Location: Chicago area, IL which is the ancestral and unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other tribes such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox also called this area home.

Kelly’s college graduating class motto was a riff on a famous quote; never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that has. Kelly believes, foundationally, it is people who make the change they want to see in the world, and while it may start with a small group, movements are built when other’s join. Currently, Kelly could not be more thrilled to work on the movement for the health of the Mississippi River.

In her role as Executive Director of the Mississippi River Network, Kelly focuses on building the Network and works directly with network members in the ten-state Mississippi River region with the goal to protect and restore the River using policy and organizing as pathways.

Kelly comes from a diverse background, starting her career as a fisheries biologist and freshwater ecologist in Washington State where she focused on endangered Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), including working on a project that removed a levee and dike to restore an estuary on Puget Sound. Later, Kelly returned to the midwest where her focus shifted for a time to sustainability in the built environment and coalition building. Kelly was thrilled when she could get back to water work over six years ago when she joined MRN in 2014. She brings passion and enthusiasm for water, changing systems, a strong workplace culture, and care and concern for others.

When she is not busy defending water, you can find Kelly playing outside in a number of ways whether it is trail running, kayaking with her husband, growing a garden or playing with her two dogs. Kelly holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Freshwater Ecology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. 

Location: Homeland and waters of the Dakota people; near B’dote (confluence area of MN and MS Rivers), Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Michael is a student of the River and in 2010 the Mississippi saved his life (click to read full story). Nowadays, to quote one of his mentors, John Ruskey, Michael offers his energy “as a worker bee in service to our queen, the Mississippi River.” He aspires to canoe/kayak all the rivers of the Mississippi River Watershed and has paddled over 3,000 miles to date while removing 7,000 pounds of trash by hand and boat (did you know that bowling balls float?).

A former wilderness guide and River educator, Michael has been fortunate to experience connecting over 10,000 people with the mighty Mississippi while working for organizations like the National Park Service – MISS. These experiences have taught Michael that there is no “cookie-cutter template” for how people care for the people, land, water, and wildlife of our River; what’s important is showing up with an open mind and meeting people where they are.

Michael is humbled to work as the Outreach and Engagement Manager for the Mississippi River Network, and since 2018 he has directed the Network’s public outreach, education, engagement, and advocacy program, 1 Mississippi. Which, by the way, can the Mississippi River count on you? Take the next step and join the community 20,000-people strong by becoming a River Citizen today!

Location: Madison, WI which occupies the unceded lands known as Teejop (or Dejope, meaning “four lakes”) to the Ho-Chunk (Hooçak) Nation.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley famously said “policy is my love language,” and Maisah couldn’t agree more. The common thread weaving Maisah’s professional experiences together is an interest in environmental policy. You can’t have policies without people, and that is what makes environmental policy equally exciting and perplexing.

Maisah directs MRN’s policy engagement at the state and federal level as it relates to:

• protecting and restoring wetlands and floodplains;
• advocating for the use of natural infrastructure in flood management and policy;
• reducing the impacts of agricultural and urban runoff pollution; and
• promoting just, equitable, and resilient River communities.

Previously, Maisah was the Water Policy Director at the Missouri Coalition for the Environment – an MRN member organization. Before that, Maisah served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC where she focused on international climate change and clean energy policy. Maisah earned her Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and her B.S. in Conservation Biology and Ecological Sustainability from Arizona State University.

Outside of environmental policy, Maisah also loves tending her garden (especially growing edible flowers and flowers for floral design), watching scary movies with her spouse, and exploring Missouri’s state parks with her two dogs Avery and Shea.

Location: Excelsior, Minnesota (Western suburbs of Twin Cities near Lake Minnetonka) which is the ancestral and unceded territory of Dakota (Wahpekute) people.

At Mississippi River Network (MRN) we experience how the River connects us. Gretchen was first connected to MRN through her work for several MRN member organizations: Green Interchange, Blessed Earth Southeast, and Tennessee Environmental Council. 

This is the first time Gretchen has exclusively worn the development hat, but she’s no stranger to this work, and she resonates with this philosophy:  “A lot of folks in the nonprofit world are uncomfortable with fundraising. They’d do almost anything to avoid it. That attitude causes them to miss out on something huge: Motivating people to give you money does those people tremendous good,” says Future Fundraising Now, who explains these benefits for donors: “Giving makes them more fully human…more knowledgeable…[and] happier….Giving improves their health….[and] finances.”   

Gretchen is honored to see this happening for many MRN supporters. She’s also excited about working with Foundation and Business supporters that share MRN’s vision – including those that don’t yet know of the mutually beneficial opportunities!      

With a background in Marketing, Gretchen has also worked in the corporate world as Marketing Director for Home Vision Entertainment (distributor for The Criterion Collection) and as an Account Manager for a small marketing agency in the Twin Cities. She has a B.S. in Marketing from University of Illinois.   

Outside of work, Gretchen loves swimming, biking, travel, and learning to live more sustainably – including plastic reduction and reading books like Braiding Sweetgrass. Nature feeds her soul, and she cherishes her neighbors: cardinals, foxes, wild turkeys, beavers, loons, owls, turtles and other Minnesota wildlife.