West Central Initiative 2021 Annual Review

2021 Annual Review 1

A letter from West Central Initiative President Anna Wasescha 2

In the photo above, I was offering a toast to the group assembled at our Autumn Convivium, hoping for a 2022 better than the 2021 we had nearly finished. What I said was, “May favorable winds fill your sails.” That’s from an old friend who has lived in Japan for decades, and my guess is he got it from someone else. Stories and good lines travel that way. At the Convivium, I talked about The Canterbury Tales and the travelers who gathered at the Tabard Inn to start their pilgrimage. The innkeeper challenged them to tell their best story on their walk to Canterbury, and he promised the winner a lavish dinner at the Tabard on their return.

The best stories capture the imagination. Our Live Wide Open campaign floats on a sea of stories about people who return home to live in our region or come here for their first time. The story we are telling in this 2021 retrospective is how and why we have used the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to organize our work at West Central Initiative.

There are two important reasons about the why: first, it provides us a common language and, second, it puts us in common cause with people and regions all around the globe.

In the story of the Tower of Babel, people speaking a single language were able to build a tall structure designed to save them in the event of a second flood. Many versions of this story exist in every part of the world. In the one I remember best, God punished the people who dared to build the tower by causing them all to speak different languages. On its surface, the Tower of Babel is an explanation for why we have so many different languages in the world. More importantly, however, it teaches that a shared vocabulary and common understandings are powerful tools. When we all speak the same language, we can achieve extraordinarily ambitious goals. The 17 SDGs are exactly that: wildly ambitious and, at the same time, urgent, critical calls to action. They identify the universe of entangled goals that together, in bits and pieces, at different times and in separate ways, lead us toward a zerocarbon future. That is the future we need if we are to stabilize a climate that supports our lives on this planet.

The SDGs as our framework also clarify the ways in which we are in common cause with people and regions around the globe. A few years ago, we had a college intern classify the nonprofits in our region by the SDGs they include in their mission statements and then add them to a global movement map.

Doing that made him realize we could look for allies anywhere in the world—and we could learn from each other about how to make progress on these very ambitious goals. For me, the story that captures how affirming and empowering it feels to find others who are working on the same challenges is The Wizard of Oz.

The 17 SDGs are exactly that: wildly ambitious and, at the same time, urgent, critical calls to action.

I know, what does a children’s story have to do with West Central Initiative in 2021 and the SDGs? Let me explain it this way: the circle of life, the mandala, that is how the UN arrays the 17 goals and how we capture the connection between our planning and philanthropy goals by encircling them in the SDGs, all these circles express unity and wholeness. A cyclone (in 2022 language, an adverse climate event) pulls Dorothy out of her home, and she needs to

find her way back. On the yellow brick road, she meets three characters who need something too. One needs a brain, one a heart, and the third is in search of courage. Dorothy has her dog Toto with her, a name that means whole.

And she has the ruby slippers on her feet. She has everything she needs to get back home, but she does not know that. And, as we all know, knowledge is power.

The Wizard of Oz teaches the importance of the quest for self-knowledge. What does it take to be a whole, thriving human being and what does a community need to support that?

A heart, a brain, courage, love, and a sense of belonging. Every culture in the world has a story like that. And we do too. West Central Initiative has been working to improve people’s lives and build a strong economy in this region since 1986. The challenge back then was great—and it is even greater now. We have allies in the work though, and we are speaking the same language. We have within us what it will take to restore equilibrium in our natural world and to unite people around global goals.

That’s the “why,” and the rest of the story, the “how,” is in this annual review.

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Meeting the goals requires cross-sector collaboration: nonprofits, corporations, community groups, governments, and beyond West Central Initiative operates as a collaborative and integrated team of leaders, experts, and investors working together to ensure our region and our world thrive. As a roadmap to guide our work, we use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs apply to everyone around the globe.

They are based on the premise that a healthy, sustainable planet is one where all people belong and can live together in peace and prosperity.

Developing a global roadmap for a healthy, sustainable planet The United Nations adopted the SDGs in 2015, providing a comprehensive plan for global

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partnership to improve human lives and protect the environment. The 17 interrelated goals, shown below, are an urgent call for action by all countries—with an upcoming deadline of 2030.

An important principle of the SDGs is to ensure that “no one will be left behind.”

