THE MAGAZINE OF THE BUSH FOUNDATION Premiere Issue | 2014

Creative Development: DeANNA CUMMINGS MOTIVATION, DEDICATION, Great Green Ideas: INNOVATION Creating a Sustainable Food System PREMIERE ISSUE

Welcome to In 2013, the Bush Foundation celebrated its 60th anniversary by reflecting with Bush Fellows, Rebuilders and grantees on how our investment of nearly $1 billion in grants and fellowships has made a difference in communities across Minnesota, North Dakota, South CONTENTS Dakota and 23 Native nations. That’s more than 2,300 Fellows and Rebuilders, and more than 1,700 grantees—a roll call that inspires us every day. One thing nearly everyone shared with us last year was their desire to stay connected to the Foundation, to follow the continued progress of the remarkable individuals and FEATURES organizations that we’ve intersected with over the years and to pass on some of the lessons they’ve learned. We listened, and so we’re introducing b, a showcase for people who are thinking bigger and thinking differently about what’s possible in their communities. We’ve essentially

10 Native Nation-Building repurposed our annual report, making it less about what the Foundation did in a single year There’s amazing work going on across Native nations, and more about what is happening now because of investments we made, perhaps decades strategies and generations. We hear from Bush Fellow ago. We want to tell these stories in a way that doesn’t just describe our mission but actu- Erma Vizenor and Native Nation Rebuilder Justin ally advances it. We hope the information and stories help to inspire, equip and connect Beaulieu, plus check in on award-winning tribal programs, leaders across the region. collaborations across tribes and how Rebuilders are We’d love to hear your feedback on this inaugural issue of b and ideas for future topics. Jen Ford Reedy participating in tribal government. Let us know what you think and share your own stories at [email protected]. President

20 Great, Green Ideas With $1 million to seed her vision for DEPARTMENTS an Urban Oasis food hub in Saint Paul’s Bruce Vento Nature The Reverb By the Numbers Sanctuary, 2013 Bush 20 Here’s a little of what’s been going 2 34 4,597...$844 million...500+... Fellow Tracy Sides on—from top tweets to celebrating our 152%...1.12 trees. We take a look at how is among the latest in a 60th anniversary to a first-ever reunion things stacked up in 2013. long history of Fellows and of Native Nation Rebuilders to a move The Bush Foundation invests nonprofits rooted in growing across the street. in great ideas and the people a more sustainable food culture. Learning Log who power them. 36 Learning Logger Rick Melmer BushFoundation.org shares what he learned about change as the 26 Creative Development: University of South Dakota’s full-year resi- DeAnna Cummings dency pilot for teacher candidates debuts President: Jen Ford Reedy across the entire state. A Bush Fellowship helped DeAnna Cummings rethink Communications Director: Juxtaposition Arts’ approach to community and creativity, Dominick Washington 26 winning a Bush Prize along the way. Plus: The newest Bush Editor: Victoria Tirrel Fellows, Native Nation Rebuilders and MCF Fellows. Writers: Laura Billings Coleman, Nick Coleman (2010 Bush Fellow) In Progress Art Director: Brian Donahue 48 Think Bigger. With We Are All Criminals, 6 Think Differently. 2011 Bush Fellow Emily Baxter shifts the Graphic Designers: focus away from the one in four Americans Liping Vong, Rachel Quast OTA founder and CEO Hugh Weber finds his creative colli- who has a criminal record and toward the sions at the Queen City Bakery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, ones who got away. where he can get inspiration with a peanut butter square The Buzz on the side. 38 Meet the Bush Fellows and b magazine is printed The Bush Prize Rebuilders who are making headlines and on Sappi Flo Gloss From ending hunger across North 8 making a difference. Cover and Dull Text ON THE COVER: Bush Fellow DeAnna Cummings, who Dakota to improving mental health care and is FSC® certified recently joined the Bush Foundation Board of Directors. in the Black Hills of South Dakota, smart and 10% post-con- Back cover: In-progress acrylic on canvas by Virdell Brown, sumer fiber. Printed community engagement is the common The Forecast JXTA Contemporary Arts Apprentice, 18 years old. by Modern Press, denominator shared by the nine inaugural Mark your calendar for upcom- Photograph by Thomas Strand 46 New Brighton, MN. 10 48 recipients of the Bush Prize for ing convenings, and new grant and fellow- Community Innovation. ship opportunities.

BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG Photographs by Bruce Silcox THEREVERB Here’s a little of what’s been going on at the Bush Foundation.

CELEBRATING 60 YEARS It’s been 60 years BUSH FOUNDATION since Archibald and Edyth Bush established the Bush Foundation. REUNION

lot has changed since 1953. Archie and Edyth Bush could never have imagined that the Foundation they created wouldA be funding innovations in online education or supporting community en- gagement with immigrants from Somalia. In recognition of its 60th anniversary, There was no Internet in 1953. There the Foundation has also made three “trib- wasn’t even a country of Somalia. ute grants” to honor its founders. While much has changed in 60 years, some things stay the same. At the core of In Archie’s hometown of Granite Falls, the Bush Foundation is the drive to do the Minnesota, we’re helping to build an most possible good with the resources the applied sciences lab at the Yellow Bushes left to the community. Medicine East High School. The Board and staff of the Foundation spent much of 2013 looking back on its In Saint Paul, Minnesota, where 60 years of investing in great ideas and the the Bushes made their home, we people who power them. We’ve produced contributed to the Arts Partnership, a series of videos and a written history to a model of just the kind of collabora- highlight some of the Foundation’s work tive, pragmatic, civic leadership we through the years which you can find at imagine Archie would be involved in, bfdn.org/BF60. if he were alive today. The 60th anniversary celebration cul- minated in November 2013 with a “family We partnered with the Edyth Bush reunion.” Nearly 700 current and former Charitable Foundation in Winter Park, Foundation staff, Board members, Fellows Florida, to honor Edyth’s passion for What happens when nearly 700 members of the “Bush family” gather to celebrate 60 years of investing in great ideas and the people who and Rebuilders gathered to reminisce the arts by refurbishing the green power them? Lots of smiles and hugs, renewed connections and the beginning of countless new collaborations to come. See more photos and to celebrate the impact of the nearly room and dressing room of a place from the November 2013 event at bfdn.org/BF60photo. PHOTOS: BRUCE SILCOX BRUCE PHOTOS: $1 billion the Foundation has granted to where she was personally involved— the community since 1953. the Orlando Repertory Theatre. Enjoying the Bush “family reunion” are Bush family reunion attendees (clockwise from top left): David Odahowski (center), president, Edyth Bush Charitable Trust and (above) the Foundation’s four presidents: (over his right shoulder) John Archabal, Bush Foundation senior program officer and director of the Bush Fellowship Program (1973-2009); Jen Ford Reedy, Peter C. Hutchinson, Lee-Hoon Benson, Foundation program officer (1998-2009) and Dee Thomas, Foundation Board member; Bush Fellow To read stories from the Bush Foundation’s 60-year legacy, visit bfdn.org/BF60. Theartrice Anita M. Pampusch and Humphrey Do- There you can download a special anniversary publication Bush Foundation @ 60 Williams (’70) and Bush Educator Bernadeia Johnson (’97); Foundation Board member Tom Holloran (1982-2000) and Patty Holloran; ermann. Below, Bush Foundation Board and watch videos about the great ideas and people we’ve invested in since 1953. Bush Fellow Joi Lewis (’06) and guest Joan Ostrove; Foundation Board members Dwight Gourneau (2004-12 & BF’90) and Eric Jolly; Chair Pamela Moret acts as emcee for Bush Fellows Shannon Gibney (’05) and Shalini Gupta (’08). the event. 2 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 3 THE REVERB What Counts WE’VE MOVING Young men spend a lot of time WONDERING what kind of a MOVED! DAY job they should get. I don’t think it matters what kind of a job you The Bush Foundation get. WHAT COUNTS is what you do with it after you get it. and Minnesota SUPPLIES —ARCHIBALD BUSH, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 1959 Philanthropy Partners share office space. Open House October 2013 23 BOOK CARTS 25lbs. PACKING PAPER Ryman LeBeau (Cohort 3) REBUILDERS REUNITE

n June 2013, the first four cohorts Native Nation Rebuilders com- of Native Nation Rebuilders came plete a two-year program focused on together for a reunion. Nearly half of strengthening their leadership skills and PHOTO: PAUL CROSBY PAUL PHOTO: the more than 60 Rebuilders named nation-building knowledge so they may Ibetween 2010 and 2013 attended the first- be instrumental in moving their nations, 36 ever event. Over two days, they were able to in cooperation with elected leadership, fter nearly 60 years in Saint shared with MN Partners. The modern STAFF strengthen ties within and across cohorts, toward realization of their tribes’ unique Paul’s First National Bank and airy floor includes a cafeteria, confer- with some meeting each other for the first goals. The Foundation announced a fifth Building, the Bush Foundation ence rooms and other collaborative spaces MEMBERS time. A Rebuilder said about the reunion, Rebuilders cohort in March 2014 (meet moved in August 2013, packing designed by HGA Architects. One floor up, “There’s so much passion for tribal na- them at bfdn.org/C5Reb) and will open 36A staff members and 60 years of paper- all Bush Foundation staff now work with tions—inspiring to see the talent and in- applications for Cohort 6 on July 15, 2014. work into our new location on the 25th smaller offices, larger conference rooms novation throughout the region.” Another Learn more about the Native Nation Re- floor of the U.S. Bank Center on East Fifth and better technology—all aimed at in- J.R. LaPlante (Cohort 1) and appreciated the opportunity to “see what builders Program at bfdn.org/Reb. Street. While the actual distance traveled creasing staff collaboration and productiv- Julie Garreau (Cohort 3) other cohorts are up to.” was across just one skyway, the moving ity. A communal kitchen space connects to process had begun more than three years a small “living room” for collaboration and earlier when Bush and MN Partners began conversations, overseen by new portraits @SCHUFMAN @ALLIEMPLS @KTANDREA discussing co-locating to a space that could of Archie and Edyth Bush (see page 33) by POP-UP #Trending Processing #nsnp2013 Read the profiles of the Still noodling on the meet the needs of both organizations mov- Bush Fellow Frank Gaard (’84). 50 Day 1 with a glass of wine, @BushFoundation conversation from ing forward. Keane says the space may look like a se- CARTONS in 2013… and I keep coming back to #BFP2014. And use that #workredux this AM. “Like many nonprofits, we were inter- rious upgrade to visitors, but “everyone is this piece of paper (below) anytime someone doubts Thanks to @jjmillard, ested in finding ways to make the best use of surprised to learn that we’re actually sav- Facebook/Twitter from @BushFoundation change can happen. Wow. @cloudcarvings and our resources through partnerships in our ing money with this move—nearly $46,000 6.4 million (See bfdn.org/2014BFP.) @BushFoundation impressions community,” says Greg Keane, the Founda- a year that we can put back into the up 677% from 2012 for doing the good. tion’s CFO, who oversaw the project. community.” (Read what the Foundation Visitors to the Bush Foundation now ar- learned from the move in our new “Learn- 4,004 likes/follows @PAIGER33 rive at a 24th-floor reception area (above) ing Papers” series at bfdn.org/learn.) up 48% Thanks to a @BushFounda- 250 BushFoundation.org tion grant the Brookings TOTES 168,458 visits Supports Breastfeeding up 62% group is talking all things Stop by to see our new digs and Bush Foundation babies & mamas. be sure to update your files with 101 Fifth Street East, Suite 2400 100,482 unique visitors bit.ly/1kYhdXZ our address: Saint Paul, MN 55101 up 59%

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THE ONES THAT GOT

AWAY Have you ever committed a crime you DIDN’T have to pay for?

