Meet The Team At Sovran
Leadership
Lisa Loken
Owner & CEO Lisa Loken joined Sovran in 1990 as an employee, and has always valued customer services as the cornerstone of the company. Lisa's goal is to have Sovran continue to make an impact with small businesses, not Fortune 500 companies.
Lisa became minority owner of Sovran in 1998, and majority owner in 2003. From Northfield, and originally a programmer, Lisa enjoys travel as well as solving problems, given her background in computer science and math. |
Traci Leffner
President Since 2016, Traci Leffner has learned how vital relationships are in an IT environment. Traci’s goal is to build positive, mutually beneficial relationships with clients. She has worked to manage client expectations and create partnerships, reducing calls to Sovran’s help desk by 88%. She has also grown Sovran's relationships with nonprofits, and joined the Board of Directors of the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota inJuly 2021.
Traci is growing Sovran at a deliberate, controlled pace to onboard clients properly and give excellent customer service. From Cottage Grove, by way of Illinois and Wisconsin state, Traci enjoys going to concerts and spending time with her husband and two daughters, as well as their wonderful pups. |
Shonn “ShonnTwight” Twight
vCIO | virtual Chief Information Officer Shonn “ShonnTwight” Twight joined Sovran in 2008 and has been learning new skills and managing client systems and networks since. His favorite software is a toss-up between VMware and Nimble SANs, as they both allow systems to run quickly and efficiently.
ShonnTwight enjoys interacting with clients and making their IT worries disappear. His favorite clients are those with an easy-going culture and are very progressive with their IT needs. From Bloomington by way of Duluth, ShonnTwight enjoys reading in his free time as well as hanging out with his wife and two adult children. |
Sales
Sarah LaFever
Operations Coordinator Sarah is an invaluable linchpin in Sovran's operations. She assists companies with setting appointments with Sovran's Service or Sales team members and answering calls at the help desk.
Sarah absolutely loves the proactive approach Sovran takes to solving problems, and the commitment to nonprofit organizations. From St. Paul by way of the Minneapolis suburbs and Appalachia, Sarah enjoys spending time with her kids and partner, learning about sustainable, natural, and healthy living, and photography. |
John LaSalle
Vice President of Sales John grew up and spent his career in the South and West suburbs of the Twin Cities. As the VP of sales, he establishes relationships with nonprofits and local businesses to help manage their IT solutions.
John joined Sovran due to the stellar reputation of the company and its president, Traci. His favorite part of the job is getting to know the people behind the businesses that make the Twin Cities unique. From Burnsville by way of Eagan, John enjoys spending time with his son and wife, staying active with hockey in the winter and golf in the summer, and watching professional- and college-level sports. |
Service
Jonathan Schultz
Senior Engineer Since 2014, Jonathan Schultz has been fixing the problems no one else can at Sovran. Jonathan has always loved playing with new toys - including servers and software! His favorite playthings are HP servers and VMware.
Jonathan has worked with hundreds of clients since he started with Sovran, deploying solutions and upgrading servers. From Lakeville by way of Blaine, Jonathan loves spending his spare time working on “computer stuff”, going camping, and practicing photography. |
Luqman Abdi
Help Desk Luqman Abdi joined Sovran in 2017, becoming an invaluable part of the client relations team. Luqman enjoys learning from everyone at the office and sharing helpful knowledge with clients. His favorite product provided to clients is from Meraki, as it’s very versatile and works in many situations.
Luqman loves exciting his clients with answers and help. He’s even formed personal relationships with some of his clients, keeping up with them and their lives outside of work. From Bloomington, by way of Pelican Rapids, Luqman spends his time learning new languages, and experience cultures and foods in the city. |
Michael “Mike” McRae
Project Engineer | Systems Administrator Michael “Mike” McRae has been helping companies and nonprofits maintain their IT systems since 2016. Mike has always enjoyed getting things done - seeing projects through. He often works to install and deploy servers, set up workstations, storage, applications, and backups, as well as handle Office 365 migrations. Mike’s favorite product at Sovran is VMware. He says it’s very versatile and makes the installation of new servers very smooth.
Mike is committed to serving Sovran’s customers alongside a high-functioning team. From Lakeville by way of many Air Force bases, Mike enjoys spending time horseback riding, grilling out with the Sovran team, and spending time with his wife of 36 years and their three adult children. |
Jerry Martin
Help Desk Since 2019, Jerry Martin has become an important part of the client relationship. Bridging the gap between clients and system administrators, he helps solve client issues daily.
Jerry enjoys troubleshooting client issues and getting to the bottom of the problem. When his progress stops, he knows the other members of the team will always share their deep knowledge as he continue to learn. From St. Paul Park, by way of St. Paul, Jerry spends his time golfing with his brothers, or spending time with his wife and three adult children. |
Todd Fisher
Systems Administrator In 2020, Sovran made the important move of hiring Todd Fisher. Todd has become a vital part of the customer-facing team, working on tickets, answering calls for assistance, and handling escalated work.
Todd truly enjoys the comradery of the team, and knowing that - as the new guy - everyone has his back, and he is ready to help them in a pinch as well. Building client relationships is his favorite part of the job. From Montgomery, MN, but originally from Hutchinson, Todd spends his off-hours with his wife, Brooke and their daughter, Addi, as well as Mustard, the family dog. As often as he can, Todd likes to get out on the water or ice for fishing and watch some hockey. |
Kevin Vang
Help Desk Sovran hired potential firefighter Kevin Vang in 2021. Affectionately known as "K Dawg", Kevin loves learning from the variety of clients who work with Sovran. His favorite product provided to clients is ConnectWise, which allows for a quick connection to client computers to solve issues.
Kevin enjoys working as part of his clients' team, providing professional IT service and hearing the relief in their voices. From Lake Elmo by way of Commerce City, Colorado, Kevin enjoys heading out on new adventures with his wife, Tina, and their two children. |
Alexander "Alex" Morgan
Help Desk
Help Desk
Alexander "Alex" Morgan joined Sovran to help solve IT issues in 2021. Taking calls daily from some of Sovran's great clients like Open Cities Health Center, he enjoys finding solutions to complicated issues.
Alex loves the Monday talk sessions at Sovran, where everyone shares about their weekend and gets to know each other better. The culture at Sovran is very important to him.
Originally from Elk River, Alex now lives in Minnetonka. When he's not staring into his work screen all day, he relaxes by staring into book, or, alternatively, a relaxing video game screen.
Alex loves the Monday talk sessions at Sovran, where everyone shares about their weekend and gets to know each other better. The culture at Sovran is very important to him.
Originally from Elk River, Alex now lives in Minnetonka. When he's not staring into his work screen all day, he relaxes by staring into book, or, alternatively, a relaxing video game screen.
