2ND ANNUAL Equity SUMMIT | November 10, 2022
The 2nd Annual Equity Summit is an opportunity to engage around themes related to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and forge a more inclusive future in northeast Minnesota.
2022 Event Speakers
Suriya Vijayasarathy
MPP
Suriya Vijayasarathy is a changemaker who empowers individuals and organizations to lean into discomfort with curiosity and courage. He provides both peers and senior leaders with concrete skills and strategies for advancing equity by building authentic relationships with diverse communities and developing internal cultures of belonging. With a background in social work and a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Suriya has led organizational change efforts across multiple sectors, including government, education, and nonprofit organizations. Suriya believes that leadership starts with listening, and that the most effective change begins by lifting the voices of underrepresented communities.
In his free time, Suriya is an avid calisthenics and bouldering enthusiast-- he also enjoys cooking, discovering new music, and going on adventures with his dog, Aggie.
Ann Bussey
Thriving in Longevity Advocate
Ann Bussey serves as a Thriving in Longevity Advocate for Minnesota’s rural older adult population. Ann is currently the Chair of the Governor appointed Minnesota Rural Health Advisory Committee, a member of the Fairview Range Central Mesabi Medical Foundation Board, and a Fellow in the first cohort of Project REACH, a University of Minnesota policy collaborative to improve rural health outcomes.
Ann completed a Master of Arts in Management at the College of St. Scholastic and her undergraduate degree at St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul. She lives in Side Lake MN.
Beram Compo
Co-Founder, Trans Northland
Beram has been working in human services and non-profit organizations since 2014, providing trauma informed care, mental health services, and educating his community on interpersonal forms of violence.
In 2021 Beram began his transition and realized during this process that our community needs dedicated resources and programming for transgender, nonbinary, genderfluid, and 2-spirit people in our area. This need for community resources has led to the creation of Trans Northland.
Heart Warrior Chosa
Nett Lake community member, registered member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, artist, pipe holder, mother, and grandmother
Heart Warrior Chosa lives in Nett Lake, MN. Her father was a registered member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and her mother was from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, where Heart Warrior is also registered. Her family lived in the Boundary Waters Canoe area, with deeds to the land before it became the BWCA when she was 11 years old. Her ancestors were from the area and had deeds to the land, so they could not be pushed out. Hers was the last family to live in the BWCA, where she raised two sons. She is now a grandma, raising three granddaughters.
She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree and studied Ancient Tibetan Art for a year. Heart Warrior Chosa was the EarthRight party candidate for governor in 1990. She is a pipe carrier and was a SUNDANCER for 22 years.
Nathaniel Coward
Co-Founder / Co-Executive Director, Voices for Ethnic and Multicultural Awareness (VEMA)
Nathaniel is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Voices for Ethnic and Multicultural Awareness (VEMA) in Chisholm, MN. VEMA was founded in the spring of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Seraphia Gravelle (Aguallo), Elizabeth Robinson (Allen), and Nathaniel Coward began the work of educating the community and providing a voice for people of color throughout the region. Nathaniel was born in Ft Lauderdale, FL and resides in Chisholm, MN.
Pamela Hughes (Cancelled due to illness.)
Substance Use Disorder / New Moon Program Director
Pamela grew up in International Falls and graduated from Falls High School. Her parents are David and Marlene Farmer, with siblings, David Farmer, Jr and Keith Farmer. She has three children, Jessica, Jennifer, and Jori along with six (6) grandchildren, Jude, Ant, Kate, Sadie, Brody, and Daisy. Pamela has worked in Substance Use since 1990 and added Homelessness in 2014. Her time is split between Substance Use / Homelessness, writing grants to continue or add programming and advocating for her people. What keeps her focused is the learning curve that comes along with Substance Use/Homelessness and using her voice at the State and Federal levels for these services. She is a firm believer that Tribal Representation needs to be at the table when making decisions for our people.
