Grete Lavrenz,

Principal – Chair, Food and Beverage Practice

As chair of the Food and Beverage Practice, Grete brings a trail of success counseling clients such as Cargill, General Mills, International Multifoods/Hungry Jack, Pillsbury and Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, to name a few. Her legacy of experience also has included work for clients outside of the food and beverage realm including 3M, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Calphalon, Clorox, Martek and Rosetta Stone.

When she was awarded a competitive scholarship from Rotary International in 2003, Grete bid farewell to her colleagues at Carmichael Lynch Spong for one year to receive a master’s degree in international public relations from the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales, one of the top 100 world universities. She then returned to the firm in 2004 to apply what she learned about international business and culture.

Grete shares her talents by serving in several industry organizations including the International Association of Business Communicators, the Public Relations Society of America, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and the Interpublic Group’s Women’s Leadership Network. She is a member and leader in Rotary International and is on the board of the Twin Cities Nights Rotary Club. In addition to her master’s degree from Cardiff University, she holds a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from Hamline University and is working toward a mini MBA from the University of St. Thomas.