We look forward to serving your team with leadership training, supporting you with personalized coaching, and strengthening your ministry with innovative resources.
Pastor Don Sutton, Board Chairman
Strengths: Strategic, Maximizer, Arranger, Focus, Learner
Pastor Sutton serves as Board Chairman and adjunct leadership trainer with Grace in Action. He has been a parish pastor since 1979 serving both missions and large, established congregations. Until his retirement from parish ministry in 2021, he served as Ministry Coordinator at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, MN. In addition to his role as a parish pastor, he has been a leader at the circuit, district, and synodical levels. Pastor Sutton not only has a passion for ministry, but also for planning and helping leaders to be the best that they can be to God’s glory as they lead fellow Christians in carrying out the Great Commission. His specialties are Great Commission Leadership, strategic planning, team building, and CliftonStrengths.
Dr. Todd Russ, Executive Director
Strengths: Ideation, Context, Restorative, Strategic, Belief
Dr. Todd Russ serves as Executive Director. He joined the Grace in Action team fulltime in 2022 after serving on the Board of Directors. He has spent 31 years in K-12 school leadership and education with ministry stops in Florida (Ocean Drive, Pompano Beach), Colorado (Shepherd of the Valley, Westminster), Wisconsin (Pilgrim, Menomonee Falls) and most recently, Minnesota, at St. Croix Lutheran Academy. These ministry opportunities have shaped the way that Dr. Russ sees organizations and ministry. The people, leaders, vision, and operational structures impact the ability of a ministry to seize opportunities for Gospel proclamation. His experiences at St. Croix Lutheran Academy shaped how he views culture. He is passionate about helping the body of Christ see and value differences within its members. He and his wife Sara have two children on earth and one awaiting them in heaven. His specialties include: team building, leadership development, and strategic planning.
Greg Schmill, Facilitator and Leadership Coach
Strengths: Learner, Achiever, Input, Connectedness, Responsibility
Greg Schmill has been a WELS teacher/administrator for over forty years, having served a total of thirteen years as principal and upper grade teacher in Delano, Minnesota, and in Maitland, Florida. He has also served as a teacher, guidance director, and assistant principal at Manitowoc Lutheran High School for fourteen years. He next served as the synod’s Forward with Lutheran Schools (FWLS) educational consultant, where he worked with congregations to begin and strengthen full-time children’s ministries. He continued synodical service for five more years as the Director of the Commission on Lutheran Schools (CLS). His passion for supporting and encouraging WELS school and church leaders led him to accept the call to begin serving with Grace in Action. He develops and delivers leadership training and coaching support for WELS/ELS pastors, principals, and ministry leadership teams. His specialties include team building, spiritual-emotional-physical health and resiliency, CliftonStrengths, leadership/life coaching, communications, and service to multi-generations.
Steve Granberg, Ministry Leadership Partner
Strengths: Connectedness, Harmony, Belief, Relator, Developer
Steve Granberg, before joining the GIA team, spent over 30 years serving as principal for two Lutheran Elementary Schools and for two Area Lutheran High Schools. Steve's ministry background includes urban and outlying district experiences as well as service in the "heartland." He enjoys serving the church at large, assisting with district and synod work - including twelve years of service on the WELS Commission on Lutheran Schools. He appreciates all he has learned from servant-leaders throughout his ministry years, and he is blessed to be able to support leaders and leadership teams in their work to reach and teach the lost and to grow and encourage the found. Steve's wife Leslie teaches at a Lutheran Elementary School, and they have three grown children.
Chuqee Fletcher, Director of Cultural Competency
Strengths: Adaptability, Belief, Positivity, Harmony, Restorative
Chuqee Fletcher serves as Director of Cultural Competency with Grace in Action. He has a variety of previous ministry experience having served as a lay leader at Garden Homes Lutheran Church and on staff at Lighthouse Youth Center, both are in Milwaukee. He also currently serves as the Director of School Culture and Outreach at Shining Star Christian Schools. He graduated from Martin Luther College in 2012 and Wisconsin Lutheran College in 2017, receiving his MA in Education with an emphasis in Leadership & Innovation. His passions include cultural diversity, outreach, sports, and youth development. He and his wife Erika, who teaches at Garden Homes Lutheran School, live in Milwaukee and have four children.
Peter Wolfgramm, Director of Operations
Strengths: Harmony, Consistency, Responsibility, Discipline, Relator
Peter Wolfgramm serves as Administrator and Presenter with Grace in Action. He has a variety of ministry experience having served as a teacher or staff minister in several congregations throughout the midwest since 1996. His passions for ministry include outreach, youth, Bible study, and organizing events. He and his wife Missy live in Appleton, Wisconsin, and have a high school age son.
Gary Jeffers, Development Director
Strengths: Positivity, Belief, Adaptability, Ideation, Maximizer
Gary Jeffers serves as Development Director with Grace in Action. He is a California native and has lived in Arizona since 1983. He was in banking for over 20 years and was a Thrivent Financial representative for over 12 years. Although never a called worker, Gary has served at various WELS churches in elected positions and on numerous boards and committees. Additionally, Gary was involved in the creation and start up of two mission congregations in the Phoenix area. He is passionate about being a Growth Group leader. He and his wife Brenda have two daughters and three grandchildren. His specialties include leadership, financial training and advice, and fundraising.
Scott Gostchock, Ministry Leadership Partner
Strengths: Relator, Achiever, Responsibility, Learner, Discipline
Dr. Scott Gostchock, in addition to serving as a training consultant for GIA, serves as president of a consulting division in a new company called Partner2Learn. He has served cross-cultural, inner city, urban education as a teacher and administrator for over 20-years. He also is teaching online and on campus for a number of different colleges and universities in training teachers and leaders for urban education, executive leadership, and other various areas of service. His specialties are executive leadership training and coaching, strategic planning, CliftonStrengths, team building, classroom management, communications, and various other areas of training and development.
Jo Theimer, Administrative Assistant
Strengths: Empathy, Relator, Developer, Responsibility, Adaptability
Jo Theimer serves the Grace in Action team as the Administrative Assistant. She has a variety of business, educational, and administrative experience in her career. Her passions for ministry include reaching out to lost souls, coordinating outreach events and serving people. She enjoys spending time with family and traveling in her spare time. She and her husband Jeff live in Appleton, Wisconsin, and they have a grade school age daughter.