Photographs by Emily Baxter

hen Minneapolis attorney Emily Baxter put that question out to her social network during her 2011 Bush Fellowship, she was astonished by how many strangers called to confess. “My phone just started toW ring and ring,” says Baxter, who works for the Council on Crime and Justice. Equipped with a recorder and a camera she bought with her Fellowship stipend, Baxter set out across Minnesota taking down these true confessions: the small-town teacher who never got stopped for driving drunk; the attorney who helped his college buddy sell drugs; the pediatrician who once blew up a port-a-potty. The more than 200 interviews she’s conducted run the gamut from “egregious to petty, hilarious and heartbreaking,” says Baxter, who boils each confession into a concise story arc and waits for partici- pant approval before publishing “so that the final draft is a criminal report created by the participant.” The result is We Are All Criminals, a website/traveling art installation that Baxter hopes will create more second chances for the one in four Americans who has a criminal record. “Most of us have crossed the line at some point in our lives, but 75 percent of us haven’t had to pay for our mistakes every day for the rest of our lives like people with criminal records do,” she says. “When you start to consider all of the doors that could have been shut, when you start noticing the parts of your life that could have been foreclosed, you start realizing how fortunate you are not to be defined by the single worst thing you may have done in your life.” We Are All Criminals began as a footnote in Baxter’s Fellow- ship application, but she believes it’s been an effective way to make a case for greater compassion toward people with criminal records. “This project burrows into people’s brains, and maybe even their hearts, and changes the way they view themselves and the system,” says Baxter. “I don’t think I’ll ever be done with this. This is going to be a life project for me.”

weareallcriminals.com

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eight other organizations selected to receive the inaugural Bush Prize for Community Innovation. “These organizations are doing very different things,” says Mandy Ellerton, manager of the Bush Prize, “from working to end childhood exposure to violence in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to providing part-time jobs and career training for youth in North Minneapolis, to driving entrepreneurship for the Cheyenne River Sioux. But what they all have in common is a real drive to bring communities together to think differently about their whole approach to problem- solving, taking big risks that often have had big pay-offs.” For instance, the Cloquet Area Fire District found a way to improve emergency response in rural Carlton County, Minnesota, by merging three unique fire and emergency departments—going to the Legislature to change a district tax code in the process. A collaboration among Black Hills State University, Rapid City Area Schools, and Technology and Innovation in Education came together for Project PRIME, which uses math instruction as the leverage point for improving teacher instruction, getting families engaged in school work and shrink- ing the achievement gap for Native students. Anu Family Services in Saint Paul has changed the outlook for foster care children in danger of “aging out” of the system, often into homelessness, by finding them safe,

PHOTO: COURTESY OF GREAT PLAINS FOOD BANK BANK PLAINS FOOD OF GREAT COURTESY PHOTO: permanent homes where they can heal the WINNING trauma of loss that often accompanies foster care placement. The Bush Prize expands the problem- SOLUTIONS solving capacity of the region’s nonprofits and government entities that have a proven From ending hunger across North Dakota to improving mental health care in the Black Hills track record of innovation by providing of South Dakota, smart community engagement is the common denominator shared by the nine an unrestricted grant of 25 percent of the inaugural recipients of the Bush Prize for Community Innovation. organization’s last fiscal year budget (up to a maximum of $500,000). For the Farm Breed- ing Club of Northern Plains Sustainable ith one of the highest where we were having the right meetings, The final result is the Crisis Care Agriculture, that means $76,000 in capital suicide rates in the nation, but with the wrong people,” he says. With Center, South Dakota’s first 24/7/365 for a new testing garden or any of the other South Dakota’s Black Hills funding from the Bush Foundation and the emergency mental health provider. Today, projects the organization has plotted on its community had a serious John T. Vucurevich Foundation, BMS led adults in crisis who once faced a four- to wish list. “Most of the funding opportuni- problem to solve: How to save lives by the charge on a new approach to the prob- eight-week wait for an appointment can ties nonprofits are accustomed to getting are

W ERIC HANSON ILLUSTRATION: removing hurdles to emergency mental lem in 2009, widening the circle with an receive immediate care through the Crisis very specific and restricted for one thing, and health care. “As a community, we were very all-hands approach they called the Black Care Center, which has diverted more than one thing only,” says director Frank Kutka good at serving people in a crisis—as long Hills Behavioral Health Collaborative. 1,000 emergency room visits since 2011. (2000 Bush Fellow). “We do feel compelled to as your crisis happened between 8 a.m. and The Collaborative has more than 40 “Another great outcome of the process do something big with the Bush Prize.” How did they do it? How do we apply? 5 p.m. on a weekday,” recalls State Senator stakeholders—social service agencies and was that organizations and agencies that “We are giving truly flexible creative What’s the secret to getting great The 2014 Bush Prize selection Alan Solano, who represents Rapid City. law enforcement officials, Native Ameri- might have treated each other as competi- capital to organizations with great track ideas off the ground? Visit period runs from April 8 to June 5. These findings, uncovered in a 2007 can groups and area schools. They broke tors really let their guard down to focus records of innovation,” says Pamela Moret, bfdn.org/2013bp to see short films If your organization has a great United Way community assessment, were the problems they saw into parts, creating on what we can do that actually improves chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors the Foundation produced about track record of creating innovative no surprise to Solano. He also serves as the subcommittees focused on everything the community,” Solano says. “The whole and a member of the Minnesota Bush Prize each of the nine Bush Prize winners. solutions in your community, visit CEO of Behavior Management Systems from service integration to family advo- effort has really had a great domino effect selection committee. “It’s been both fun and bfdn.org/applybp to learn more. (BMS) and was already meeting regularly cacy. “At every step, we made sure we had for our community.” inspiring to learn about the work of the nine with other leaders in the field searching the right people at the right meetings,” That “domino effect” is the common Bush Prize winners. We’re excited to see who for solutions. “But we’d reached the point Solano says. denominator connecting BMS to the applies this year and in years to come.”

8 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 9 NATIVE NATION-BUILDING SPA NS STRATEGIES AND GENERATIONS

The Bush Foundation’s work to support the self- determination of 23 Native nations builds on rela- tionships formed across decades of support for Bush Fellows and for Native-focused education, legal, environmental and community projects. Since 2009, we’ve supported tribes using vari- ous strategies to exercise their self-determination, some with support from the Bush Foundation—from intertribal energy initiatives (see page 16), to gover- nance assessments, to programs that honor the suc- cesses of Native nations (see page 17), to leadership development programs for Native Nation Rebuilders (see page 32), to efforts to recreate culturally au- thentic governmental systems. TWhat follow are just a few stories of the amazing work going on across nations, strategies and generations.

The beautiful land of the Oglala Sioux people, taken during a staff trip to Pine Ridge in August 2013 (see page 18). During the visit, spiritual leader and advisor Wilmer Mesteth (right) accompanied staff to the Sacred Heart cemetery, burial site of 150 of the more than 300 Sioux killed in the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre.

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jobs and election results. formational meetings across White Earth. profound learning opportunities. I would “The checks and balances were not And, last November, nearly 80 percent never have been able to afford to go to Ogimaawiwin Enaakonigaadeg there. Independent courts were not there,” of White Earth’s voters approved the Harvard on my own. And the degree from Vizenor says. new constitution, which establishes an Harvard opened so many doors for my The years-long struggle against the independent and separate judiciary and tribe. It has given credibility to me.” Gaa-waababiganikaag naagaanibii’igaadeg status quo that followed would result in restricts the authority of the tribal coun- Vizenor’s term as chairwoman will federal corruption convictions against cil—measures Vizenor says were necessary end by 2016. She is 69. After 20-plus years TRANSLATION: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WHITE EARTH NATION three members of the tribal council. The to assure investors that partnering with of work that started with doing what the elders asked of her, she is confident that the new constitution is on track and that differences with the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe that currently delay its implementa- tion will soon be resolved. After all, Vizenor’s traditional Ojibwe name, given to her by her grandmother, does not suggest that she is going to give up easily. Esh-quay-gah-bowah-e-quay, is the name. The Last Standing Woman.

THE ANISHINAABEG SPEAK Preamble to the White Earth Nation Constitution THE “The Anishinaabeg of the White Earth Nation are the successors of a great tradition of continental liberty, a native constitution of families, totemic associations. The LAST Anishinaabeg create stories of natural reason, of courage, loyalty, humor, spiritual inspiritation, surviv- ance, reciprocal altruism, and native cultural sovereignty. STANDING “We, the Anishinaabeg of the White Earth Nation, in order to secure an inherent and essential WOMAN sovereignty, to promote traditions fight would also propel Vizenor to national economic development projects on the of liberty, justice, and peace, and rma Vizenor came home to ruption in the tribal government. prominence as a champion for governance reservation is a safe bet. reserve common resources, and to Left, White Earth Nation White Earth Nation in 1991, re- “I put my books away,” Vizenor recalls. reform. Vizenor attributes her tenacity to her ensure the inalienable rights of na- Chairwoman Erma Vizenor; turning from Harvard University “They stayed unpacked for five years.” Reform has been the driving theme of traditional values, her upbringing and the tive governance for our posterity, right, citizens of the White with a suitcase full of books. A With more than 19,000 citizens, White Vizenor’s leadership of the White Earth influence of her late husband, Dallas (he Earth Nation harvesting E1988 Bush Leadership Fellow with a mas- Earth is the most populous of the 11 tribal Nation. When she was elected tribal chair died in 1998; the pair were high school do constitute, ordain and establish manoomin (wild rice), food ter’s degree in community organizing, she nations that share geography with Minne- in 2004, she pointedly retained every tribal sweethearts who rode the school bus this Constitution of the White they believe is a gift from planned to spend the summer writing her sota. At the time of Vizenor’s return from employee, ending what some saw as a together to school in Park Rapids, Minne- Earth Nation.” the Creator, in the tradi- doctoral dissertation about administrative Harvard, citizens had growing concerns sota). But she also gives credit to the Bush tional way. patronage system and making it clear her planning and social policy. Those plans about their tribal government: Tribal of- eyes were set on reform. And after she was Fellowship that sent her to Harvard and Read the full text of the constitu- changed, however, when a group of Anishi- ficials were often elected without primary elected to a second term in 2008, she called put her on a path that has sent ripples of naabe elders came to her with tobacco—a elections, winning with pluralities as low for a constitutional convention; a year reform through Indian Country. tion at bfdn.org/xWENcon. traditional token of respect—and a request as 20 percent; the tribal council often over- later, delegates ratified a draft document “I’m so grateful to the Bush Founda-

to speak for them in their fight against cor- ruled or controlled tribal courts, police, SILCOX BRUCE PHOTO: NATION WHITE EARTH PHOTO: that had been shared with citizens at 55 in- tion,” Vizenor says, “Most of all for the

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Native Nation Rebuilder Justin Beaulieu; below top, the eagle FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS... sculpture outside Seven Clans Casino in Red Lake has a 30-foot wingspan; bottom, on the shore of Lower Red Lake. Investing in the great ideas and leadership A skateboard park in the town of Red Lake gives Native youth a way of Native people to take flight. was adopted in 1918 and revised in 1958, is inadequate and why tribal leaders decided Over the last four decades, the Bush to consider constitutional reform. Foundation has invested in a variety “Our constitution is very open to of needs identified by tribes. For interpretation,” said Beaulieu. Under the instance, growing the infrastructure current structure, “whoever’s in power at and leadership capacity of tribally whatever time can do whatever they need controlled colleges was an emerg- to get their agenda across. It’s written to ing movement through the 1970s run a business. But we’re not a business; and 1980s, when the Foundation we’re a nation. We’re worried about our awarded more than $13 million in land base. We’re worried about our future. grants toward faculty development, From left, Jen Ford Reedy and Jaime A. We’re worried about our language. We’re indigenous language instruction and Pinkham of the Bush Foundation meet Oglala Sioux Tribal President Bryan worried about our children. And our con- new facilities at institutions ranging Brewer in August 2013. stitution doesn’t speak to any of that. None from Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, of it talks about our tradition, our culture, North Dakota, to Sinte Gleska College For tribal nations like Red Lake and our language, our historical leaders or our in Mission, South Dakota. White Earth that have determined land and how important it is to us—our By the 1990s, tribal communities constitutional reform is the way in land and our water. It’s just how to run a turned to the Foundation for help which they want to pursue nation- business.” building the capacity of tribal courts building, the Foundation has provided Ironically, the instability and unpre- through nearly $2 million in invest- support for activities the tribes feel dictably of tribal governments operating ments in tribal law libraries in Native will help them best approach that re- under such loose rules has stifled eco- nations such as Red Lake, Turtle form, including capacity building and nomic investment on many reservations. Mountain, Spirit Lake, Mille Lacs, citizen education. “The main objective Investors worry about the long term when Standing Rock and Rosebud. for these nations is to design gov- few long-term safeguards are in place. The And over those same decades, erning institutions that are actually flawed structure is the trouble, Beaulieu countless grants have supported a theirs, not the ones imposed on them says—not the leaders, but the laws. “How variety of community service pro- by the federal government,” said are you supposed to take care of the tribe grams focused on cultural preserva- John Fetzer, associate on the Native and move it forward when you have to tion, domestic violence prevention, Nations Team. “Governments that are ANATION-BUILDING worry about how much workers get paid wellness and youth services. authentic to their unique needs will and you only meet once a month?” The Bush Fellowship Program has help them achieve their own develop- And there are obstacles to reform that provided vital support to tribes by ment and political goals.” are very real and fairly universal—like investing in individual leaders who The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe used people’s concern “about whether they are have gone on to create reforms in Foundation support for negotiation Photographs by Joe Rossi going to have shoes for the kids, or heat in education, social and environmental of a comprehensive tax agreement ERA their house during the winter,” Beaulieu sciences, the arts, business and with the State of South Dakota and says. “The first step is to educate people government—local, state, federal a series of small Foundation grants here’s no one way to do nation- The Red Lake Nation has begun the work about what a constitution is.” and tribal. to educate its people about consti- building,” says Jaime A. Pinkham, of drawing up a proposed new constitution On that front, Red Lake has a website The Foundation launched the tutional reform, while the Mandan, vice president of the Founda- with broad support among the citizens. and Facebook page for the reform effort, in Native Nation Rebuilders Program Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation has used tion’s work with Native nations. Native Nation Rebuilder Justin Beaulieu addition to holding community forums and in 2010 to make a more concerted Foundation support to implement “T“Each tribe moves forward from their (Cohort 2) is coordinating the effort. meet-and-greets. At these meetings, Beau- investment in existing and emerg- MHA Nation Tomorrow, a citizen-led unique political, cultural, social and eco- Many tribal constitutions were dictated lieu and his colleagues in the reform effort ing leaders in tribal communities governance reform project. The Turtle nomic situation. Some tribes are shoring to tribes by the federal government in the attempt to allay fears that reform might by arming them with deeper knowl- Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians up their existing governing functions while 1930s. These old constitutions, says Beau- open the way for the reservation to sell any edge about how nation-building can used a grant to upgrade their election others want to take a close look at whether lieu, were intended to provide a business of its 867,000 acres of land or open world- strengthen their tribes. procedures to increase their citizens’ their current constitution expresses their model of decision-making, not a democrat- famous Red Lake to outside fishing. Those Today, the Foundation’s work with confidence and turnout to elect their culture and supports their contemporary ic, transparent and accountable system to things aren’t going to happen, he says, and Native nations includes funding for a leaders and decide major policy sovereign right to protect their land and serve the citizens. That is why he believes constitutional reform will actually help wide range of projects. initiatives. people.” the Red Lake Nation constitution, which protect the tribe’s resources.

