Summer 2022 Resource: Special Staff Edition

SUMMER 2022 / VOLUME 91 @nwmnfoundation

@NMF_1986

RESOURCE SPECIAL STAFF ISSUE

Inside

• A note from our President • NMF named an Inclusive Workplace • Meet our team!

• A new approach to Philanthropy

A note from our President Hello Neighbor,

Our Mission The Northwest Minnesota Foundation invests resources, facilitates collaboration and promotes philanthropy to make the region a better place to live and work.

Board of Directors Steven Anderson, Chair Michelle Paquin, Vice Chair Cheri Gunvalson, Secretary Todd Beckel, Treasurer Jason Carlson Kaitlyn Grenier Jill Johnson

This Resource is a special edition, introducing you all to our amazing staff at the Northwest Minnesota Foundation. I am so very fortunate to work alongside these dedicated staff members. They are passionate about the region and truly want to help in community and build better lives.

We’ve seen a lot of staff changes over the past few years due to growth in our impact and operations and also due to retirements. We have many new faces, with nine of our twenty-four staff members being with us for less than two years.

Just recently, in June, we celebrated Diane Morey, Senior Program Officer. Diane retired after twenty years with the Northwest Minnesota Foundation. During her retirement party many, many individuals spoke about her passion for her work with small business and entrepreneur development and lending, and particularly her approach that it was always about the people. Her legacy lives on in the many businesses she assisted and the colleagues she mentored.

Our hope with this special edition of the Resource is that maybe if you know us all a little bit better, you’ll feel more comfortable approaching us. We work side by side with our neighbors, you, to make a real and lasting impact in the region. We know that building a stronger community starts with you and that none of this happens without you thinking of us when challenges and opportunities arise.

Please give us a call. We’re here to help. 218-759-2057 or frontdesk@nwmf.org

Mike LaRoque

Your friend,

Connie Lindstrom Bruce Reeves Kristi Thorfinnson

Karen White, President

Debra Zak

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@nwmnfoundation @NMF_1986 nwmf.org 2

Diane Morey retires!

At the end of June, we celebrated the career and contributions of Diane Morey, our Senior Program Officer, who retired after 36 years of supporting small business development throughout Northwest Minnesota, including 20 years with us at NMF. “Diane’s accomplishments, contributions, and impact are really too numerous to do justice,” said Karen White, our President/CEO, at an event celebrating Diane’s career. “She leaves behind a legacy of real and lasting impact through her providing capital and support to the region’s businesses and entrepreneurs, lifting up those businesses, helping to create new jobs and retain existing jobs.

“But for me, Diane’s most enduring legacy will be the ripple effect from her mentoring, development, and sharing her knowledge with her colleagues.”

Thank you, Diane, for helping us build better lives throughout our region. Your work, partnership, and friendship is highly valued. All the best to you!

Northwest Minnesota Foundation | RESOURCE

Leading NMF’s equity and inclusion efforts

by Nate Dorr, Vice President for Advocacy

What are we actually doing about it?

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation has supported equity and inclusion for much of its 35+ year history. From its early grants and training programs to current initiatives, the Foundation is committed to promoting inclusion as one of its core values.

If you’re like me, you have had enough of jargon and lengthy descriptions. So, what are we actually doing about inequities? As a financial institution with a special nonprofit, public charitable status, we have different tools we can deploy based on the situation.

Our latest accomplishment in this area was being designated as an Inclusive Workforce Employer by the Regional Workforce Alliance. In the end, we continue to learn and adapt to better serve the people in our region.

Here are some ways we are working to reduce disparities in the region: •

We continue to offer internal trainings. These trainings led to changes in our policies and practices, making it easier for people to apply for our resources. We have adapted to accommodate limited-English speakers applying for business loans, grants, and scholarships.

•

We offer grant funding for locally led equity- and inclusion-related initiatives. Grant-funded projects have worked on truth and reconciliation, race relations, cultural activities, community events, local advocacy efforts and cultural trainings.

•

We offer scholarships to help lifelong learners access higher education. Making higher education more affordable is one way to help people with the greatest barriers become more successful in the long run.

•

We are active participants in local and statewide meetings on the issue of equity and inclusion. All too often, we represent the few voices from rural Minnesota engaged in statewide meetings. We provide valuable insights and guidance to groups who do not have rural experiences.

•

Lastly, we are keenly aware of who is not at the table, whose voice is not included, particularly as we seek to fill staff and board positions. We strive to have diverse representation in our organization. We are intentional about where we have meetings, who we are serving, and who we are co-designing programs alongside.

