Lisa Maren Thompson earned her Certificate of Advanced Education Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2020 and her Education Leadership Specialist degree from Minnesota State University - Mankato in 2022. She holds a current K-6 teaching license and a K-12 principal license in Minnesota, and looks forward to supporting pre-service teachers in the areas of licensure and field experiences as part of the Education Department at St. Olaf College.

Lisa graduated from St. Olaf College in 1992 with an interdisciplinary Fine Arts degree. After serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania and Gabon with her husband Andy Richardson ('94), she earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching from the University of St. Thomas. In Minnesota, she has enjoyed working for Minneapolis Public Schools, the Perpich Center for Arts Education, and most recently as Upper School Principal and International Baccalaureate (IB) Coordinator at Sejong Academy of Minnesota.

Lisa also enjoyed teaching art and educational leadership experiences at IB international schools in South Korea and Ghana, as well as professional development opportunities for arts and education in Austria, Malaysia, Italy, France, the Philippines, Canada, and the Netherlands. Read more and connect through her LinkedIn page.

Lisa and her husband Andy are thankful parents of two adult sons who also attended St. Olaf. One special chapter of their family life together was in Holden Village from 2011-2014, where Lisa served as Visual Media Specialist, and they backpacked to places like Image Lake and along the Chelan Lakeshore Trail. Since 2020, they have lived on the banks of the Cannon River in Dundas.