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RED LAKE WALLEYE RECOVERY PROJECT Honoring success in tribal governance

The resurgence of walleye in Red Standing Rock Sioux Lake is one of the great conservation Tribe. The five projects success stories in the nation—a role recognized across the model for tribal governance that was four nations focus on recognized in October 2013 by the land management, Honoring Nations award, a presti- leadership develop- gious program supported by the Bush ment, poverty reduc- Foundation that acknowledges excel- tion, elder protection lence in tribal governance. and law enforcement. The Harvard Project on American Learn more at bfdn. Indian Economic Development, which org/xHonor. runs Honoring Nations, named the INSTITUTE NATIONS IAN RECORD/NATIVE 3 PHOTOS: Red Lake Nation as one of three “all- The Red Lake people fish in the traditional way using nets, as shown stars” chosen from 112 past award in these stills from the documentary winners. The award cites the crucial Return of the Red Lake Walleye, role self-governance played in their produced by the Native Nations unprecedented seven-year effort to Institute. Learn more about the film bring walleye back from the brink of at bfdn.org/xwalleye. extinction to thriving numbers that can now support subsistence and sport fishing. PHOTO: CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE CLINTON PHOTO: Recognition of tribal governance innovation and excellence among the Present for the announcement of the Sioux Wind Initiative at 2013 Foundation’s tribal partners contin- Clinton Global Initiative were (from ues with the announcement in March left) Kevin Walker, Northwest Area of the semifinalists for the 2014 Foundation; Melissa A. Berman, Honoring Nations Awards. The list Rockefeller Philanthropy Advi- included Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, sors; Michael Geffrard, Laiti Group; Sioux Tribes Announce Wind Power Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Shakopee Caroline Herron, Heron Consult- Mdewakanton Sioux Community and ing; Board Chair Pamela Moret, Collaborative at Clinton Global Initiative Bush Foundation; Jon Canis, Arent Fox; Bob Gough, Intertribal COUP; ight Sioux Tribes in the Foundation’s region are collaborating to develop the larg- President Bill Clinton, founding Red Lake Na- chairman, Clinton Global Initia- est wind power production facility in the United States—a partnership the tribes tion Chairman tives; Chairman Robert Shep- announced with the help of former U.S. President Bill Clinton last summer at Floyd “Buck” herd, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate; the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative America. Six of the eight tribes were present. Jourdain Jr. President Bryan Brewer, Oglala EThis historic alliance—involving the Cheyenne River Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Flandreau (left) at the Na- Sioux Tribe; President Cyril Scott, Santee Sioux, Oglala Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, Standing Rock Sioux tional Congress Rosebud Sioux Tribe; Chairman and Yankton Sioux—would capture the considerable wind power on Sioux reservation land for the Ameri- Thurman Cournoyer, Yankton Sioux through a project funded by more than $1.75 billion in bonds issued through a multitribal can Indian in Tribe; Vice Chairman Eric Big power authority. The Foundation provided support to bring the tribal leaders together for 2013, where Eagle, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe; and early conversation about how they might work across their governments to jointly develop he accepted Vice Chairman Wayne Ducheneaux, the “all-star” their resources for the first time in history. Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. award from Honoring Na- Watch a video about the creation of the Sioux Wind project at bfdn.org/xsxwind. tions for the Red Lake Wall- eye Recovery Project. PHOTO: HONORING NATIONS PROGRAM/HARVARD UNIVERSITY PROGRAM/HARVARD HONORING NATIONS PHOTO:

16 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 17 NATIVE NATION-BUILDING

This sentiment is echoed by those Rebuilders who apply each year to the Native Nation Rebuilders Program, whether their future win election to vision includes running for tribal office or serving their Native nations in myriad other tribal council ways—by running a tribal program, edu- cating youth, preserving culture, improving As the new chairman of the Standing health care outcomes, managing a non- Rock Sioux Tribe, Dave Archambault II profit or providing economic development. (top) is among a number of Native Na- See footage of Chairman Archam- tion Rebuilders to be elected to a tribal bault’s inauguration at bfdn.org/xArch. council position in the last few years. Applications for Cohort 6 of the Native Archambault was part of the inaugural Nation Rebuilders Program open on cohort of Rebuilders, selected in 2010. July 15. Learn more at bfdn.org/Reb. Two other Rebuilders from Cohort 1 have also since won a place on tribal council. The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe re-elected Boyd Gourneau (Cohort 1) as vice- chairman in 2012. And LeRoy Staples Fairbanks III (Re- builders Cohort 1) won election in 2012 as the District 3 rep- resentative to tribal council of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. In talking about his experience as a Rebuilder, Fairbanks (be- low) said that it had “opened my eyes to so many different things about what other tribes are doing and some of the successes that they’re having. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has two Rebuilders, both from Cohort 3, serv- ing on tribal council. Wayne Duchenaux II was appointed vice-chairman after winning election in 2012 as the District 4 representative. Ryman LeBeau is the representative Top, Bush Foundation Board from District 5, re-elected to and staff at the sacred point of his second term in 2012. Red Lake; left, Red Lake Nation And David Tiessen Jr. (Fond du Chairman Floyd “Buck” Jourdain Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) Jr. welcomed Board and staff; Visiting tribal nations was elected to tribal council to repre- center, at the point of Red Lake, sent the Sawyer District in February Miriam Jorgensen (Native Nations t the invitation of the Red Lake Nation, the Bush Foundation’s Board of Direc- 2013, and subsequently named a Co- Institute), 2009 Bush Fellow hort 5 Rebuilder in February 2014. Anton Treuer (American Indian tors held its May 2013 meeting at Red Lake. Chairman Floyd “Buck” Jourdain Jr. Resource Center, Bemidji State welcomed Board and staff to tribal lands; RebuildersSam Strong (Cohort 1), Chairman Archambault told a re- University) and Foundation Board Justin Beaulieu (Cohort 2) and Darrell Kingbird (Cohort 4) accompanied the porter from KXMB-TV (Bismarck) who member Tim Mathern (BF’98); guestsA on a bus tour of several sites seldom visited by those who are not Red Lake citizens. covered his inauguration, “This is my Rebuilder Tina Merdanian (cen- The culmination of the day was visit to the Point of Red Lake, a body of water that is sacred home. And if there’s something that ter) hosted Foundation staff to the Red Lake people. you can do to improve your home, then (from left) Dominick Washington, I don’t think you can sit back and watch Allison Barmann, Jen Ford Reedy In August 2013, four members of the Foundation’s staff traveled to Pine Ridge, home of the anymore. You have to try to do some- Rebuilders Dave Archambault II (top) and Jaime A. Pinkham during an and LeRoy Staples Fairbanks III (bottom) Oglala Sioux. Hosted by Rebuilder Tina Merdanian (Cohort 1), staff met President Bryan thing to make a difference. And this was August 2013 visit to Pine Ridge. are among several Rebuilders serving Brewer and visited the Wounded Knee burial site. Eleven of 90 Native Nation Rebuilders just something that I thought I can do.” on tribal council. and several Bush Fellows are Oglala Sioux, including 2014 Fellow Richard Iron Cloud.

18 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 19 GREAT GREEN IDEAS Growing a more sustainable food culture has deep roots among a generation of Bush Fellows and nonprofit partners.

aint Paul’s Lower Town Depot isn’t much to look at. A four-story pile of bricks and broken windows just a stone’s throw from downtown, the abandoned industrial building has long been a magnet for vandals and a back- Sdrop for photographers aimed at capturing gritty urban decay. The building is an eyesore to many East Siders, but in the eyes of Tracy Sides, a public health Ph.D. and 2013 Bush Fellow, the depot had the potential to be an “Urban Oasis” for local food and the diverse cultural life of Dayton’s Bluff. “This place is sitting right in the middle of the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary,” she says. “It’s an amazing location, and it’s practically begging to be revitalized.” That was the pitch Sides made to the Forever Saint Paul Chal- lenge, a contest sponsored by The Saint Paul Foundation in 2013 that asked residents where they would invest $1 million to make the city more livable. One of 964 ideas submitted to the contest, Sides’ vision was to transform the blighted complex into an urban food hub that could serve as a year-round marketplace for local produce, a commercial kitchen for community entrepreneurs, and a gathering place and gateway connecting this economically challenged neighborhood to the natural beauty of the Mississippi River valley. “Food is such a fun way to explore diversity and to share the flavors of different cultures,” says Sides, who stepped down from her post at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy to launch herself as a public health entrepreneur in 2012. “Even if you don’t buy into the kumbaya, we’re-all-one view of the world, food can be a great tool for teaching all of the ways we’re connected to and rely on the natural world.”

Illustrations by Shannon Brady • Photographs by Bruce Silcox

20 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 21 Food has always been about RELATIONSHIPS, coming together as a family, knowing the farmers in your community, but we’ve reached a point in human history where most of us no longer know