What is equity and inclusion?

The terms “equity” and “inclusion” may also be associated with diversity, access or tolerance, acceptance or compassion. These words often come into play when parts of our identity, who we are, who we see ourselves to be, meet how others view us. We use these terms to help us understand the many different ways people may experience the same event in very different ways.

These phrases often get smooshed together, like diversity, equity and inclusion into one acronym (DEI), but we know that using shorthand to explain complex issues is not adequate, and more recently DEI has become politicized, used to separate us rather than unite us. Internally at NMF, we have learned through training and building meaningful relationships, that simply repeating these terms or assuming other peoples’ definitions does not serve us well.

Instead, we have gone beyond the shorthand version to hear directly from our neighbors throughout the region on how they experience access to housing, child care, credit, education, and leadership opportunities, as examples.

We see and value differences that make a difference. In some cases, my gender or ethnicity might not affect how I am treated in one circumstance, but my income level, physical ability, or language fluency may make a difference in how I am treated or impact my ability to access resources.

We view this work as iterative, that it builds on itself and is informed by our historical knowledge and learning new concepts. We do not believe that it is a closed system that takes away from one group for the benefit of another group. We believe that we are growing the pie so there is more to share, not keeping the pie one size and offering smaller pieces to more people.

Nate Dorr, Vice President for Advocacy, has led NMF’s recent equity and inclusion activities for the last three years. If you would like to continue this conversation, please email nated@nwmf.org

SUMMER 2022 | nwmf.org

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Meet the people behind our work We believe in building better lives for those who call our region home. That’s why we work side by side with our neighbors to make a real and lasting impact in our region. With an eye on the future and our feet planted on the ground, together we are building better lives for all who call Northwest Minnesota home.

We would welcome the chance to connect with you and find a meaningful way for you to engage in our work! Please reach out to any of our staff with questions or for more information. We help you accomplish your goals, because building a stronger community starts with you.

OU R DEPA RTM EN TS AND T EA M S Child Care child care efforts, support for early childhood educators Community Revitalization economic development, business loans, entrepreneurism

CHRIS BELL Philanthropy Specialist chrisb@nwmf.org

CORY BOUSHEE Program Officer – Homelessness coryb@nwmf.org

TERRI DARCO Philanthropy Officer terrid@nwmf.org

NATE DORR Vice President for Advocacy nated@nwmf.org

Homelessness homelessness, housing Northwest SBDC business consulting, technical assistance Philanthropy community funds, donor advised funds, scholarships

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MICHELLE ELTING Administrative Assistant michelle@nwmf.org

DAWN GANJE Director for Community Philanthropy dawng@nwmf.org

LEAH HANSON Staff Accountant leahh@nwmf.org

NATE HASKELL Senior Program Officer – Community Revitalization nateh@nwmf.org

ASHLEY JOHNSON Senior Philanthropy Officer ashleyj@nwmf.org

CHLOE KEPRIOS Program Assistant chloek@nwmf.org

Northwest Minnesota Foundation | RESOURCE

PHILIP KNUTSON Regional Director – Northwest SBDC philipk@nwmf.org

AHMED LATIF Information Systems Manager ahmeda@nwmf.org

SARAH LINDA Program Officer – Community Revitalization sarahl@nwmf.org

KELLY MARTINKA Philanthropy Officer kellym@nwmf.org

MIC MCCRORY Program Coordinator – Northwest SBDC micm@nwmf.org

SUMMER 2022 | nwmf.org

SEAN MORAN Program Officer – Community Revitalization seanm@nwmf.org

MICHAEL NEUSSER Vice President for Operations michaelm@nwmf.org

MISSY OKESON Program Officer – Child Care missyo@nwmf.org

JOHN SHIMKUS Vice President for Finance and Administration johns@nwmf.org

TABI STEINMETZ Program Officer – Community Revitalization tabis@nwmf.org

MARGRET TREUER Program Officer – Homelessness margret@nwmf.org

BETHANY WESLEY Communications Director bethanyw@nwmf.org

KAREN WHITE President/CEO karenw@nwmf.org

JESSICA YANISH Executive Assistant jessicay@nwmf.org

BEAU Chief Morale Officer

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Regional Employees A L L N M F E M P L O Y E E S F R E Q U E N T LY T R A V E L A N D W O R K THROUGHOUT THE REGION, BUT OUR REGIONAL EMPLOYEES H AV E P E R M A N E N T CO N N E C T I O N S TO T H E I R CO M M U N I T I E S

Director for Community Philanthropy • 12 years at NMF, worked as a consultant with NMF for 10 years before NMF employment “Working from an office in Norman County, I have the opportunity to stay connected with our friends and neighbors here and across the western portion of our region. People living and working here are deeply invested in their communities and strive to continually improve their community assets and amenities for their friends and neighbors. Being physically located here enables me to remain connected to their efforts while also strengthening NMF’s partnership and work in this area.”