How our work stretches locally, regionally— and globally Our priorities are the same priorities we have had for more than 35 years. We invest in local, reimagine regional, and educate, activate, and celebrate. These active verbs capture our philanthropic tradition within our nine counties and White Earth Nation. These verbs are made bolder and take on more urgency

when we anchor them in the methodology and data we rely upon in our regional planning and economic development work. Even more bold, and more urgent, is our recognition that the local, the regional, the Minnesota reality is inextricably interdependent with the rest of the globe. This interdependence is why we have chosen the SDGs as the framework for our work. The future we want is one where everyone belongs and where all our communities thrive.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals Meeting the SDGs by 2030 requires crosssector collaboration, strong partnerships, and clear alignment. By connecting our shared

priorities through the SDGs framework, we can foster regional connections and further the well-being of our global society. The SDGs offer a clear, overarching framework that can impact systemic change through shared language, data, and broad understanding.

To help create a sustainable planet where all people belong and can live together in peace and prosperity, we encourage all unofficial and official groups—nonprofits, corporations, community organizations, governments, and beyond—to consider placing your priorities within the framework of the SDGs. Future generations will thank you.

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Aligning and activating around climate change West Central Initiative is one of six independent community foundations created by the McKnight Foundation in 1986. At the time, Minnesota was facing a historic crisis in the farming and mining sectors. We’re in another crisis now—a global health crisis indirectly triggered by climate change. Because of overcrowded cities, the removal of natural habitats, and often unregulated practices of confined animal operations, we have too many opportunities for viruses to jump from animals to humans. That’s what produced COVID-19.

Wildfires that dominate headlines are a direct result of climate change. Lower rainfall levels and higher-than-average temperatures have occurred more frequently in the last two decades. That coupled with high winds create ideal conditions for forest fires. Fortunately, we have a roadmap for what we can do to slow down and possibly reverse some of the worst impacts of climate change: the SDGs. Here’s some of our work in 2021.

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Climate Action Project

A grant from the Morgan Family Foundation helped us launch our Climate Action Project, focused on building capacity to tackle global warming by enhancing data-driven decision making, highlighting climate wins, and building climate knowledge. As part of this project, we hired two interns to develop stories that celebrate the positive steps being taken in our region to reduce carbon emissions. These interns will soon be joined by a cabinet of climate advisors who will aid our board and staff in further embedding emissions-reduction strategies into our planning and philanthropy work.

Climate Communicators Cohort We’ve partnered with the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Climate Adaption Partnership to support and join a pilot project designed to counter misinformation about climate change and work with local networks to foster awareness and support for

science-based solutions to the challenge of global warming. The Climate Communicators Cohort, which includes our Development Specialist Samantha VanWechel-Meyer, meets monthly to study the science of climate change and devise local communications projects that build climate literacy across Greater Minnesota. We’re also working with the Citizens Climate Lobby, Upstream, and others to develop and refine strategies for addressing climate change at the local, regional, and global levels.

SDGs Dashboard We recently launched our SDGs Dashboard.

This regional tracking tool provides real-time data related to key environmental efforts and infrastructure in our region. This project is just one of the many steps we’re taking to improve and inform regional planning efforts by increasing access to data that aligns economic, environmental, and equitable outcomes as core components of healthy communities.

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The intersection of climate change and equity Much of our work in 2021 had been to understand and advance sustainable, equitable development across the region. Whether working with local communities to plan and implement local foods initiatives or developing internal plans to foster more equitable hiring and promotion practices, we have witnessed firsthand the synergy between equity-minded approaches to development and those practices and priorities that balance short- and long-term resilience for the land and water on which we depend. We understand that good planning and philanthropy are necessarily designed to foster equity and sustainability.

The Foundation Review

And so much more

While drafting an article for The Foundation Review, we reflected on how incorporating the SDGs into our strategic plan aligned our work across planning and philanthropy. The process also emphasized the essential role of data in setting goals related to equity and the environment.

Our Early Childhood Team brought an equity lens into their process for distributing PPE to child care providers by identifying and delivering resources to underserved communities. We have continued to share books and resources intended to broaden our perspective, while also taking steps to critically examine our policies and practices. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Team was launched in 2021 and is developing an action plan that will guide our work for 2022 and beyond. Our equityfocused work has been supported through a grant from the Blandin Foundation, now in its final year.

Transportation in our communities Our work in transportation planning illustrates the intersection of actions that improve communities, increase accessibility, and protect the environment. While partnering with communities to improve transportation options, such as biking and walking, we pay specific attention to the needs of children, the elderly, and low-income households.