enough PEOPLE who could feed us. —KATHY DRAEGER, 1999 BUSH FELLOW

Sides began her Bush Fellowship just as “Urban Oasis” was to the rise of genetically modified foods, to the advance of “food chosen as one of three finalists for the Challenge through a com- deserts” with few fresh and healthy food options in the Twin Cities’ munity-wide online vote. In September, Sides was waiting for her urban core. breakfast order at the Swede Hollow Café where she starts most In 2002, the Foundation responded to those and other warn- of her mornings, when she excused herself to answer the call she’d ings by creating an “ecological health” priority that included grant been waiting for. She returned a few minutes later with her arms support for organizations driving a variety of environmental issues, raised overhead in victory, “and the whole cafe erupted in cheers including sustainable food development. Former Senior Program and lots of hugs,” Sides recalls. “It was just the perfect place to get Officer Jane Kretzmann, who created and led the program area for such great news.” the Foundation, says that grant requests that challenged conven- Winning $1 million toward making her vision a reality has tional growing practices or accepted wisdom were often difficult “supercharged” Sides’ Bush Fellowship, filling her calendar with for the Foundation’s Board of Directors to come to consensus on conference calls and planning meetings with the City and commu- “because one of the questions we struggled with was, were these nity partners such as the Lower Phalen Creek Project. But Sides’ projects on the fringe, or were they leading edge? We worked hard sense of urgency runs deeper. to stay as close to the science as we could.” “Whether you look at our agricultural system, which is pro- The “ecohealth” funding program also informed the Bush Fel- ducing the kind of food that is making us sick,” says Sides, “or an lowship selection process. “The Foundation was always looking for energy system that’s leading us down the path of continued climate levers of change, and the Bush Fellowships really helped to invest Bush Fellow Tracy Sides change, or an economic system that is perpetuating significant in individuals who were in the best position to make a difference,” enjoys a meal at Swede income inequalities—when you look at what connects all of those says Kretzmann, now a senior fellow at the University of Minne- Hollow Cafe in the Dayton’s things, you can see that one of the best leverage points for change sota’s College of Education and Human Development. Bluff neighborhood, near the is food.” While the ecohealth priority ended in 2008, many organiza- Bruce Vento Nature Sanc- tions that led the early charge on sustainable food and farming tuary where she plans to have been successful applicants to the Foundation’s Community create the Urban Oasis with Innovation Grant program launched in 2013. $1 million from the Forever Saint Paul Challenge. For instance, Renewing the Countryside II received a THE SAVING REMNANT $100,000 Community Innovation grant in 2013 for its work mak- “The three-state region the Bush Foundation serves is right in the ing farmland across Minnesota more accessible to new and young center of the nation’s bread basket, so it’s probably no surprise that farmers, while building partnerships between food co-ops and how we grow, distribute and think about food has some very deep growers. Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture in LaMoure, roots among Bush Fellows over the years,” says Martha Lee, Bush North Dakota, became one of nine nonprofits to win the inaugural ship gave me was immersing me in how to talk about these things I Fellowship Program manager. “Tracy’s passion for building com- Bush Prize for Community Innovation in 2013 (see page 8). The care about so much from a community perspective.” BREAKING BREAD munity and economic opportunities around food is one that’s been Bush Prize gave a $76,000 boost to the organization’s Farm Breed- Investing in grassroots leaders like Kutka and Podoll is one of But not every Bush Fellow with a great, green idea is a grower like shared by many Fellows in the last four decades.” ing Club, a project aimed at ensuring the nation’s food security the ways the Bush Foundation “got ahead of the curve” on many of Kutka and Podoll. Heidi De Mars (’13) got her start as a grocery In fact, not far from the future home of the “Urban Oasis” site by increasing crop diversity, and releasing more seed into the the country’s concerns about sustainable agriculture, says Bush shopper. is the historic Saint Paul Farmer’s Market, the first public market public domain. Fellow Kathy Draeger (’99) who went on to serve as a consultant Frustrated when she couldn’t find the fresh local produce she established in the city back in 1853. When a wave of 1970s- and “Sustainable agriculture is one of the best ways we can get for the “ecohealth” grant priority. “Food has always been about wanted to feed her kids after her family’s move to Bismarck, she ‘80s-era urban renewal threatened to destroy the market, the after environmental health, because whatever is happening in our relationships, coming together as a family, knowing the farmers in joined a local CSA. There she connected with family farmers just as late Ken Taylor (1980 Bush Fellow) led the fight to preserve it. A farms and wild areas is what’s happening to everyone,” says Frank your community, but we’ve reached a point in human history where frustrated by growing food that, without good channels for distri- champion of locally grown food and farmers who went on to form Kutka, (2000 Bush Fellow) who co-directs the Farm Breeding most of us no longer know enough people who could feed us,” says bution, often goes to waste. the Minnesota Food Association in 1983, Taylor was a pioneer in Club, one of the first organizations of its kind in North America. Draeger, who now serves as statewide director of the University “I started thinking I can’t be the only one around here who the community-supported agriculture movement, credited with The organization encourages members to cultivate and save the of Minnesota’s Regional Partnerships. “Where I live in Big Stone wants better access to good food,” says De Mars, who organized a convening conversations between farmers and food company ex- seeds from plants that produce the best yields and flavor from their County, the number of dairy farmers has dropped from 400 in truck stop meet-and-greet between two dozen local growers and ecutives about shifting to more sustainable agricultural practices. own farms, helping to preserve heritage varieties lost in the spread 1960, to about 40 in 1980, and now in 2014 there is just one. Within consumers who began forming blue-sky plans about creating what “I believe that the food we eat carries within it, in some form or of large-scale farming. just one generation, we have demolished all of that generational would be Bismarck’s first food co-op. “I’m not trained to do this another, the values that dominate the system which produced it,” One of the Club’s early leaders and biggest proponents is knowledge.” kind of thing, but it’s what I care about,” says De Mars, who began Taylor wrote before he died in 1995. “Our food is a good measure Theresa Podoll (2007 Bush Fellow), who used her Fellowship to “Not to be too melodramatic, but I think people like Frank reading up on other Bush Fellows interested in sustainable food of how we do business as a society—what there is to like and what pursue a graduate degree in community development, skills that Kutka and Theresa Podoll are like ‘the saving remnant,’ from the systems before becoming a Fellow in 2013. “I was floored by how needs to change.” have helped her step into national leadership roles with such orga- Book of Isaiah,” Draeger says— community leaders with the knowl- many other people are looking at these questions in their own com- Fellows like Taylor helped to give the Foundation advance nizations as the Family Farmers Seed Collective and the Organic edge necessary to “fan the flames forward so that when we’re trying munities. I thought, ‘These are my people!’” warning of many of the challenges familiar to farmers and consum- Farming Research Foundation. Now a nationally recognized voice to solve the world’s problems, we don’t have to keep starting from In fact, the last few years have produced a bumper crop of Bush ers today—from the economic collapse of small farming towns, on the value of seed stewardship, Podoll says “the gift the Fellow- scratch.” Fellows exploring the ways that food can promote and preserve

22 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 23 Food is such a fun way to explore DIVERSITY and to share the flavors of different cultures. —TRACY SIDES

communities. Minnesotans Noreen Thomas of Georgetown and tive enterprise and agricultural systems, Bush Fellowship Program Brent Olson of Clinton both began Fellowships in 2012 aimed at Manager Martha Lee has made a point of encouraging this cohort converting community assets into hubs for food distribution and to connect. “Martha keeps saying, ‘you all need to know each economic growth. Thomas hopes to revive a licensed kitchen in the other,’” says Bush Fellow Leslie Watson (’13), a board member of Georgetown City Hall as a center for community and even com- the Northeast (Minneapolis) Investment Co-op, who is organizing mercial food processing, while Olson opened “The Inadvertent a bread-breaking brainstorming session later this spring. Café” on Clinton’s main street, offering an adjoining annex to “One thing that’s exciting about seeing so many Fellows looking 24 local food producers interested in bringing fresh products to the critically at food systems is that, as their own projects and passions local market. suggest, there’s no one right solution for every community,” says Figuring out how the next generation of farmers can work the Lars Leafblad, the Foundation’s director of leadership and engage- land sustainably while making a living wage has been a question ment. “But having this much brain power and leadership capacity that Olson, a writer, has been exploring as part of his Fellowship. applied to these questions about creating sustainable agriculture “For a lot of local foods people, there’s this purity element,” with and greener channels for distribution means that our region is producers who seem unconcerned about making a profit, Olson positioned to benefit from the innovative strategies these Fellows says. “But I think if you’re raising local food you ought to be able are exploring.” to make a living at it, too, and send your kids to college and go to Jones says that knowing other Bush Fellows are commit- Cancun on your 25th anniversary.” ted to the same questions has been inspiring and instructive. For In Nisswa, Minnesota, farmer and Bush Fellow Arlene Jones instance, she and Sides are looking at how to create thriving food (’13) is also trying to create fresh markets for local farmers by hubs from two different directions. “She’s asking how do you create expanding a farm-to-school produce program. Starting with 1,000 the structure to utilize the funds, and my position is how do I incre- pounds of produce she grew on her farm and delivered to salad bars mentally build the infrastructure for a food hub without funding?” in the Brainerd school district, her local food distribution plan now says Jones, who adds, “It’s not my generation that’s going to drive brings garden-fresh produce grown by 40 local farmers to three this systemic change in our food culture, but it’s going to be people school systems and two hospital systems. “My goal is to provide like Heidi De Mars and the people who come after her who are go- fair and equitable markets to all farmers,” including the growing ing to make the difference—that next generation willing to change number of Latino farmers in central Minnesota and the Amish their spending habits.” community in Todd County, Jones says. Sides agrees that having so many food-minded Bush Fellows In Hugo, Minnesota, Diane Wilson (2013 Bush Fellow) is around the region has been energizing, especially as her plans for working to collect and cultivate indigenous seeds as part of her an “Urban Oasis” move forward in the coming year. “It’s an idea work as executive director of the working farm/nonprofit Dream whose time has come, and it’s an idea that builds on the work of a of Wild Health. In Milan, Minnesota, greenhouse grower Chuck lot of Bush Fellows before me,” says Sides. “And I think it’s about Waibel earned a 2013 Fellowship aimed at relieving rural food more than just food—it’s about recognizing that what we’re doing as deserts with winter-grown produce. Waibel died of colon cancer a human species is not sustainable, and that it’s time to cultivate a just weeks after his Fellowship began, but his wife and greenhouse more generative relationship with the natural world.” partner Carol Ford will carry on his work, establishing a green- Sides laughs. “That’s my big-picture speech. But on the small house growers network in west central Minnesota with a memorial scale, there is a wonderful human benefit of sharing food with your grant the Foundation made in January to the Regional Sustainable neighbors, having the skills to cook food you grew yourself and Development Partnership at the University of Minnesota. keeping more of your money in the local economy. I really believe With so many current Fellows exploring food hubs, coopera- local food is magic.”

24 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 25 Photographs by Thomas Strand

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT: DeANNA CUMMINGS A major innovator in Minnesota’s creative economy, 2007 Bush Fellow DeAnna Cummings has spent nearly 20 years building Juxtaposition Arts and the North Minneapolis community that surrounds it.

even years ago, DeAnna Cummings ignore the growing joblessness, widening took a hard look at the high-traffic, achievement gap and dwindling opportuni- under-resourced intersection in ties they saw for the youth of color outside North Minneapolis where she their doors. Sand her husband Roger had planted their “I knew what I needed was to step away business, Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA), from the work and to see it from another and realized the view still needed some angle,” says Cummings, who has served as improvement. JXTA’s executive director since its start, “When we looked out the window at while Roger Cummings is the organiza- West Broadway and Emerson, we asked tion’s artistic director. But with two chil- ourselves ‘is the community getting bet- dren in school and two incomes now tied to ter?’ In some ways the answer was yes, but the organization’s survival, “The time was in lots of ways, it was no,” says Cummings. just never going to be there.” Securing a permanent home for the That’s when Leah Lorraine Nelson, once nomadic arts group had been a long- a 2006 Bush Fellow and friend, chal- time dream the couple started in 1995 with lenged her to think about applying for a their partner Peyton Russell (2012 Bush Bush Leadership Fellowship, a program Fellow). But now the expanded programs Cummings wasn’t sure she was qualified they’d once imagined in their new three- for, having discontinued her undergradu- building complex didn’t seem to be gen- ate studies to start Juxtaposition. She erating enough impact for people within made a nervous call to Martha Lee, Bush their immediate commu- Fellowship Program manager, and asked if nity—or showing the big the Foundation ever paid for Fellows to go “I WANT PEOPLE TO SAY results that mattered to back to college. Lee admitted it was a long ABOUT ME THAT EVERYONE investors and partners. shot, but then asked Cummings if she’d While the pair could point consider setting her sights a little higher. WHO’S WORKED FOR ME to plenty of success stories “Martha said, ‘I suppose you could go AND WORKED WITH ME IS among the thousands of back and finish that degree, but with the teens who’d taken part work you’ve done already, I bet you have BETTER FOR IT.” in their afterschool arts bigger dreams for yourself,’” Cummings { —DeAnna Cummings programs, they couldn’t says. Lee suggested she learn more about

26 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 27 sees—a busy commercial corridor bustling with people and vibrant new businesses. Since JXTA put down roots, nearby blocks have benefited from nearly $47 million in new investments. The business itself has also been remodeled with the launch of JXTALab, a teen-run design firm viewed as a national model for everything from youth jobs training to creative place-making. The now four-building campus hums with activity, as students work on client projects that range from screenprinting to environ- mental design, and adult artists fill a new studio co-op on West Broadway. JXTA’s shift toward social entrepre- neurship has brought in new revenue and measurable results: High school gradu- ation rates in North Minneapolis hover near 50 percent. But for the students who’ve made a two-year commitment to consistent JXTA training, the rate is nearly 100 percent. Fueling JXTA’s plans for one of the few graduate programs in the the future is a Bush Prize for Community country willing to consider nontradi- Innovation, a new grant initiative that tional students like Cummings—Harvard’s recognizes organizations with a culture of Kennedy School of Government. “The innovation by providing grants equal to 25 website had a splash page that said ‘Come percent of their last fiscal year budget, up Change the World,’ and I remember I just to $500,000 (see page 8). For JXTA, that sucked in my breath and dove into every means more than $150,000 of unrestricted word, because it was like they were talking creative capital it can reinvest in North right to me.” Minneapolis and beyond. The youth-run Textile Lab Boutique Today, DeAnna Cummings looks out the “One of my core beliefs is that if you give sells the clothing and art made windows of Juxtaposition’s gallery space young people the resources and opportu- by JXTA youth Tuesdays through on Emerson Avenue and likes what she nities, they’re going to reach just as high Thursdays from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. as you set the bar, and the same was true for me,” says Cummings. “Nearly everything we’re talking about today was buoyed and accel- ow before we go on, DeAnna that I started when I was 25 years old.’ But erated by the investment the Bush Cummings wants to make sure if you stop by JXTA you will hardly ever JXTA Graphics Foundation made in me, and in my that this article does not con- see me. I’m in my office, or in a meeting or Lab gives development as a leader.” form to the expected standards writing somebody about something we’re its youth Nof the female nonprofit executive profile. working on. What you’ll see are the young workers both “You know—the kind of story where it’s all people, the artists, the artwork—the magic experience and about being the benevolent giver, and stay- that happens at JXTA. Hundreds of people marketable ing in the background,” says Cummings. “I have contributed their gifts and talents to skills, from think that’s not the healthiest way for us as transforming the vision of an afterschool printmaking women to approach our work.” arts program into an institution that has to design. Cummings gives credit for JXTA’s made a difference for people and this place. growing profile to its staff of talented That’s something I am incredibly proud professional artists and designers. (“Truly, of,” says Cummings, who tweets as the best people in the Twin Cities.”) She @MizzBossLadyDee. She adds that earn- “IF YOU GIVE YOUNG also praises the hundreds of area teens ing a Bush Fellowship was no guarantee of PEOPLE THE RESOURCES who have worked on the JXTA team success. “It’s a wonderful recognition of AND OPPORTUNITIES, over the years and whose creative work your accomplishments and potential, but and community-building around North your problems don’t magically go away. In THEY’RE GOING TO REACH Minneapolis prove the organization’s case fact, the challenges get bigger—just like the JUST AS HIGH AS YOU that youth are the neighborhood’s “greatest expectations.” asset—not some problem to be solved.” But One of the challenges Juxtaposition SET THE BAR, AND THE after nearly two decades as JXTA’s top ad- Arts faced in 2007 was figuring out how SAME WAS TRUE FOR ME.” ministrator, Cummings can also take credit to move beyond what Cummings calls a for keeping the nonprofit thriving. “buffet-style” set of arts programs and —DeAnna Cummings “It’s important for me to say out loud toward higher-dosage efforts that could ‘I am the CEO of a million dollar business engage youth year-round, with hands-on