Tonia Villegas
Financial Worker with St. Louis County
Tonia is a Chicana mother, daughter, spouse, community member and UMD alumni. She was raised as a military child which is a culture of its own. This means she has many homes all over the world. She is also a dual citizen to Canada and the United States. She started as an early education teacher, survived abuse, went back to school and added to her degree for Individualized Studies with a focus on Human Services. She is currently a Financial Worker, DEI Co-Chair and BIPOC Leadership Team Chair at St. Louis County. Her most important role is being a mother and believes teaching our children is the path to the future.
Antavius Thomas
Equity Inclusion Officer and Student Senate / Student Life Advisor at Minnesota North College Mesabi Range
Brad Krasaway
M.S. EL, Director of Operations at the Rainy River Campus of Minnesota North College
As a proud “Ranger,” Brad often brags about certain traits that come with his Iron Range roots, strong work ethic, commitment to family, frugality, and a stubbornness that rivals a veteran politician. However, if someone was to list the career paths you would expect a Ranger to become, I would bet a speaker on diversity wouldn’t be on the list. However, a near death experience completely changed his attitude not only toward respecting life itself but also changed his worldview. He is a proud graduate of Virginia High School as well as both Mesabi Range College and Winona State University where he earned a Master’s in Educational Leadership.
As a registered lobbyist at the Minnesota State Capital he fought for students' rights, was elected President of the Minnesota State College Student Association in 2001 and then in 2004 was elected State Chair of the Minnesota State University Student Association. After his time in St. Paul, he organized 18 diverse communities across southern Minnesota, to rally in support of better Early Childhood Education Policy while working for Ready4K. Since then, he has become a leader within higher education in the areas of Diversity/Cultural Competency, Student Life, Student Services, Leadership Development, and Academic Preparedness. Currently, he serves as the Director of Operations at the Rainy River Campus of Minnesota North College. He is a graduate of the Chair Leadership Academy and is a certified Poverty Coach and Motivational Interviewer.
Becca Bohlman
Office Manager for Kraus-Anderson Construction, Duluth & Vice President NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction) Twin Ports/Iron Range Chapter 392
Becca grew up in Duluth MN and was always interested in anything outdoors and construction related. Her family owned a local Plumbing and Heating wholesale company which she spent over eight years working for in multiple roles which only deepened her passion for work in construction. For just shy of six years now, Becca has been the Office Manager for Kraus-Anderson Construction Company's Duluth operations. This role has her wearing many hats with workforce and community outreach being a very large task.
She is an active member on the following committees: Kraus-Anderson Bike Duluth Festival's Event Director for the past five years; Courage Kenny's Shoot for Fun Benefit committee member for over 18 years; City of Duluth's Construction Career Pathways committee member for five years; Duluth Construct Tomorrow committee member for four years; NAWIC Twin Ports/Iron Range Chartering member and Vice President for a little over a year and currently participating in the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Duluth program for the 2022-23 season. She is very passionate about helping others, engaging in our communities and finding ways to make a positive impact.
Morgan Seopa
Project Engineer with Kraus-Anderson Construction Companies
Morgan is a Bemidji State University graduate where she earned her B.S. in Project Management with an emphasis in construction and facilities. Now, she is a Project Engineer with Kraus-Anderson Construction Companies currently working on the Rock Ridge Projects.
She is a chartering member and the Corresponding Secretary of the NAWIC Twin Ports/Iron Range Chapter 392. Along with her professional endeavors she is involved with local non-profit groups such as The Angel Fund of NE Minnesota. She is proud to be an Iron Range native and looks forward to continuing down the path of improving and supporting the workforce in NE Minnesota.
Kayla Jackson
Youth Community Health Coordinator at AICHO
Mia Menendez
Children's Program Coordinator at the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO)
Jaci Nagle
Lead for America American Connection Corps, representing Koochiching County (KTI)
Jaci Nagle has been a technology worker since her employment with Koochiching County began in 1994. Initially employed as a clerk in the Auditor’s Office, her role included computer coordinator duties working primarily with mainframe hardware and software. In 2001, she was promoted to the position of Information Systems Manager for the newly formed technology department and began officially managing the extensive network that had grown and evolved. Jaci joined the Koochiching Technology Initiative (KTI) Steering Committee in the fall of 2018 after previously serving as a resource for the group. She retired from her position of IS Director in February of 2022 and soon afterwards filed for the District 2 County Commissioner seat. In August of 2022, she became a member of the Lead for America American Connection Corps, representing Koochiching County with the KTI serving as the host for the one-year fellowship.