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The importance of maps and measures to track local, regional, and global progress Success in community development can be difficult to measure, making it difficult to understand. This is one reason residents appreciate single projects: we help raise the funds, we help launch the project, and then the project exists to serve communities. We consider completion of this process a success.

Long-term improvements to quality of life are more difficult to package into a start-to-finish process. Realizing the full community benefit from a single initiative can take decades. And, occasionally, what seems like a success at the start does not yield the results we expected in the long term.

Importantly, in relation to community vitality, a single measurement does not carry value in terms of success. We need comparison— to the past, our neighbors, or our ideal target—to understand the measurement we’re taking.

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DevelopMN Dashboard West Central Initiative, along with our partners in the Minnesota Association of Development Organizations (MADO), worked to create a dashboard that highlights measurements important to the long-term vitality of Greater Minnesota. This dashboard, a section of which is pictured to the right, features the Four Cornerstones of Community Development and the multiple measures of what success might look like to our regions. The dashboard also provides us the ability to compare measures across geographies, to see how individual counties compare with one another, such as those with similar industries and those in similar geographies, so we can make accurate comparisons.

MADO members will continue propagating the measurements in the dashboard for long-term comparison, so we can track initiatives over the decades for a deeper understanding of our communities and successful initiatives.

Sustainable Development Goals Dashboard We created a dashboard to track our region’s progress on metrics identified by the SDGs. Developed by world experts, the United Nations have agreed on 231 unique indicators of progress. Those data sets for our mostly rural geography are incomplete. We’re partnering with other state SDGs leaders and, together, we’re populating the dashboard with available data sets as we discover and verify them.

You can view both dashboards and learn more about the data sources at wcif.org under Regional Development and Maps & Measures.

Our region: small but mighty

Approximate population of Earth: 7,900,000,000 people Approximate population of our region: 230,000 people

Approximate surface area of Earth: 197,000,000 square miles Approximate surface area of our region: 8,700 square miles

Whether your region of the world is full of bustling populous cities or vibrant small towns, we all share this one planet and have a responsibility to do our part to sustain it for future generations.

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2021 By the Numbers 1

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1,550+

1 Fulbright Scholar from Finland, Iiris Happo, who specializes in early childhood care and education and is spending the academic year at UMN Morris and with us learning about our systems and sharing her knowledge with community leaders

17 groups and families opened funds with us to improve their communities and make west central Minnesota a better place to live, work, and play

1,550+ students benefited from new Safe Routes to School plans developed in 2021 by our Transportation Planning Team

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$878,200

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104 apple trees will help to address hunger in west central Minnesota and create an even more beautiful landscape for generations to come thanks to generous Give to the Max Day donors

$878,200 distributed from our Pandemic Revolving Loan Fund to help businesses impacted by the pandemic

10 public speaking engagements by our Director of Early Childhood Nancy Jost advocating for young children and their families

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100+

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10 public events, most of which were held virtually, that featured voices from local, regional, and global leaders speaking on topics important to us, including climate change and equity

More than 100 articles have been published since the launch of our Live Wide Open campaign more than five years ago sharing stories about people choosing to live in our mostly rural region

10 new team members joined us in the areas of technology, philanthropy, communications, operations, accounting, business development, community planning, and transportation planning

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2021 Highlight

Loan fund helps the She Said Butcher Shop launch in Moorhead When the She Said Butcher Shop opened in early 2022, Melissa Evans became the first female butcher shop owner in Moorhead. She is now her own boss which, she admits, has been an interesting journey, one made easier with help from many, including West Central Initiative’s business loan program.

Melissa’s life has evolved around meat processing. “My meat background started as a kid helping my dad processing deer in the garage,” she said. While home was Bismarck, she moved to Fargo to take up animal science at North Dakota State University. As the manager for two grocery stores in Moorhead, she learned what meats her neighbors were purchasing. “Now I’m striking out on my own and getting back to it on a smaller scale.”

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Melissa acknowledges the challenges of opening a business and found West Central Initiative’s financing help through referrals. “Bell Bank and the owner of the building I’m leasing both suggested I reach out to West Central Initiative,” she said.

By design, Melissa looks to offer a different kind of butcher shop. “I will be doing more custom orders. I’ll have beef, pork, and combination bundles. Every bundle will have different choices, so customers can cater it to their needs.”