28 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 29 opportunities to create and build career in North Minneapolis. Today, JXTA is a skills. “I believe that in a 21st century, new teen-staffed art and design firm, where INVESTING IN PEOPLE millennium society, artists and arts orga- youth are employed part-time year-round nizations have to get off of our pedestals and produce real products,” from custom and get over the idea that we’re precious,” t-shirts, to marketing logos, to business she says. “Sitting high above everyone and signage, to public art, and community en- producing pretty objects isn’t going to cut gagement. “So now we’re employing kids, 2014 Bush Fellows it anymore, if it ever really did.” bringing in revenue, training them up with A Bush Fellowship is both a recognition of extraordinary Exploring how artists can drive relevant job skills and preparing them for higher achievement and a bet on extraordinary potential. These change in communities was a question that education,” explains Roger Cummings. The 24 exceptional Bush Fellows have demonstrated creative, made her “a bit of an odd duck” amid the shift in strategy has resulted in a 10-fold committed leadership and have compelling visions for what Andriana Abariotes Jamal Adam E Local Initiatives Support Minneapolis Community policy wonks at the Kennedy School, where increase in JXTA’s reach in nearly every D ANNA more they can do for the region. The Fellowship provides Corporation (LISC) and Technical College Cummings began her Fellowship studies measure, from weeks of programming to up to $100,000 to help them realize their visions. The money in 2008. Husband Roger examined many of annual operating budget, to percentage of CUMMINGS can be used for academic programs or for self-designed the same questions from a design perspec- revenue earned from client jobs. programs to grow their personal impact. Since 1965, the tive (artist as planner/developer/innova- IN FIVE Foundation has named more than 2,200 Bush Fellows. tor/incubator) as he pursued a parallel n organizational revamp like inquiry at the Harvard Graduate School of JXTA’s is unusual in the arts Applications for the 2015 Bush Fellowship open in July 2014. When I was a kid, I thought I’d grow Design with a prestigious Loeb Fellowship world, says , ex- To learn more about the program and see video profiles Laura Zabel up to be: in Advanced Environmental Studies. ecutive director of Springboard of this year’s remarkable class of Bush Fellows, please visit A librarian. I’d wake up early in the morn- bfdn.org/2014BFP. “With a mural, once you get it down you forA the Arts (and a newly named 2014 Bush Sylvia Bartley Jacquie Berglund ings in the summers during grade school have to relinquish it to the community, Fellow). “But DeAnna is one of those lead- Medtronic Finnegans and middle school so I could get dropped ers who never gets confused about whether and that’s sort of the approach we’ve had off at our local library branch in Kansas her job is to make change or run an organi- with JXTA,” says Roger Cummings. “In the City. I’d read a book a day, sometimes zation. She is a national expert in this field, beginning we had no intention of building more, from the time I started reading yet she’s always open to new ideas and new an institution. We were looking for short- when I was four or five years old until I thinking.” term, concentrated interventions that was in high school. I actually had a job in “DeAnna is really creative, but she’s worked. As it turned out that’s the formula high school working in the school library for how to build an institution.” very practical, too,” says Erin Jerabek at South High. By the time they and their two kids Heelan, executive director of the West returned to the Twin Cities in 2009, the Broadway Business and Area Coalition, Tawanna Black Tane Danger Makram El-Amin Nimo Farah Susan Hakes couple had come up with a new strategic which has worked closely with both Best advice I ever got: Northside Funders Theater of Public Policy Masjid AdNur African Development Cook County (MN) plan for JXTA designed to take advantage Cummings on projects to improve the “Don’t tell people what you think they Group Center of the high concentration of youth under 18 economic vitality of the West Broadway want to hear. Tell them the truth.” John in North Minneapolis, while taking aim at commercial district. “When everyone is Spokes, the co-founder of the former the low representation of minorities in the brainstorming in the clouds, DeAnna can Eye of the Storm Theater, once told me Twin Cities’ nationally recognized adver- take an amazing idea and figure out how to that many fundraisers are not successful tising, arts and design sectors. make it work on the ground.” because they spin their stories, try to say “We restructured our program to lever- Though Cummings knew little about the right thing to get the funding. He told age those realities and accomplish more the complicated financing necessary to me that you get better results when you equitable access to resources and oppor- redevelop the four-property parcel that is just tell the truth. Richard Iron Cloud Jessica Jackson Syl Jones Megan Laudenschlager Sherman Patterson tunities for youth and emerging artists Continued on page 33 Oglala Sioux Tribe We IMPACT! Jones! Consulting Minot Area Community Minneapolis Police Things that tick me off: Foundation Department Inequality, self-important people, all-isms, xenophobia, cheapskates who want to itemize a shared check—can we just split it?!

People might be surprised to find out: I’m a natural introvert (I just play an extrovert at work), so I need time alone to balance out all the being-with-people I do Maureen Ramirez Christina Sambor Lori Saroya Marvin Sims Malini Srivastava Growth & Justice Pearce & Durick Council on American- Mounds View Public North Dakota State in my day-to-day life. Islamic Relations, MN Schools University

My mantra: “There is no one right way.” That is one of the things I find so fulfilling about working in the arts. A group of artists can all have the same assignment and each will ap- proach it differently. In the end the varied approaches and results can be equally right and impactful and beautiful. Chris Stewart Michael Strand Charlie Thayer Jennifer Waltman Laura Zabel African American North Dakota State Indian Land Tenure Hennepin County (MN) Springboard for Leadership Forum University Foundation the Arts PHOTOS: VIDTIGER PHOTOS:

30 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 31 Continued from page 30

now home to JXTA, her “tenacity and open- Native Nation Rebuilders ness to learning” was one of the reasons the Nonprofit Assistance Fund helped the orga- (cohort 5) The Native Nation Rebuilders Program is a cohort-based leadership nization purchase the corner, says executive program to equip and connect Native leaders to drive nation-building director Kate Barr. “She works unbelievably efforts within and across their nations. The Bush Foundation launched hard, which is a great thing but also something the Rebuilders program in 2010 in support of the elected leaders of you worry about with leaders, because you re- the 23 Native nations it serves, who said supporting the development alize they can’t sustain that forever,” says Barr. of Native leaders was crucial to the long-term success of their nations. “DeAnna realized that, too, and so one of the Today, almost 90 Native leaders call themselves Rebuilders, including things that impresses me about her is that at these 26 Rebuilders who make up Cohort 5. the same time her organization has been grow- ing, DeAnna has been on a parallel track where Verzella L. Bauman Adrienne Benjamin Applications for Cohort 6 of Native Nation Rebuilders open July 15, 2014. she’s been learning about herself and her own Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Learn more about these Rebuilders and the program at bfdn.org/C5Reb. leadership strengths. I would say that she’s become more certain about what she wants to do, and more assertive about what she can’t take on.” JXTA artists have But one thing Cummings always makes time the creative space for is mentoring the next generation of leaders and supplies to fully in North Minneapolis, says community organiz- express their ideas. er Roxxanne O’Brien. “I met DeAnna when I was 14, and I was one of those young people who Luke Black Elk Curtis Buckanaga Florence Clairmont Jennifer Cross Dani J. Daugherty was always getting into trouble. I never signed Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Yankton Sioux Tribe Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Oglala Sioux Tribe GREAT PEOPLE BRINGING NEW IDEAS up for a JXTA program, but I’d always drop in because there was this good artist energy there, and DeAnna was always the first person to come out of her office and say hello,” O’Brien 2014 MCF Philanthropy Fellows says. Cummings encouraged O’Brien to go to college while she worked to raise three kids, and The MCF Philanthropy mentored her toward pursuing her own Bush Fellowship is a new Fellowship in 2013. “It touches my heart to program that embeds think of the way DeAnna has had a domino ef- Guthrie Ducheneaux Karen Ducheneaux Gordon K. Fineday Leonard Fineday Donita Fischer the Bush Foundation’s Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe fect for other black women. With JXTA, she and commitment to lead- Roger have made a light, showing people that ership development you can create something beautiful with just an into its operations. The idea, just a spark. When I see her doing this, it program launched in shows me that it can be done.” 2013 in partnership with Cummings says, “I want people to say about the Minnesota Council me that everyone who’s worked for me and on Foundations and is worked with me is better for it. I want to draw designed to prepare in- out the best in people so much so that people dividuals from communi- are beating down the door to work with me and Marcella Gilbert Laurie Harper Pamela Johns Jerry Loud Joseph Regguinti ties underrepresented in Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Red Lake Nation Red Lake Nation Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe to further where they’re trying to go in life.” philanthropy for careers Showing other women their leadership at foundations. Fellows potential is one reason Cummings agreed to will work alongside Bush join the Bush Foundation’s Board of Directors Foundation staff for this spring. “At one point in my life, I might three years and will also have thought ‘I’m not a leader because I don’t benefit from significant look like my idea of what I thought a leader

PHOTO: BRUCE SILCOX BRUCE PHOTO: professional develop- should look like.’ I’m not always completely ment and networking op- buttoned down, and I talk a lot and some- portunities. “But the MCF The 2014 MCF Philanthropy Fellows (from left), Prairie Rose Seminole Mato Standing High Justin Taylor David Tiessen Jr. Stephanie Traversie Coya White Hat-Artichoker, Dameun Strange, times too much. But I think when I got a Bush Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Rosebud Sioux Tribe Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe Fond du Lac Band of Lake Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Fellowship is about more Fellowship, there were people in the world Nation Superior Chippewa Carly Bad Heart Bull and Venessa Fuentes. than changing the face who said, ‘Hey, if DeAnna is a Bush Fellow, of leadership in philan- maybe that means I can be a Bush Fellow, too.’ thropy,” says Stephanie Andrews, leadership development director at the Bush That’s the part of my life I’m ready to step into This could be you. Foundation. “It’s about infusing new ideas and viewpoints into philanthropy so now, sharing what I’ve learned about honor- Applications open that we can reflect the communities we invest in.” ing your history, and owning and using who July 15, 2014. you are and everything you’re made up of in Applications for the 2015 MCF Fellowship will open in Fall 2014. service of your work and in trying to make a You can learn more about the work of the MCF Philanthropy Fellows by difference in the world.” visiting bfdn.org/2014MCF. Philimon D. Two Eagle Courtney J. Two Lance Wendy Wells Roger White Owl Rosebud Sioux Tribe Oglala Sioux Tribe Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation SILCOX BRUCE PHOTOS:

32 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 33 BY THE COMMUNITY INNOVATION NUMBERS In 2013, we launched two new programs—The Bush Prize for Community Innovation and the 40% increase in payments Community Innovation Grants. $844 in 2013...a total of $28.6 million $900 million COMMUNITY EDUCATION INNOVATION $800 $6.5 MILLION $11 MILLION 22.5% 38.4% ND

$700 MN

$600 30

$500 Payments for stops on our grants and fellowships 2013 road show

$400 $844 million in assets in 2013 at the end of 2013…an increase of 7.8% $300 SD COMMUNICATIONS $200 & CONVENINGS $1 MILLION LEADERSHIP 3.7% $100 $3.8 MILLION And after that... 13.3% LEGACY NATIVE $1.8 MILLION NATIONS $0 OTHER 6.4% $2.5 MILLION 8.8% $2 MILLION 2011 2012 2013 2010 2007 2004 2005 2006 2009 2008 6.9% 936 500 200 applications exchanges one-on-one calls for Community Innovation Grants and via phone and email with potential with organizations that didn’t receive the Bush Prize reviewed in 2013 Bush Prize and Community Innovation funding to provide feedback on their Grant applicants to provide support applications and to ask for their 152% during the application period feedback on our application process more applications for the newest cohort of 4,597 Bush Fellows new K-12 teachers in classrooms, prepared by our 14 higher-education partners in the Teacher Effectiveness Initiative 119% 5 operating principles more applications adopted by the Board and staff in 2013: for the newest cohort of or Spread optimism. Work beyond ourselves. Native Nation Everybody matters. STOCK Rebuilders i 9,336 pages 1.12 trees Steward well. saved annually by transitioning to More good. Every year. online Board materials ILLUSTRATION: ILLUSTRATION:

34 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 35 We’re excited to intro- WE’RE duce “Learning Logs” and LEARNING LOG LEARNING “Learning Papers,” both here TOO in b and soon on our web- FULL-YEAR RESIDENCY PROGRAM site. Rather than keeping GRADUATES FROM PILOT TO STATEWIDE EFFORT LEARNING FROM THE grant and fellowship reports TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS The University of South Dakota, one of 14 partners in the Foundation’s INITIATIVE filed away, we will be asking Teacher Effectiveness Initiative, is tipping the balance in teacher A learning paper on a midterm evalu- the ORGANIZATIONS preparation from theory to practice, giving teacher candidates a ation by the Improve Group, which in- cluded interviews and focus groups with and individuals we fund full-year of classroom immersion. individuals from our higher education partners, teacher candidates, K-12 part- to publicly log their learn- Learning Logger: Rick Melmer ners and the initiative coaches from FHI 360. This paper summarizes our learning ing—good, bad and ugly—so from the evaluation and highlights impli- cations for the Foundation’s education everyone can benefit. And through quarterly Learn- THE SETUP THE PROJECT work going forward. Read the full paper We knew going in that teacher candidates have a kind of romantic We believed we could better prepare new teachers to enter the at bfdn.org/learnTEI. ing Papers we’ll share what we’re learning, too. notion of what teaching will be like. Spending 12 weeks in a class- classroom by changing the balance between theory and practice— room only gives you a little snapshot. But the truth is, it’s a long year not just getting them out into the classroom earlier (starting in —ALLISON BARMANN, VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGY AND LEARNING from August to May, and when new teachers take over their first their freshman year) and often, but moving seniors from a one- LEARNING FROM THE classrooms they discover parents get mad, kids get difficult and it’s semester experience to a full-year residency model. We introduced INCOMMONS INITIATIVE challenging even for an experienced teacher to engage a classroom the idea to our colleagues across USD’s campus in the fall of 2008, A learning paper on an external re- for a full year. and it took a year or two to lay the groundwork and get the buy-in view by the University of Minnesota of we needed to begin the pilot. InCommons, an initiative launched by the Foundation in 2009 to increase the leadership and problem-solving capacity of communities. In 2013, the Foundation THE ended the InCommons initiative and LEARNING incorporated its most successful strate- gies into the core of the Foundation’s Change like this is challenging, In the field, we’ve learned a lot about What starts small can surpass your work. Read the full paper at bfdn.org/ because it interrupted some course the kind of mentor teacher the initial dreams. We piloted the full-year learninc. work and required change across the teacher candidates really benefit residency program in the 2010-2011 entire campus, not just the School of from working with—those who say, school year with 10 elementary edu- Above, teacher candidates LEARNING FROM A at Minnesota State University, Education. But we had support from “come alongside me and let’s do this cation majors in Sioux Falls. For the SHARED FACILITY Mankato; right, high school the president’s and provost’s offices, together and I’ll learn from you and 2014-2015 school year, every USD science teacher prepared by which was really1 key to our success. you’ll learn from2 me.” It’s hard work for teacher candidate,3 with just a few A learning paper on the Bush Founda- Valley City State University. both teachers, but after a full year, the exceptions, is in full-year residency. tion’s move to a facility shared with teacher candidates feel prepared and The South Dakota Board of Regents Minnesota Philanthropy Partners (see confident that they can go out and is implementing full-year residency page 5). From creating a shared vision to ABOUT THE do this. And they know what it’s really in all state-run teacher preparation the nitty gritty of who pays for what, the going to be like. programs, and we’re talking to other years-long effort culminated in an Au- states that are interested in what gust 2013 move and promises a future of TEACHER we’re doing in South Dakota. better workspace, better technology and EFFECTIVENESS lower costs. Read the full paper at bfdn. org/learnmove. INITIATIVE

In 2009, the Foundation launched a $40 million partnership with 14 colleges and THE LEARNING LOGGER universities in three states to improve their teacher preparation practices in four key areas—recruitment, preparation, employment and support—using data to inform Rick Melmer is former dean of the School of Education at the University of South change. The Foundation’s overarching goal for our education work is to increase Dakota. He’s currently working with the South Dakota Board of Regents, which in the percentage of students of all backgrounds who attain post-secondary success. 2011 decided to implement USD’s full-year residency pilot program in all state-run Learn more at bfdn.org/TEI. teacher preparation programs.

36 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 37 (BF’12), turned heads in 2013 BUSH with features on Minnesota Public Radio, the line, Tech- FELLOWS & Crunch, the gloss, FashioNotes THE REBUILDERS and other media outlets. HAVE YOU BEEN COUNTED? NEWS The National Council on Fam- ily Relations elected William D. We’ve put out the call to the more than 2,300 Bush Saint Paul artist Ta-coumba Allen (BF’95) as its president- Fellows and Rebuilders—one of the most impressive Aiken (BF’92) earned a Guin- elect. Allen is the owner of regional networks of leaders in the nation—to respond to BUZZ ness World Record for building Healing Bonds, a family therapy the Bush Census. The census will help us focus our efforts the largest Lite-Brite instal- practice in Minneapolis. and resources to better connect Fellows and Rebuilders, A showcase for the ongoing work of the network of more than 3,000 Bush lation ever with the 12-by-24 both with each other and with other valuable leadership Fellows, Rebuilders and Foundation Board members, consultants and staff. foot mural he created for the Lakota artist and art historian networks throughout region. Share your news and stay in touch at . kick-off of the Forever Saint Arthur Amiotte (BF’80&’02), [email protected] Paul Challenge. His creation re- recipient of the Foundation’s Take a minute now to be counted at bfdn.org/countme. quired more than 596,000 Lite 2012 Enduring Vision Award, Brite pegs, and help from more worked with the South Dakota than 600 volunteers (including State Historical Society in 2013 some Bush Foundation staff, to gather 31 of his original col- below). lages on loan from private col- lectors and museum collections Mode-sty.com, an online shop throughout the United States. Culture: The Collages of Arthur Entrepreneurship at the Col- for conservative women’s cloth- The result is Transforma- Amiotte, an exhibition that lege of Saint Benedict and Saint ing launched by Zahra Aljabri tion and Continuity in Lakota opened at the South Dakota John’s University in central Cultural Heritage Center in Minnesota. Pierre on April 19. Dan Bergin (BF’01) was nomi- Twin Cities Business named nated for a 2013 regional Emmy Margaret Anderson Kelliher Award for Asian Flavors, a docu- (BF’03) one of “100 people to mentary he produced about how know in Minnesota.” The former food connects immigrants with PHOTO: BRUCE SILCOX BRUCE PHOTO: Speaker of the Minnesota House their homeland and culture. of Representatives is now the WANTED: president and CEO of the Min- Fast Company magazine talked YOUR STORIES nesota High Tech Association. to Finnegans’ CEO and founder Jacquie Berglund (BF’14) Story has an amazing power to Terri Barreiro (BF’79) co- about her efforts to teach other transform. It can take what you do wrote Social Entrepreneurship: social entrepreneurs how to every day—what you’ve perhaps From Issue to Viable Plan. bring mission-driven busi- She is the first director of the nesses to scale. Read the story committed your life to—and turn St. Paul artist Ta-coumba Aiken (center) with Bush staff Donald McNeely Center for at bfdn.org/xjberg. it into inspiration for others and Margaret Miles and Continued on page 41 new allies for your work. That kind Cathy ten Broeke with of alchemy can happen easily, as their son Louie. long as there’s a steady supply of HAYNES MAX PHOTO: one essential ingredient. Story. We created b as a platform for AWARDS SEASON you to celebrate your successes, I DO, I DO...AT LAST William Kent Krueger share what you’ve learned and (BF’88) won the 2014 Min- forge new connections—a place nesota Book Award for his where your work can transmute USH FELLOWS Margaret Miles ily back in 2001. At the stroke of midnight at (’91) and (’04) Minneapolis’s City Hall, Mayor R.T. Rybak novel Tamarack County. to gold through the power of story. Cathy ten Broeke became the first same-sex couple made their 13-year union official as they First step? Tell us what you think Three Bush Fellows won to marry in Minnesota on August held hands with their son Louie, now six, 2013 Minnesota Books about b, what stories you want us B1, 2013, when the marriage equality act be- in front of more than a thousand cheering Award honors: poet Patricia to tell and what you’re up to. We’re came law in the state. “We knew this really supporters. “Margaret is a self-described Kirkpatrick (’90) for Odessa waiting eagerly to hear from you wasn’t about us—it was about representing major introvert, so it was a big stretch for at [email protected]. a moment in history for our state,” says ten her, but it was such a moving thing to take and novelist David Treuer Broeke, the State of Minnesota’s director this vow as a family,” says ten Broeke. “We (’03) for Rez Life. Robert —VICTORIA TIRREL, Editor, b to prevent and end homelessness, who had are the beneficiaries of the work of so many Hedin (’97) received the Kay married Miles, an artist and development people who devoted their lives and careers Sexton Award for lifelong director at Saint Stephen’s Human Services, to this cause, and being the recipients of contributions to the literary in a private ceremony with friends and fam- that moment of justice was just incredible.” community.

38 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 39 THE BUZZ

Continued from page 39 C. Scott Cooper (BF’07) was named CEO of RE-AMP, a Saint Paul Mayor Chris Cole- network of nearly 160 nonprof- “ORIGINAL Cowboy Kicker Beans and Wiiyaas* man appointed Eyenga Bo- its and foundations across eight 1 tablespoon olive oil kamba (BF’06) as the director Midwestern states working LOCAL” 1 red onion, chopped of Sprockets, a City initiative on climate change and energy 2 cups cooked or canned black beans, drained aimed at creating more learn- policy with the goal of reduc- When poet Heid Erdrich 1.75 ounces bison jerky, cut into bite-size pieces ing opportunities for the 80 ing global warming pollution (BF’01) set out to write a cook- (optional for pacifists — kick wiiyass) percent of time youth spend economy-wide 80 percent by book of indigenous culture 1 cup stock outside of school. 2050. He served as the Bush for the Minnesota Historical 1/2 cup hot or mild Famous Dave’s BBQ Sauce Foundation’s director of com- Society Press, “First I thought (Devil’s Spit for hotheads) “Everybody is an educator—re- munication and engagement I knew everything, then I real- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey gardless of status, position, title from 2009 to 2013. ized I knew nothing, then I was 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces or bank account. We all surprised by how much knowl- have gifts we can offer edge there was in my own In a medium saucepan, set over low heat, warm olive oil our youth,” says Mary family. It was a beautiful thing and fry red onion until very soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in K. Boyd (BF’86), who WHO IS to deepen my beans, jerky, and stock, increase heat to medium, and created the Every Body’s understanding let mixture bubble for 1 minute. Stir in In coalition, a three-day MICHAEL of my culture barbecue sauce and maple, turn heat community-wide confer- and my family, and I’m so happy to have to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. ence in October 2013 SOLBERG? Stir in sundried tomatoes and simmer done this for my children.” aimed at connecting the Five quick facts about Foundation Board Erdrich’s large family (including sister and 30 minutes, adding stock if mixture dots between classroom 2007 Bush Fellow Lise Erdrich) all had a seems dry. This dish is done when time and community- Gary Cunningham, with Betsy Hodges member Michael Solberg hand in shaping the meals that made the final jerky is softened (which can vary with based education. cut, “and my husband washed every dish.” the type of jerky) and sauce is thick. A FAMILY GUY. Michael and his wife, Charleen, live Erdrich credits her Bush Fellowship Serve hot or cold. Karen Cadigan (BF’02) joined Gary Cunningham (BF’91), 1 in Fargo in a household busy with the activities of their with giving her the skills she needed to do the Bloomington (Minnesota) vice president of programs children—Grace (10), Charlie (8) and Rose (6)—whom they a deep dive on indigenous food culture From Original Local: Indigenous Public Schools to lead its early and chief program officer at traveled to China to adopt in 2009. (“harder than a dissertation,” she says), Foods, Stories, and Recipes from the childhood development initia- the Northwest Area Founda- and credits “Famous Dave” Anderson Upper Midwest (Minnesota Histori- tive. She was previously the tion, stepped into the role of PRESIDENT OF A GROWING COMPANY. (BF’85) for putting the kick in her recipe cal Society Press, 2013). Used with director of the Minnesota De- First Man with the November 2In 2004, Michael joined Bell State Bank & Trust as its for Cowboy Kicker Beans. permission. partment of Education’s Office 2013 election of his wife, Betsy chief operating officer; in 2009, he was named president. *dried meat of Early Learning. Hodges, as mayor of Minne- The family-owned company is the largest independently apolis. owned bank in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Ellen Chaffee (BF’77) was appointed to the Des Moines Loretta DeLong (BF’90) coor- A BELIEVER IN GREAT WORKPLACES. University Board of Trustees dinated the first-ever Weaving 3Michael has helped guide Bell State Bank & Trust in August 2013. She is a senior Warriors: North Dakota Wom- through unprecedented growth during his tenure, at the fellow at the Association of en in Educational Leadership same time the Bank has received regional and even na- ENTER TO WIN Governing Boards of Universi- conference in September 2013. tional recognition as a great place to work. ties and Colleges and is the past She is an assistant professor of Black Aperture, the first book of published poems by Matt president of two universities in educational leadership at the AN EVANGELIST FOR PAYING IT FORWARD. Rasmussen (BF’09), was chosen as a finalist for the 2013 North Dakota. University of North Dakota. 4 In 2007, Michael and Charleen launched the Bank’s National Book Award, a contest he entered with a little groundbreaking Pay It Forward program. Annually, every boost from his Bush Fellowship. The McKnight Foundation Bob Derus (BF’88) was named full-time employee receives $1,000 (part-timers get $500) “I paid for the entry out of the communications fund honored Sunny Chantha- interim city administrator of to personally pay forward to those in need. Plus, each em- that I also used to set up my website,” says Rasmussen, nouvong (BF’12), executive Dayton, Minnesota, in June ployee can choose a customer, vendor or community mem- who admits it was “surreal” to find himself in the running director of the Lao Assistance 2013. Derus retired as city ber to receive $1,000 to pay forward to someone in need or for the country’s most prestigious poetry prize. “I think the Center, with the 2013 Virginia administrator of Saint Michael, to invest in a cause they care about. To date, the program has lesson I’ve learned is that you have to enter if you want to McKnight Binger Award in Hu- Minnesota, in 2012. paid forward more than $5 million. win. Without that Fellowship funding, I’m not sure I would man Service. Chanthanouvong have taken the initiative to send it in.” is only the second Lao Minne- Mark Dienhart (BF’89), recent- A PROUD MIDWESTERNER. Born in Finley, North A winner of the 2014 Minnesota Book Award and 2012 sotan to receive the distinction, ly named president and CEO of 5Dakota, raised in Fargo, and a graduate of both Concor- Walt Whitman Award, Rasmussen spent 10 years working which recognizes Minnesotans the Schulze Family Foundation, dia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) and William Mitchell on the poems in this collection about his brother’s suicide, who have demonstrated “an spoke with former Bush Foun- College of Law (Saint Paul), Michael believes that the a debut the National Book Award jurists praised as “piti- exceptional personal com- dation Program Officer Sarah Midwestern work ethic, strong faith and dedication to less, essential and keen as birth.” mitment to helping others in Lutman of Twin Cities Business community and philanthropy make North Dakota the best their communities but who magazine about the future plans place to build a business, a family and a life. You can hear Matt Rasmussen read from have received little or no public of the philanthropy created by Black Aperture at the National Book Award recognition.” Best Buy’s Dick Schulze. Read

