Bootstrapping Equity for Food Access
2022-02-16 08:30 - 09:30 (America/Chicago) | Zoom
Many times, the stories shared about Rural Women leading grassroots community initiatives are an understatement of the challenges faced in building a more equitable world. This session covers what it’s been like for Dani Pieratos, an Indigenous female entrepreneur, and her commitment to support the food sovereignty movement at the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa where she is a tribal member living on the Lake Vermilion Reservation in northeastern Minnesota.
Bootstrapping is a term for early businesses where owners commit their personal time and energy mostly out-of-pocket. As a low-income mother of two, keeping pace with opportunity has been tough. Dani will share personal & professional anecdotes to highlight what many of us face in the fight for equity, all from her focal point of localizing food systems to improve healthy food access. Her journey highlights moments of desperation, surrender, patience, love, trust and resourcefulness. Join us to hear an expressive, personal testimony of the nonlinear changemaking process for the brighter futures we all seek.
We hope this session will mutually inspire Rural Women to ask for what is needed and ask for what is deserved for everyone and everything we are fighting for.
Register for our 2/16 Breakfast Club Webinar!

March Book Club - Nomadland
2022-03-09 19:00 - 20:00
This month, we will be reading “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century” by Jessica Bruder.
Register for our Book Club!
Book synopsis
From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that Social Security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads: migrant laborers who call themselves “workampers.”
In a secondhand van she names “Halen,” Jessica Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects more intimately. Accompanying her irrepressible protagonist, Linda May, and others from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, then moving on to the dangerous work of beet harvesting, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy—one that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, she celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of these quintessential Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive. Like Linda May, who dreams of finding land on which to build her own sustainable “Earthship” home, they have not given up hope.
Resources

Author Interview

Author website

CSPAN Interview

Q&A with Author

Resiliency Session - All level yoga with Alisa Benson
2022-03-14 12:00 - 12:30, 2022-03-15 08:00 - 08:30
Register for this resiliency session!
Join us for one of our weekly resiliency sessions with Alisa. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for a session focusing on all level yoga. No equipment or gear necessary, just join in comfy clothes and Alisa) lead you through the rest.
Class description
Feel the benefits of linking your breath with movement. We will explore well-rounded sequences that build core strength, and increase balance and flexibility. Each class will include an opening meditation, options for practicing comfortably at your own pace, and an ending relaxation. This class is appropriate for all levels. A yoga mat is helpful if available.
Meet the Instructor!

Networking for Parents of Young Children
2022-03-14 16:00 - 17:00
Register for this networking session!
Join us for one of our weekly networking sessions. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for some intentional relationship building for parents of young children in rural areas. Whether you have a newborn, kiddo, or teenager – we look forward to hosting you!

Resiliency Session - Mindfulness & Meditation with Jan Sutton
2022-03-16 08:00 - 08:30, 2022-03-17 12:00 - 12:30, 2022-03-23 08:00 - 08:30, 2022-03-24 12:00 - 12:30, 2022-03-30 08:00 - 08:30, 2022-03-31 12:00 - 12:30, 2022-04-06 08:00 - 08:30, 2022-04-07 12:00 - 12:30
Register for this resiliency session!
Join us for one of our weekly resiliency sessions with Jan. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for a session focusing on mindfulness and meditation. No equipment or gear necessary, just join in comfy clothes and Jan will lead you through the rest.
Class description
How many moments do each of us have to live? None of us knows the answer to this question. During the meditation and mindfulness classes we will practice settling into each moment just as it is; we will practice really noticing and living the moments that we do have. You will engage with new skills and be reminded of things you already know. Most of all, this will be a time to add some lightness to your day and share with others who also want to deepen their experience of the “now”.

Morning Connections
2022-03-17 08:30 - 09:00, 2022-03-24 08:30 - 09:00, 2022-03-31 08:30 - 09:00, 2022-04-07 08:30 - 09:00
Register for this Morning Connection!
These sessions will consist of light conversation in an undirected space. Bring beverages, children, breakfast, pets, or work – the goal is to connect informally with a host who will facilitate.

Ask a Leading Woman - Hara Charlier
2022-03-18 10:00 - 11:00
Join us for a “Ask a Leading Woman” with Hara Charlier, President of Central Lakes College.
Register for Ask a Leading Woman with Hara Charlier!
Hara will share her life experiences and current work before we host a facilitated discussion. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for an empowering presentation about the different paths leadership can take in rural areas. Bring beverages, children, breakfast, pets, or work – we look forward to hosting you!

Resiliency Session - All level yoga with Alisa Benson
2022-03-21 12:00 - 12:30, 2022-03-28 12:00 - 12:30, 2022-03-29 08:00 - 08:30, 2022-04-04 12:00 - 12:30, 2022-04-05 08:00 - 08:30, 2022-04-11 12:00 - 12:30
Register for this resiliency session!
Join us for one of our weekly resiliency sessions with Alisa. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for a session focusing on all level yoga. No equipment or gear necessary, just join in comfy clothes and Alisa will lead you through the rest.
Class description
Feel the benefits of linking your breath with movement. We will explore well-rounded sequences that build core strength, and increase balance and flexibility. Each class will include an opening meditation, options for practicing comfortably at your own pace, and an ending relaxation. This class is appropriate for all levels. A yoga mat is helpful if available.
Meet the Instructor!

Networking in Civic Engagement
2022-03-21 16:00 - 17:00
Register for this networking session!
Join us for one of our weekly networking sessions. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for some intentional relationship building for folks working in civic service in rural areas. Whether you are involved at the state, county, township, or city level – we look forward to hosting you!

Ask a Leading Woman - Rita Albrecht
2022-03-25 10:00 - 11:00
Join us for one of our next “Ask a Leading Woman” with Rita Albrecht, past mayor of Bemidji and current member of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.
Register for Ask a Leading Woman with Rita Albrecht!
Rita will share her life experiences and current work before we host a facilitated discussion. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for an empowering presentation about the different paths leadership can take in rural areas. Bring beverages, children, breakfast, pets, or work – we look forward to hosting you!

Networking in Education
2022-03-28 16:00 - 17:00
Register for this networking session!
Join us for one of our weekly networking sessions. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for some intentional relationship building for folks in education. Whether you are a student, have a student, teach, are on strike, work at the school district, or are a member of your school board – we look forward to hosting you!

Ask a Leading Woman - Colleen Landkamer
2022-04-01 10:00 - 11:00
Join us for one of our next “Ask a Leading Woman” with Colleen Landkamer, Minnesota state director of Rural Development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Register for Ask a Leading Woman with Colleen Landkamer!
Colleen will share her life experiences and current work before we host a facilitated discussion. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for an empowering presentation about the different paths leadership can take in rural areas. Bring beverages, children, breakfast, pets, or work – we look forward to hosting you!

Networking & Mentorship
2022-04-04 16:00 - 17:00
Register for this networking session!
Join us for one of our weekly networking sessions. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for some intentional relationship building and mentorship. Whether you are no experience in mentorship, are a seasoned mentor, or a hopeful mentee – we look forward to hosting you!

Ask a Leading Woman - Lorrie Janatopoulos
2022-04-08 10:00 - 11:00
Join us for one of our next “Ask a Leading Woman” with Lorrie Janatopoulos, CareerForce Director at MN DEED.
Register for Ask a Leading Woman with Lorrie Janatopoulos!
Lorrie will share her life experiences and current work before we host a facilitated discussion. We invite you to join us exactly as you are for an empowering presentation about the different paths leadership can take in rural areas. Bring beverages, children, breakfast, pets, or work – we look forward to hosting you!