Roseau

MISSY OKESON

Program Officer – Child Care • 5 years at NMF “As a regional employee, I am able to work as a liaison between my neighbors and NMF. Roseau County is home to many philanthropic, goal-oriented individuals and I am excited to help them find the right person in our organization that can help them achieve their intended outcome.”

Kittson

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Roseau

Marshall

TERRI DARCO

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• 8 months at NMF

Red Lake

Philanthropy Officer

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“The people who live on the White Earth Reservation are passionate, dedicated, and motivated to work toward the betterment of the community in which they live.

Being able to work from my home office allows me the opportunity to connect with community members across the reservation and offer support in a more personal way. Having a home office to work from strengthens NMF’s commitment to be present in partnerships and in the great work being done throughout this region.”

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Northwest Minnesota Foundation | RESOURCE

A new approach to Philanthropy The Philanthropy department now approaches its work through two teams: one focused on Community Philanthropy and one focused on DonorCentered Philanthropy.

“For our communities, if we are going to be able to sustain and grow, philanthropy is one of the key components needed,” said Dawn Ganje, Director for Community Philanthropy. “We have small tax bases. If we’re going to look at trying to build community amenities, or keep and maintain the nonprofit services that we have – which are often a backbone in our communities – we need philanthropy to help us do that.”

Previously, philanthropy officers divided their work based on coverage areas but all helped manage and advise a similar mix of community funds, donor-advised funds, and scholarship funds. Under this new approach, officers will be able to truly specialize in their areas of interest and tailor their expertise to a more specific area of philanthropy.

“We can now make a stronger impact by specializing in particular areas,” Dawn said. “We’re going to be able to stay on top of trends in our particular areas, further building our knowledge base.”

Ashley Johnson will lead DonorCentered Philanthropy as Senior Philanthropy Officer while also continuing for another year as the executive director of the Northwest Technical College Foundation in Bemidji.

SUMMER 2022 | nwmf.org

Meet our Philanthropy team!

Pictured are, from left: Kelly Martinka, Chris Bell, Terri Darco, Ashley Johnson, and Dawn Ganje.

“We’re going to be better able to focus our time and give them the level of service and detail that they deserve,” Ashley said.

Terri Darco joins Ganje as an officer in Community Philanthropy, and Kelly Martinka supports and champions NMF’s 120 scholarship funds and education funds while working alongside Johnson in DonorCentered Philanthropy. Chris Bell, Philanthropy Specialist, will continue to support all funds as gifts and grants are processed and recorded.

“I like having this more targeted approach to our work,” Kelly said.

“That’s my personality – I like to be the expert at one thing rather than

being a generalist in many areas. This split will allow us to really build upon what we do best which will help us to better guide our funds, fund advisers, and volunteers.”

That expertise will benefit donors and NMF alike by developing the philanthropy officers’ alreadyspecialized skillsets to further grow the Foundation’s assets and help our neighbors invest in the betterment of their communities well into the future.

“I’m looking forward to being able to build on our work and give our donors a heightened level of service,” Ashley said. “It will be nice to have a more personal relationship with them.”

“For our communities, if we are going to be able to sustain and grow, philanthropy is one of the key components needed.”

—Dawn Ganje, Director for Community Philanthropy

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Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Bemidji, MN Permit No.36

201 3rd Street NW Bemidji, MN 56601

Video Contest! What makes a good neighbor?

This summer, NMF wants to hear from you!

The Neighbors Video Contest aims to raise up the voices of those who call northwest Minnesota home while highlighting the unique qualities, strengths, and identities of our communities.

Contest entries are being accepted through August 29th.

Each video entry should be 1 minute or less in length and must include and answer any one or all of the following three prompts: •

What makes a good neighbor?

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How do your neighbors contribute to the strength and/or identity of your community?

•

How does your community pull its neighbors together?

Learn more about the Neighbors Video Contest and how to enter at www.nwmf.org/neighbors