with their Vizsla puppy, Piper.