Kate Mudge, our Business Development Officer, says the goal is to make the process easy. “We work with both entrepreneurs and those already in business to help connect people to resources,” Mudge said. “The Pandemic Revolving Loan Fund is just one way we provide business relief, support jobs, and speed our region’s economic recovery from the pandemic.”

2021 Highlight

Live Wide Open residential recruitment campaign enters its sixth year in 2022 Our Live Wide Open campaign has been recognized as a good example of ways communities, or regions, compete for new residents.

Coordinator Rick Schara reached a milestone, authoring his 100th blog post about people with inspiring stories to tell, mostly how they relocated and love our region. Below is one of those stories (abridged): For 18 years, Emily Woods Sternberg and husband Dan taught in a small southeast Minnesota school. Yet even after all those years, Emily admits they never really settled in.

For the last few years, they have lived in Fergus Falls. “We’ve been here for three years now, and it feels like home here,” she said. Indeed, the stars aligned back in 2018 to bring them to Fergus Falls.

To start, together they drew a line across the middle of the state and vowed that they would live north of that line. Not only did they make

that goal, Dan actually ended up moving back to his hometown. Oh, that was not part of the plan.

But let’s back up a bit. Emily grew up in Iowa. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music education, eventually earning a master’s in education.

Then, while student teaching, her leadership skills were put to the test.

“The teacher I was learning under became ill, and I ended up directing the choir and leading the concerts,” she said. “The principal took me aside and said I would be a good candidate for educational leadership.”

The idea stuck. So years later, with leadership credentials in hand, Dan and Emily agreed that she needed to find her first principal job—north of that imaginary line.

In April 2018, Emily and Dan landed interviews on the same day in Rothsay and Fergus Falls.

The rest, as they say, is history.

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2021 Highlight

Boost Grant supports Safe Routes to School Regional Bike Rack Bonanza!

West Central Initiative has been assisting communities with Safe Routes to School planning for more than a decade. The goal of Safe Routes to School is to make it safe for kids to walk, bike, and roll to school—using what we call active transportation.

“Over the years, our team has observed adequate bike parking as a frequent school need,” said Transportation Planning Director Wayne Hurley. “So, we partnered with school districts in our region to apply for the Safe Routes to School Boost Grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). We were awarded $20,000 to order custom bike racks at participating schools!”

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Ten communities benefited from 58 new bike racks in total. Several schools installed their back racks in fall 2021, and we’ll coordinate installation of the others in spring 2022.

By using two styles of bike racks—and allowing schools to choose their own colors and add their school logos—we’ve achieved a regional identity and instilled a sense of local pride. By providing attractive, inviting bike parking, we’ve given schools another tool to use in their Safe Routes to School efforts.

Assistant Transportation Planner Mallory Jarvi, who was serving as a Minnesota GreenCorps member at the time, took a lead role in the project, which we called the “Regional Safe Routes to School Bike Rack Bonanza!” She collaborated with schools to identify colors and logos for the bike racks, reached out to vendors for quotes, and worked with MnDOT on the final reports.

2021 Highlight

Chance discussion and regional collaboration leads to children’s book; Let’s Go! to debut in 2022 Three years ago, Director of Early Childhood Nancy Jost met Kelly Minke, with LakeShore Learning Materials, for lunch. Kelly brought a copy of a new children’s book about Minnesota.

represent their individual community cultures.

At the same time, a former team member offered to author the book, and we connected with a talented illustrator.

“The book was beautiful,” said Nancy. ”But it didn’t really represent our region of Minnesota—our beautiful lakes, trees, cultures, and communities. So, I shared the idea of creating a similar children’s book but specific to our region with our team, including our Early Childhood Initiative Coordinators.” Although excited about the idea, the group decided the project wasn’t feasible at that time.

The team persevered and the book was developed. Having a concrete product allowed our Development Team to find sponsors.

The book was formally edited, published, and printed.

The idea dwindled yet never died. The coordinators continued to mull over the idea, wanting to create a children’s book that truly represents our region—connecting our young children with local resources and activities.

Soon the coordinators partnered with their local coalitions to develop themes that

Later this year, we’ll distribute 7,000 free copies of Let’s Go! Adventures Through West Central Minnesota to every family with a young child living in west central Minnesota.

“The pandemic has caused much turmoil, yet producing a children’s book has provided us with a focus,” said Early Childhood Specialist Marsha Erickson. “It gave us hope.”