Finalists reading at bfdn.org/xmras. COLGAN STEPHANIE PHOTO: the story at bfdn.org/xmdien.

40 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 41 THE BUZZ

life and cultural diversity of digital technologies depart- neapolis Park and Recreation bers who have made significant, neer Press to the Today Show. A Minneapolis’s Chicago Avenue ment. Watch soul/soul at bfdn. Board’s 2013 Reverend Martin demonstrable contributions to former technical director at the corridor for his We Are the org/xKyja. Luther King Jr. Living the the public good through research, Minnesota Children’s Museum, Other project in 2013, display- Dream Award and the Ord- teaching and/or public service. Nelson is CEO and founder of ing more than 100 photos in In May 2013, Patrice Kunesh way’s Sally Award for commit- Miller heads the landscape Play from Scratch. store windows between 32nd (BF’09) became the deputy ment to the arts. Longoria is architecture department at the and 42nd Avenues. undersecretary of rural devel- the co-founder of Mentoring University’s College of Design. Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas (BF ’07), opment at the United States Peace Through Art, a teen- who is the manager of social Rebuilder Pamela Johns (Co- Department of Agriculture. driven nonprofit arts group The role of Hazelden’s CEO responsibility at The Mosaic hort 5) and four Bush Fellows— She is of Standing Rock Lakota that replaces gang graffiti with Mark Mishek (BF’85) ex- Company, was named to “The Tracine Asberry (’07), Tane descent and formerly served as vibrant murals. panded in 2013 with approved (Real) Power 50” in Minnesota Danger (’14), Nimo Farah (’14) the deputy solicitor for Indian plans to merge with the Betty Business. and Gülgün Kayim (’04)—were Affairs at the U.S. Department Marion McClinton (BF’93) Ford Center. Mishek will lead named by the Creative Com- of the Interior. directed the Guthrie Theater’s the new Hazelden Betty Ford Writer and South Dakota bison munity Leadership Institute as production of Othello in early Foundation as president and rancher Dan O’Brien (BF’01) 2014 fellows. Former Clinton Administration 2014. Given the chance, here’s CEO. Read the interview with made the keynote address at adviser Paul Legler (BF’90) the question he’d ask Shake- Mishek in the Los Angeles the Museum of the American Carol Johnson (BF’92) published his first novel,Song speare about the play: Why does Times at bfdn.org/mmis. Bison in Rapid City on the first retired as superintendent of of Destiny, a 1960s-era coming- Othello believe Iago? National Bison Day, established the Boston Public Schools in of-age story set near his family’s Jeff Freeland Nelson (BF’04) in 2013 by a U.S. Senate resolu- 2013. A former superintendent Jamestown, North Dakota, farm. Kristine Miller (BF’12) received invented Yoxo, sustainable tion officially designating the of the Minneapolis Public the 2013 University of Minne- creative toys that hit it big over first Thursday of November as Schools, Johnson serves as Muralist Jimmy Longoria sota Outstanding Community the 2013 holiday season with a national day of recognition for visiting professor at Vanderbilt (BF’10) received the Min- Service Award for faculty mem- media coverage from the Pio- North America’s iconic herd. University’s Peabody College in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations.

Retired Hennepin County District Judge Franklin Knoll The Fabulous Ice Age Words to the Wise OF CONCORDIA COLLEGE COURTESY PHOTO: (BF’77) was featured in the Star Tribune in February 2013 for the “It’d be tragic to give money and not have it be fun,” Microsoft founder poetry he writes based on the detailed journals he kept during and philanthropist BILL GATES said in April 2013, at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, his years on the bench. Read the in conversation with Bush Foundation President JEN FORD REEDY. The exchange was part of story at bfdn.org/xfkn. the dedication festivities for the Grant Center, home of the Offutt School of Business and Barry Auditorium. Rebuilder Jennifer Kolden (Cohort 4) started a new job as director of development at the Native American Community President Obama appointed Filmmaker Chris Eyre (BF’07), Fate has been a torch bearer Development Institute in Min- Karen Diver (BF’02) to serve chairman of The Film School for the affordable housing neapolis. Her relocation to the on the Climate Control Task at Santa Fe University of Art and community development Twin Cities will allow her to or- Force. She is the first woman and Design, spoke with Indian industry for years,” says Min- ganize the urban citizens of the to chair the tribal council for Country Today Media Network nesota Housing Commissioner Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara the Fond du Lac Band of Lake about the Robert Redford Mila- Mary Tingerthal (BF’84). Nation, where she is a citizen, Superior Chippewa. gro Initiative, which is provid- “He has greatly influenced around their constitutional ing scholarships to indigenous policy and priorities locally revision engagement process. KERI PICKETT The Federal Reserve Bank of filmmakers. “I am really glad and nationally and because of Minneapolis hired Angie Eilers that more Native people are his leadership, CommonBond Media artist Kyja Kristjans- (BF’08) as director, regional working in film and music—the has provided the security and son-Nelson (BF’07) col- outreach and education. She way we are progressing. It takes dignity of a home to thousands laborated with dancer and also serves on the board of a whole group of people, with who otherwise would be left choreographer Young Sun Lee SciMathMN, a nonprofit, state- various points of view, to show behind.” CommonBond is the and composer Evelyn Ficarra wide education and business that there is not just one Native Midwest’s largest nonprofit to create soul/soul, an experi-

coalition advocating for quality America, but a whole spectrum provider of affordable housing mental film that debuted at © FROM YOUTUBE/ STILL PHOTO: preK-16 science, technology, of places, and people.” with services. the Ansan Art Center in Seoul, engineering and mathematics South Korea, in September. Keri Pickett’s (BF ’92/’10) documentary The Fabulous Ice Age earned “Best of Fest” honors at the Minneapolis/Saint Paul Inter- (STEM) education based on Paul Fate (BF’99) retired from Photographer Wing Young Kristjansson-Nelson is chair national Film Festival. Inspired by her uncle, the former figure skater Roy Blakey (who is not pictured in this still from the docu- research, national standards CommonBond, where’s he’s Huie (BF’96) chronicled the of Minnesota State University mentary), the film chronicles the golden era of touring ice shows. Watch the trailer forThe Fabulous Ice Age at bfdn.org/xkpic. and effective practices. been CEO since 2007. “Paul businesses, residents, street Moorhead’s cinema arts and