Emily Nygren
Economic Developer, City of Duluth
Andrea Orest
Public Health Educator with Cook County Public Health
Andrea is a Public Health Educator with Cook County Public Health. Her work focuses on pandemic response, substance use disorder prevention, healthy homes, mental health and well-being. Her family lives near Grand Marais, and they enjoy the natural beauty that is Cook County.
Ann Sulllivan
Cook County District 4 Commissioner
Ann Sullivan served as an educator for over four decades, working as a teacher and school administrator, prior to her retirement. After a full THREE WEEKS of retirement, she jumped back into the schools working as both a paraprofessional and a tutor. When the pandemic hit, she jumped into county government in order to provide emergency management and other skills sets she had which met the immediate needs of Cook County. She has served as a county commissioner and board chair and joined this group because of her years of effort to improve racial equity.
Beth Drost
Grand Portage Anishinaabe, Executive Director of the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority
Grand Portage Anishinaabe, Executive Director of the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority. Mother of two, wife to awesome husband, dog-person, cat-lover, chicken-tender. Subsistence hunter, sometimes musher, hiker, gardener.
Bobby Deschampe
Grand Portage Tribal Chairman
Heidi Doo-Kirk
Former County Commissioner working for a Tribal Reservation
Kelsey Rogers Kennedy
Associate Director – Program Director at Cook County Higher Education (CCHE)
Kelsey is the Associate Director – Program Director at Cook County Higher Education (CCHE)
She works with businesses and the community to help assess programming needs and wants, then develops events, workshops, and classes based on those requests. She continually looks for ways CCHE can offer our community the education they want where they live!
Education: B.A. Social Marketing, Northern Michigan University; M.S. Organizational Leadership, St. Mary’s University; and a Blandin Leadership Graduate.
Previous Work: K-12 substitute teacher for 2 years; former administration assistant/registrar, career services advisor, and career development instructor at Rasmussen College for 7 years, Business Owner.
Hannah Smith
JEDI Fellow with the Region Five Development Commission
Hannah Smith, Emerging Leader Recipient: Hannah Smith (Anishinaabe) is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation and moved to Duluth in fall of 2014.
Hannah is the first Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Fellow to join the R5DC team. With a background that mirrors her current interests, Hannah serves on multiple boards and commissions that focus on arts, social justice, environmental justice, and housing equity. As the JEDI fellow she will be working with our team to assist with existing programs; Equitable Economic Ecosystems and working with local partners such as the Community Workforce Inclusive Council.
Fadumolucky Jama
Lead for America/Americorps fellow
Fadumolucky is a Lead for America / Americorps fellow serving Hibbing, MN Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA).
2022 Resources
- Welcoming Resources - OneDrive (sharepoint.com) A Toolkit to Support Immigrants, Refugees, and BIPOC
- Welcoming Resources - OneDrive (sharepoint.com) Diversity & Inclusion Employer Action Guide
- Rural Communities Equity Action Guide (filesusr.com) Rural Communities Equity Action Guide
- https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/archives/ AARP Livable Communities A-Z Topics
- Aging in MN Fact Sheet
- AICHO’s Giinawiind Giginitaawigi’gomin "Together we grow" Youth Food Sovereignty Program - YouTube
- VEMA Film on Vimeo
- Welcoming Community: Racial Equity
- Welcoming Community: Digital Equity
- Welcoming Community: Language Equity
- Welcoming Community: Entrepreneurial Equity
- Welcoming Community: Social Capital Equity
- Welcoming Community: Age Equity
- Welcoming Community: Expression Equity
- Welcoming Community: Historical Equity
- Welcoming Community: Housing Equity
2022 community conversation