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2021 Highlight

Autumn Convivium: a gathering of friends to reflect on the past, recognize the present, and reimagine the future It was the evening of November 16, 2021— and what an evening it was. After months of planning, the Autumn Convivium was upon us.

“We walked into Carlos Creek Winery’s event center, a former indoor horse arena,” said Director of Development Rebecca Lynn Petersen. “The ambiance took our breath away.”

A large space, to say the least, with its wine barrels, warm woodwork, and a fire in the fireplace, our team settled in to prepare for what would become an unforgettable evening.

The house band, The Tuesday Night Club, was setting up to greet our guests.

Our tech team was testing equipment to ensure our virtual guests (as far away as Washington, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and beyond) would have just as enjoyable of an experience as our in-person guests.

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Chef Amy Thielen was prepping the stage for her rapid-fire presentation on how to make holiday appetizers for unexpected guests. The smell of bacon permeated the space, and our taste buds were heightened for a delicious banquet feast. It was an opportunity to talk about food, but it also was an opportunity to whet the appetites of attendees for the work ahead of us—sustainable food systems, Sustainable Development Goals, and partnerships for the future.

Our virtual entertainment was provided by Storyteller Kevin Kling and his secret weapon Singer/Songwriter Simone Perrin, sharing memories of food through stories and song.

“Our Autumn Convivium reminded us to feed and nurture each other,” said Petersen. “And we plan to further that message at our Spring Convivium on Earth Day, April 22, in Moorhead.

We’ll sow seeds to continue our path of sustainability and address the serious issue of climate change. Join us!”

2021 Highlight

Stakeholder input key to new Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy We believe our residents know what’s best for themselves. That is why the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy is written with more than 600 residents as coauthors.

To some, the title Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy may sound like a stale document.

However, our community planners know how important it is for this mandatory federal requirement to instead be both a plan of action and a robust, continual conversation with our communities.

In 2021, we gathered relevant statistics, polled the Economic Development District

identifying agriculture as a potential area of economic growth, but in the change from commodity-driven agriculture to circular agriculture: the idea that what’s grown here could stay here for a more vibrant local community.

Feedback from these efforts reinforced our past challenges, including the needs for housing investment, workforce recruitment and development, and quality care and education for youth.

Board, held focus groups with stakeholders, and offered a public survey to determine what elements of our economy were accelerating, what was lagging, and which sectors could be the foundation for the growth and vibrancy of west central Minnesota. This included

To ensure we are in the know on what’s coming, we continue to keep the conversation going by facilitating quarterly meetings to discuss hot-topic issues. If you’re interested in staying in contact, visit wcif.org to watch for upcoming events and subscribe to our Community Planning newsletter.

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2021 Highlight

Extra bench strength and new skill sets focus on much-needed regional housing work Three years of of Early Housing hasago, beenDirector at the top our Childhood Jost metthree [Insert list, literally.Nancy In the previous name] withofLakeShore Learning iterations the Comprehensive for lunch. [Insert name] brought Economic Development Strategy, with her ahas copy of ainchildren’s book in housing come as a top need thatregion’s was soon to be released about our communities.

Counties, Minnesota. cities, redevelopment authorities, and even state entities have been struggling to identify paths forward because the housing needs in each community are so varied.

In the last year, West Central Initiative took two strategies out on the runway for test flights. “First, we added staff capacity by hiring new Community Planners to help with housing plans,” said Innovation Strategist Jill Amundson. “Battle Lake was the first community to let us try out our new skills. In partnership with the Otter Tail County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Battle Lake Economic Development Authority,

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and the University of Minnesota Extension, we wrote a housing study built on past trends, current demographics, and the anticipated future needs to discover the best next-step for housing development. We also assisted the communities of Dalton and Pelican Rapids to explore design and code modification options for land ready for immediate development.”

Our team is eager to offer this template and assistance to other communities ready to invest in housing initiatives.

Our second investment in housing programming was a loan program in partnership with the City of Breckenridge.

This low-interest redevelopment loan gave developers opportunity to make a worthwhile investment in their community’s future by preserving the existing infrastructure and improving housing stock. It also allowed us to learn and improve. “While the initial project design was imperfect, we will use lessonslearned to create a higher-value program in the future,” said Amundson. In partnership with the Southern Valley Economic Improvement Authority, we offered new ideas to Wilkin and Richland Counties as they make decisions related to the Red River Valley diversion fund.

