Leadership

Monica Byron was elected president of Education Minnesota at the 2025 Representative Convention. She took office July 1, 2025. The previous three years, she served as Education Minnesota vice president.

Byron has taught for 24 years in Richfield Public Schools. She most recently worked as an elementary math coach.

Byron has held many local union positions as a member of Education Richfield, including treasurer, membership chair, government relations chair and vice president. Byron has also been very active in Education Minnesota and at the national level, including five years on the Governing Board, serving on numerous committees and attending trainings and conferences.

Byron is a founding member of Education Minnesota’s Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee. After attending a National Education Association Minority Leadership Training, Byron and others from Minnesota came back committee to engage and connect members of color in their state and local unions. EMAC was formed and continues today.

Byron is the first Black person to serve on Education Minnesota’s officer team.

Byron looks forward to strengthen Education Minnesota, help transform the public mindset of education and work to retain and engage all members, especially BIPOC members.

Professional teaching experience

• Elementary districtwide math coach, Richfield
• Elementary instructional coach, Richfield
• Second and third grade teacher, Richfield
• Home/school liaison (working with elementary students and families), Richfield

Education

• M.S. Education, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
• Post-Bachelorette Teaching License, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
• Bachelor of Science, Rhetoric, Speech Communications and African American Studies, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

Personal

Byron lives in Richfield with her husband, a low-voltage network technician and I.B.E.W member, and two young adult children.

Email address

president@edmn.org

Marty Fridgen was elected vice president of Education Minnesota at the 2025 Representative Convention. She took office on July 1, 2025, and is serving a three-year term. 

Fridgen is a 27-year licensed vocal and classroom teacher who has also worked in student support positions in both rural and urban school districts.  

Raised in central Minnesota by two public school employees—a custodian and an elementary teacher—who were active in their unions, Fridgen learned the value of collective action from a young age. 

She has a wealth of union leadership experience at the local, state and national levels. She has served in multiple positions on the Education Minnesota Governing Board and on several Education Minnesota committees, including the Executive Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, Human Rights Committee, Elections Committee and more. Fridgen is a delegate to the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation and the Minnesota AFL-CIO state conventions. 

Nationally, Fridgen has served as a delegate for the AFT, NEA and AFL-CIO conventions, on the NEA Board of Directors and on the AFT Women’s Rights Committee. Locally, she has served as Metro Area Council President and as president of United Teachers of South Washington County.  

As vice president, Fridgen looks forward to building stronger relationships with the broader labor community and empowering locals to advocate for their professions, students and communities.  

Professional teaching experience

• Elementary music teacher, South Washington County

Education

• M.S. Education, Minnesota State University, Mankato
• Bachelor of Music, Music Education, University of Minnesota, Duluth

Personal

Fridgen lives in the east metro area. A second-generation educator, her parents were both public school employees — a custodian and an elementary teacher — and also active in their unions. 

Email address

vicepresident@edmn.org

Ryan Fiereck was elected secretary-treasurer at the Education Minnesota 2025 Representative Convention. He took office on July 1, 2025, and is serving a three-year term. 

Fiereck has taught business and computer technology in St. Francis Area Schools for 19 years. His experience spans grades K-12 and includes both in-person and online through the district’s virtual program. Most recently, he has served as a business education teacher. 

Prior to becoming secretary-treasurer, Fiereck served as president of Education Minnesota-St. Francis. He was on the Education Minnesota Governing Board and has served on the Executive Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee. In 2022, he briefly served as vice president of Education Minnesota until the election of Monica Byron.  

Fiereck has been active in Education Minnesota’s pension reform work, serving as chair of both the Pension Advocacy Group and the Pension Task Force. 

At the national level, Fiereck has served as a delegate to both the NEA Representative Assembly and the AFT Representative Convention.  

As secretary-treasurer, Fiereck looks forward to empowering members at the local level and creating ways to engage new members in the union. 

Professional teaching experience

• Secondary business and computer technology teacher, St. Francis
• K-5 computer technology teacher, St. Francis
• Sixth grade computer technology teacher, St. Francis
• High school business education teacher, Osseo

Education

• M.S. Education, Saint Mary’s University
• Bachelor of Science, Business Education, Winona State University

Personal

. Fiereck lives in Bethel, Minnesota, with his wife and children.

Email address

secretarytreasurer@edmn.org

Carrie Lucking became executive director of Education Minnesota in November 2021. 

Lucking is a former social studies teacher. She has served as the union’s director of policy and public affairs since 2020. Before that, she was the union’s Director of Policy, Research, and Outreach. 

In her time at Education Minnesota, Lucking led the Education Minnesota department that supports the union’s think tank, the Education Policy and Innovation Center, which produced reports on topics including helping students recover from disrupted learning, reforming school discipline, expanding preschool and full-service community schools and recruiting and retaining teachers, especially teacher of color. She also worked with staff and members on engaging educators of color, developing the FIRE anti-racism programs, and supporting educator professional development. 

In 2018, Lucking took a leave of absence to manage the Walz/Flanagan gubernatorial campaign.  

Before coming to Education Minnesota, Lucking served as executive director of the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, where she was the chief strategist for 29 legislative campaigns and coordinated communications research for progressive organizations throughout the state. 

Lucking spent the first 10 years of her career as a social studies teacher, where she was active in the Hopkins Education Association and sat on the governing board of Education Minnesota. She also coached the high school debate team, which does not surprise anyone who has met her. 

Education

• Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies and Education
• Masters of Arts in Education Policy

Personal

Lucking and her husband, Bob Hume, live in Woodbury with their 7-year-old daughter Reese. 

Email address

carrie.lucking@edmn.org