42 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 43 THE BUZZ

Alyce Spotted Bear (BF’88), Eric Jolly, president of the plans. She is currently con- November 2013 to move to mental in helping drive many who led the Mandan, Hidatsa, BUSH STAFF Science Museum of Minne- sulting with Circus Juventas, Wisconsin. She’s now work- Bush Fellows to his alma mater and Arikara Nations from 1982 & BOARD sota and a Foundation Board the largest youth performing ing as operations manager for of Harvard University and to 1987, passed away on August member, just began a four-year art circus school in North Nature’s Pathways magazine recruiting potential students 13, 2013. In 2010, President NEWS appointment by President America, to expand its facility where she “continues to be across the Midwest. Obama appointed her to the Na- Obama to the National Museum and endowment. Catherine is passionate about bringing tional Advisory Committee on Jen Alstad and Lars Leafblad and Library Services Board. also organizing a coalition to individuals in the community In April, Jaime A. Pinkham Indian Education. both made Minnesota Business The voluntary board advises launch an annual Climate Walk together to share knowledge testified before the House Ap- magazine’s list of “The (Real) the director of the Institute for to raise community awareness, and resources, and to become propriations Subcommittee on Mihailo “Mike” Temali (BF’98) Power 50” in May 2013. Alstad, Museum and Library Services build political will and gener- empowered to create the lives Interior, Environment and Re- received the 2013 E Pluribus a member of the Foundation’s on general policy and practices, ate financial contributions to they dream about.” lated Agencies in Washington, Unum Prize from the Migration Board, is the CEO and founder and on selections for the Na- improve climate justice and D.C., at the invitation of Rep. Policy Institute. He is founder of bswing, a Minneapolis-based tional Medals for Museum and reduce the impacts of climate The Bush Foundation and Min- Betty McCollum on the work and CEO of the Neighborhood research and design firm. Leaf- Library Service. change. nesota Philanthropy Partners that he leads for the Founda- Development Center in Min- blad is the Foundation’s leader- co-located in 2013 to share tion as vice president for Native neapolis. ship and engagement director. Foundation Board member Jane Leonard left the Foun- expenses and space—now nations. Robert J. Jones was installed dation in March 2013 to start we’re also sharing an employee: A New Place to Nest TOURISM DAKOTA NORTH PHOTO: Anton Treuer (BF’08), execu- Several staff members began as the 19th president of the her own community and rural Beth Norris, the Foundation’s Self-taught scrap-metal sculptor Gary Greff (BF ’04) of Regent, tive director of Bemidji State new responsibilities in 2013: University at Albany-SUNY development consultancy, part-time receptionist and North Dakota, just added another attraction to the Enchanted University’s American Indian Stephanie Andrews became in September 2013. He had do grant review for the Otto office assistant, took a position Highway, a 32-mile stretch of super-sized installations he began Resource Center, won the 2012 the leadership development di- served as senior vice president Bremer Foundation and teach with GiveMN, the Minnesota building along Interstate 94 three decades ago. Not another sculp- Ken Hale Prize for linguistics, rector, Mandy Ellerton became for academic administration at Metropolitan State Univer- Philanthropy Partners affiliate ture, but a new 90-room hotel he calls “The Enchanted Castle.” in recognition of his academic manager of the Bush Prize, Brian in the University of Minnesota sity. She continues to work on behind Give to the Max Day. “The whole idea behind the Enchanted Highway was to bring and community work with the Fier joined the Communications System since 2004. community change and leader- people to town, so we always thought about having a place where Ojibwe language. His most re- Team as an associate, Molly ship network development with D. Donald Peddie, the first they could stay,” says Greff, 65, who gave an abandoned school cent book, The Assassination of Matheson-Gruen became man- Catherine Jordan left the colleagues around the country; director of the Bush Leadership building a medieval castle makeover. “The Enchanted Highway Hole in the Day, won the Award ager of the Community Innova- Foundation in March 2013 check out her adventures at Fellows Program from 1966 to is unique, so we knew we couldn’t have a cookie cutter hotel to of Merit from the American tion Grants and Rachel Orville to assist a new experiential- www.janeleonard.net. 1989, passed away in March go with it.” Watch a short video about Greff’s project atbfdn. Association of State and Local transitioned from consultant based charter school, Upper 2013. A long-time human Alice Sanborn org/xEnchant. History. to associate on the Community Mississippi Academy, with Rebecca Martin left her work resources executive at the Star Innovation Team. the creation of fundraising with the Education Team in Tribune, Peddie was instru- Robert Vanasek (BF’85) was Alice Sanborn retired from the recognized by Sokol Minnesota Allison Barmann, vice presi- Foundation in June 2013 after in 2013 for his service since dent of strategy and learning, serving as assistant director Irish traditional musician President Obama appointed 2008 as honorary consul for the was named to the Minneapolis/ of the Bush Medical Fellows Paddy O’Brien (BF’06) pub- Ranee Ramaswamy (BF’96) to Czech Republic in Minnesota, St. Paul Business Journal’s “40 Program since 1999, assisting lished his memoir, The Road the National Council on the Arts. Iowa, North Dakota and South Under 40,” just weeks after with the application, selection from Castelbarnagh: Growing She is the founder and artistic Dakota. He is former Speaker joining the Foundation in March and mentoring of more than Up in Irish Music. director of Ragamala Dance and of the Minnesota House of Rep- 2013. In March 2014, she was 100 Bush Medical Fellows. will serve a five-year term. resentatives and runs his own also named a Cross Sector Gregory A. Plotnikoff (BF’02) consulting business. Leadership Fellow by Presidio Alfonso Wenker joined the co-authored Trust Your Gut for The National Rural Health As- Institute (bfdn.org/xsector). Minnesota Council on Founda- people who suffer from gastro- sociation honored Rugby, North Sandra Vargas (BF’95) was tions in January 2014 as the intestinal distress and disease. Dakota, physician Hubert named to the board of Inde- The Foundation welcomed director of diversity, equity He is an integrative medicine Seiler (BF’94) with its 2014 pendent Sector, a leadership DeAnna Cummings to its Board and inclusion. In 2013, Wenker physician at the Penny George Practitioner of the Year Award. network for nonprofits, founda- of Directors in February 2014. served as “founding fellow” of Institute for Health and Heal- “I’ve been a rural health physi- tions and corporations commit- Read more on page 26 about this the philanthropy fellowship ing and serves as a senior con- cian for my entire career, over ted to advancing the common amazing 2007 Bush Fellow who program the Bush Foundation sultant to the Center for Health 40 years,” Seiler told The Pierce good. She is president of the leads the Bush Prize-winning began in partnership with MCF. Care Innovation. County Tribune. “I knew that I Minneapolis Foundation. Juxtaposition Arts. In his new role, Wenker will wanted to be in a place where I also help to expand the result- Frank Pommersheim (BF’83) could practice all types of fam- Sean M. Virnig (BF’06) was The Young Nonprofit Profes- ing MCF Philanthropy Fellow- presented the 2013 Constitu- ily medicine, and rural health named a 2013 Rising Alumni by sionals Network named John ship to other foundations. tion Day lecture at the Univer- allows for that.” the University of Minnesota for Fetzer, associate on the Native sity of South Dakota. He is a his leadership of the California Nations Team, to its inaugural Ann Yelich, the Foundation’s nationally recognized Indian Minneapolis-based photogra- School for the Deaf, an inter- cohort of Leadership Institute WELCOME long-time human resources law expert and a professor at pher Alec Soth (BF’08) cap- nationally renowned bilingual Fellows. The experience is aimed TO THE consultant, moved her busi- the USD Law School. tured North Dakota’s oil boom school in Danville. at encouraging exploration of ness to Nashville, Tennessee, PHOTO: JEFF ACHEN PHOTO: BUSH TEAM for a New York Times Magazine participants’ big career ques- in March 2014. She led the Sharon Radd (BF’06) accepted cover story, “The Luckiest Place tions while doing some serious Joining the Bush Foundation since 2013 are (from left) Dominick Washington as communications search process for more than a position as assistant professor on Earth.” Watch a slideshow skill swapping and network director, Allison Barmann as vice president of strategy and learning, Maya Beecham as educa- half of the Foundation’s current in organizational leadership at he narrated about the experi- weaving across the local founda- tion team coordinator, Kayla Yang-Best as education director and Lars Leafblad as leadership and staff. Saint Catherine University. ence at bfdn.org/xasoth. tion and nonprofit worlds. engagement director.

44 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 45 LEADERSHIP THE

2014 Leadership 2015 Bush Fellowships 2015 MCF Philanthropy FORECAST Network Grants ($50,000 to $100,000) Fellowships Mark your calendar for upcoming convenings, (Up to $200,000) APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED APPLICATIONS OPEN APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED JULY 29–SEPTEMBER 18 FALL 2014 and new grant and fellowship opportunities. APRIL 22–JUNE 12 bfdn.org/BFP bfdn.org/MCFellow bfdn.org/LNG The Bush Fellowship is both a recognition The MCF Philanthropy Fellowship pre- This new, flexible open grant program al- of extraordinary achievement and a bet on pares individuals from communities under- lows us to support the good work that others extraordinary potential. Funds can be used represented in philanthropy for careers at are doing to develop the leadership capacity for academic programs or for self-designed foundations. COMMUNITY of the region. programs to grow their personal impact. Read more about MCF Philanthropy INNOVATION Read more about Bush Fellowships Fellowships on page 33. on page 31. 2014 Bush Prize for Community Innovation (Up to $500,000) APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED CONVENINGS APRIL 8–JUNE 5

bfdn.org/applyBP The Bush Prize honors and supports innovative organizations with OTA Road Shows a track record of making great ideas happen, providing creative FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA capital for the organizations to use however they choose. September 12, 2014 bfdn.org/opps Stay tuned for the schedule of “Road Read more about the Bush Prize on page 8. WeAreOTA.com Shows” coming to communities across Twice a year, people from across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota three OTAs (South Dak-, North Dak-, and the 23 Native nations throughout Community Innovation Grants Minnes-) gather to transform them- 2014. ($10,000 to $200,000) selves and the region. At OTA-Sioux Rebuilders from Cohort 5 Falls on April 4, more than 500 at- APPLICATIONS FOR 2015 OPEN tendees (including Bush Fellows and OTA-Sioux Falls 2014 AUGUST 2014 Rebuilders) met at the intersection of bfdn.org/infoCI community and creativity. We hope to Community Innovation Grants support communities to use see you at OTA-Fargo this fall. problem-solving processes that lead to more effective, equitable NATIVE NATIONS and sustainable solutions. Meet OTA’s founder, Hugh Weber, on page 48. OTA-Sioux Falls 2014 Native Nation Rebuilders Program ($500 to $10,000) APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED JULY 15–AUGUST 28 QUARTERLY bushCONNECT Through regional partners we’ve expanded the reach of Communi- bfdn.org/Reb GUTHRIE THEATER a ty Innovation Grants with three programs making grants between The Native Nation Rebuilders Program annually chooses up to LOOK FOR new grant MINNEAPOLIS $500 and $10,000. 30 existing and emerging Native leaders who want to strengthen program to open in late spring, May 12, 2014 their leadership skills and nation-building knowledge so they developed to support organizations IN MINNESOTA: Visit Headwaters Foundation may be instrumental in moving their nations, in cooperation TICKETS SOLD OUT! whose work benefits the overall educa- for Justice bfdn.org/xheadw with elected leadership, toward realization of their tribes’ unique Join the waiting list for last-minute tickets at bushCONNECT.org. tion ecosystem within the region. goals. Keep current on all our grant, fel- IN NORTH DAKOTA: Visit The Consensus Council bushCONNECT is a regional leadership networking event powered by the Bush lowship and convening opportunities bfdn.org/xconsen Read more about the Native Nation Rebuilders Program on page 32. Foundation and created in partnership with nearly 30 organizations from Minnesota, at bfdn.org/opps and keep in touch North Dakota and South Dakota. bushCONNECT is about the connections people will IN SOUTH DAKOTA: Visit South Dakota make when we bring together different networks of leaders. It’s about thinking bigger at [email protected]. Community Foundation bfdn.org/xsdcf and thinking differently about what’s possible in your community.

46 BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG BUSHFOUNDATION.ORG 47 THINK BIGGER. THINK DIFFERENTLY. HUGH WEBER CEO, OTA Sioux Falls, South Dakota

S CEO OF OTA, a network- Abuilding initiative for the three-state region, Hugh Weber CROSBY PAUL PHOTO: proselytizes daily on the power of “creative collisions—those BUSH FOUNDATION Yong Her Trista R. Harris SOUTH DAKOTA chance meetings and serendipitous BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sharon Hollingsworth Stephanie Judson ADVISORY COMMITTEE * encounters that can completely Jennifer Alstad Greg Keane Gülgün Kayim 1 Joe Bartmann change your trajectory.” DeAnna Cummings 1 Kelly Kleppe Matthew Kilian Malcom Chapman 8 So where does the Sioux Falls Tony Heredia Lars Leafblad Michael Kitchart Tanya Fiddler social entrepreneur find it? “The Curtis W. Johnson Martha Lee Repa Mekha 1 Christine Hamilton Queen City Bakery on Eighth Street Eric J. Jolly Molly Matheson Gruen June Noronha 6 Kitty Kinsman 1 8 is where I go when I’m in need of Robert J. Jones Catherine McGuire Joy A. Persall 1 Dave Rozenboom inspiration or intersection. It’s a Jan K. Malcolm June Noronha Jen Ford Reedy 6 Nick Tilsen 8 place where on any given day you Tim Mathern 1 Beth Norris Jen Rogers Diana VanderWoude 8 can find educators and entrepre- Pamela Moret, Chair Deb Novak Michael Solberg 5 neurs, community builders and Wendy M. Nelson Rachel Orville Connie Sprynczynatyk members of the creative class,” Peter Pennekamp John Otterlei Rajiv Tandon 1 * When Advisory Committee says Weber, who offices nearby just Michael Solberg Jaime A. Pinkham J. Patrick Traynor members have conflicts of to bask in the diverse crowd the Dee Thomas Jen Ford Reedy, President Sandra L. Vargas 1 interest with Bush Prize café attracts, and for easy access to Irving Weiser Connie Sangren Alfonso Wenker 4 finalists, we invite other the bakery’s famed Brooklyn Black- Tracey Zephier 2 Dameun Strange 4 community members to help out Cake. “There is the side benefit Victoria Tirrel 2013 BUSH PRIZE select Bush Prize winners. of having the best baked goods in NON-BOARD Beth Villaume SELECTION Tanya Krietlow and Toby also participated in the whole United States.” INVESTMENT Kristi Ward PANEL —MINNESOTA Morris Dominick Washington the 2013 Bush Prize Selection Queen City Bakery is the brain- COMMITTEE ADVISORS Kathryn Draeger 1 Timothy Clark Nancy Weidler Brad Finstad Panel for South Dakota. child of Mitch Jackson and Kristine Gary Stern Julie Wells Peggy Flanagan Moberg, a South Dakota couple Coya H. White Tony Heredia 5 who “boomeranged” back to the BUSH FOUNDATION Hat-Artichoker 4 Lorrie Janatopoulos state after living in New York City, STAFF Kayla Yang-Best Repa Mehka 1 a circular route that Weber says Kari Amundson Pamela Moret 5 can be great boon to innovation Amy Anderson 2014 BUSH FELLOWS and creativity across the Bush Stephanie Andrews SELECTION PANELS NORTH DAKOTA Foundation region. “You don’t want Maggie Arzdorf-Schubbe 1 3 Ta-coumba Aiken 1 ADVISORY COMMITTEE LEGEND to encourage youth to leave, but Carly Bad Heart Bull 4 Jennifer Alstad 5 Rod Backman 7 you do want to encourage them to Allison Barmann Kathleen Annette Lori Brown 2 7 1. Bush Fellow explore, and then provide them a Maya Beecham Yvonne L. Barrett 1 Chase Iron Eyes 2 7 2. Native Nation Rebuilder landing place where they can return Justin Christy Joseph Bartmann Bill Marcil Jr. 7 3. Consultant and thrive.” Julie Cohen Duane Benson Mary Massad 7 4. MCF Philanthropy Fellow Erin Dirksen Lisa Bodine Kathy Neset 7 5. Bush Board Member IF YOU GO: Order an Americano Mandy Ellerton Malcom Chapman Lana Rakow 7 6. Bush Staff Member and a peanut butter square, a near- John Fetzer Yvonne Cheung Ho Joe Satrom 7 7. 2013 Bush Prize Selection ly frozen confection that Weber Brian Fier Julie Garreau 2 Eric Trueblood 7 Panel – North Dakota says “will always treat you well.” Venessa Fuentes 4 Troyd Geist 8. 2013 Bush Prize Selection Elli Haerter Dwight Gourneau 1 Panel – South Dakota Photograph by Wes Eisenhauer WeAreOta.com MayKao Y. Hang

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