Additionally, we are learning from our ‘sister’ organizations in the Minnesota Economic Development Organizations and sharing these best practices. Together with our stakeholders, we can bring a higher success rate to our housing development strategies in the years to come.

2021 Highlight

Era to Act Virtual Speaker Series brings worldrenowned voices to our region With a grant from the Bush Foundation, we launched a virtual speaker series to bring voices from our rural region and beyond to our communities.

“In an era of such polarization, these conversations couldn’t be more relevant,” said President Anna Wasescha. “These conversations help to strengthen our communities and create a more sustainable and equitable society. Era to Act informs, inspires, and unites, creating a better tomorrow.”

In May, Gil Penalosa presented Post-COVID Communities & People, answering the question: Post-pandemic, how should we create communities radically different for all to live healthier and happier?

In June, Lori Sturdevant, Dave Durenberger, and Ben Schierer discussed Minnesota’s political history of bridging divides and the lessons we might apply to today’s challenges.

In August, Reed Anfinson, Lisa Hills, and Art Cullen presented An Imminent Threat to Democracy: The Loss of Community

Newspapers. David Hage moderated the event. The panel explained how the loss of small-town newspapers is leaving many Minnesota communities without in-depth coverage of critical issues.

In November, Oglala Lakota Chef Sean Sherman (pictured), founder of The Sioux Chef, presented The (R)evolution of Indigenous Food Systems of North America, sharing his journey of discovering, reviving, and reimagining Native cuisine.

Kevin Kling, best known for his popular commentaries on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and his storytelling stage shows, hosted the series.

For more information, including video recordings of each session, visit era2act.com.

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Deb Raasch

Accounting Specialist Alexandria, MN

Lisa Turner

Executive Assistant to the President St. Paul, MN

Laura J.B. Schmidt

Stevens County Board Member Morris, MN

Mallory Jarvi

Assistant Transportation Planner Fergus Falls, MN

New faces in 2021 Kallan Sandahl

Ashley Quam

Minnesota GreenCorps Member Fergus Falls, MN

Communications Specialist Battle Lake, MN

Celeste Koppe

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Assistant Community Planner Detroit Lakes, MN

Scott Herron

Technology Systems and Data Administrator Glenwood, MN

Jenna Ray

Development Associate Morris, MN

Yaiza Kinney

Climate Action Project Intern Middletown, CT

Staff & Board Mark Kaelke

Assistant Community Planner Underwood, MN

Kate Mudge

Business Development Officer Ashby, MN

Staff Members Anna M. Wasescha, President Celeste Koppe, Assistant Community Planner Curtis Klotz , Chief Financial Officer Deb Hegseth, Loan Specialist Deb Raasch, Accounting Specialist Donna Ellsworth, Development Assistant Emily Reno, Assistant Community Planner Greg Wagner, Director of Business & Economic Development Jenna Ray, Development Associate Jill Amundson, Innovation Strategist Kate Mudge, Business Development Officer Kathy Nordick, Accounting Manager Lisa Turner, Executive Assistant to the President Mallory Jarvi, Assistant Transportation Planner Mark Kaelke, Assistant Community Planner Marsha Erickson, Early Childhood Specialist Nancy Jost, Director of Early Childhood Rebecca Lynn Petersen, Director of Development Rick Schara, Community Engagement Specialist Samantha VanWechel-Meyer, Development Specialist Sarah Casey, Director of Strategic Communications Scott Herron, Technology Systems and Data Administrator Wayne T. Hurley, Director of Transportation Planning Minnesota GreenCorps Member Kallan Sandahl

Julia Dempsey

Climate Action Project Intern Washington, DC

Board Members Barb Fabre, Becker County including White Earth Nation Jackie Buboltz, Becker County Jane Vangsness Frisch, Traverse County John Dahlseng, Pope County Laura J.B. Schmidt, Stevens County Mark Malingen, Douglas County Nicole Fernholz, Douglas County Steve Kent, Wilkin County Yoke Sim Gunaratne, Clay County

A vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable world starts here in west central Minnesota.

And you help make it possible.

When Minnesota faced a farming crisis that threatened to break the economic backbone of our region, we went to work—empowering our neighbors to overcome barriers to meaningful work and to wellbeing. Thirty-five years later, strengthening our region through philanthropy and planning remains our reason for being. With your help, we can make sure our neighbors across the region enjoy great quality of life, meaningful work, and access to essential services.

Visit wcif.org to learn about all the ways you can help.

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