Location: Zeitgeist Atrium

Please check in at the welcome table to grab your name tag, pick up a schedule, and say hi to the organizers of the Great Lakes Outdoor Summit!

Coffee and pastries provided.

Location: Theatro (live theater) and Cinema 1 (live stream)

Join us for opening remarks with Hansi Johnson, Outdoor Summit organizer, followed by our Keynote presentation ‘The Longest Road’ with Emily Ford.

Emily Ford is a winter adventurer and thru-hiker based in Duluth, Minnesota. She has completed many thru-hikes in the midwest including the 1,200 mile Ice age trail, which crosses Wisconsin east to west from Potawatomi State Park to St. Croix State Park on the Minnesota border. Also, in the winter of 2022 she completed a solo 180-mile ski route across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Wilderness with her Alaskan Husky, Diggins. With an understanding and drive to show that anyone can adventure and everyone deserves to discover the outdoors, regardless of race, gender identity, or upbringing, she continues to seek adventure and represent the underrepresented in outdoor spaces.

Location: Cinema 1
Description: Whether it’s a one-time fundraising event, regular/recurring support, or offering programs and trainings non-profits need volunteers. At this panel discussion we’ll ask some long established non-profits how they go about coordinating, recruiting, and retaining volunteers, all while considering broader and long term topics such as succession planning.

Panelists Include:
Janelle Long began her career as the Executive Director at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in August 2007. She received her M.Ed. in Environmental Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a B.S. in Wildlife Management and Biology at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Her interest in ornithology and conservation biology began by assisting several Ph.D. students with their field research studying neotropical migrants and grassland birds. She continued to share her passion for birds in the field of environmental education working at several Audubon Centers and for the Bureau of Land Management’s Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in OR. She enjoys bridging the bird conservation research, education, and stewardship components through her career with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Janelle resides in Duluth, MN with her husband and 3 children.

Barbara Budd is the Volunteer and Education Coordinator for the Superior Hiking Trail Association and a recently-returned native Minnesotan. She grew up a bit south of Duluth and spent her childhood wandering in the woods with her grandfather. About 20 years ago, she succumbed to a growing need for mountains and moved to Washington, where the wandering became more trail focused. She began her trails career as a wilderness ranger with the US Forest Service in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. A few years later, she began leading volunteer trail maintenance crews with Washington Trails Association. Working with volunteers in the outdoors proved to be a more wonderful experience than she ever expected, and she stayed with WTA for a decade, training, coordinating, and leading volunteers. Now, she's thrilled to be able to continue that work with SHTA. What could be better than working with a bunch of folks who love the trails as much as she does? Not much, that's for sure! When not hiking, Barbara enjoys singing, dancing, and traveling. And after all, those things are happily done on trail, too.

Jed Olson is the Executive Director Outdoor Recreation Alliance (ORA Trails). Through this role, Jed cultivates meaningful relationships with board, staff, volunteers, community partners and supporters.

Kelly LaCore manages the northern Minnesota office for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, supporting more than 200 nonprofits of all sizes and services across the northern strip of the state. In this role she provides resources, information, connections and training to help organizations better meet their missions.

Facilitator: Kelly LaCore, Northern Minnesota Regional Manager for Duluth Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

Location: Theatro
Description: Join us to engage in a conversation on how we can help FTW inequalities evolve in our local communities for marketing, programming and opportunities in the outdoors. Empowering FTW (Femme, Trans, Women) in the outdoors has brought to light real obstacles FTW still face in promoting participation in a white, male dominated outdoor industry. This panelist is a powerful group of diverse FTW speakers who bring various experiences and expertise in the outdoors. These FTW are inspiring on so many levels and bring insight on what challenges they fight and have overcome while changing the inequalities many FTW face.

Panelists Include:
Emily Ford is a winter adventurer and thru-hiker based in Duluth, Minnesota. She has completed many thru-hikes in the midwest including the 1,200 mile Ice age trail, which crosses Wisconsin east to west from Potawatomi State Park to St. Croix State Park on the Minnesota border. Also, in the winter of 2022 she completed a solo 180-mile ski route across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Wilderness with her Alaskan Husky, Diggins. With an understanding and drive to show that anyone can adventure and everyone deserves to discover the outdoors, regardless of race, gender identity, or upbringing, she continues to seek adventure and represent the underrepresented in outdoor spaces.

Yolanda Davis-Overstreet is a graduate of the Urban Sustainability Master’s Program (USMA) at Antioch University, Los Angeles (2018). Her community service work and consulting fall in the areas of community organizing and mobility justice with a focus on pedestrian safety in communities of color. She is the founder of Ride in Living Color, a bicycling and mobility justice advocacy initiative that was started in 2011. She is a woman of color, mother, mobility justice activist, and emerging social-justice filmmaker. She is also the director of Biking While Black, which will be showing at Zeitgeist on Thursday, October 26th before the Summit.

Carlee Williams is a leader, mother, disability advocate, and avid outdoor enthusiast. She works as a Senior Director of Revenue Services at Essentia Health. Outside of work she likes the great outdoors and is pleased to call Northern Minnesota home. She does have conditions that make appreciating the outdoors more challenging for her. Carlee was born with a congenital heart defect in 1983. After open heart surgery, she became disabled due to a rare complication – a blood clot near her spinal cord. Fortunately, she was born with a """"can do"""" attitude and a supportive family. Because she is inventive and versatile, there are few hobbies she has not tried. She takes pride in her extensive collection of wheeled devices and crutch accessories, which enable her to go beach walking as well as participate in numerous bicycling and off-road activities. She has been blessed to have access to additional opportunities through Northland Adaptive Recreation. Mountain biking, trail biking, kayaking, rowing, and downhill skiing are some of her favorite activities.

Emily Brown doesn’t just love bikes; she believes in them. As an avid cyclist who works in the bike industry, she has seen bikes reveal inner strength, empower, inspire, create connections, and build strong community. She values the opportunity working as a Field Guide and Inclusivity Champion for SRAM offers for community building, advocacy, and supporting bike shops which are the heart of the industry.

The world continues to be deeply impacted by racial inequality and social injustice. SRAM has committed to increase their efforts to expand the potential of cycling, particularly for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and women.  For us at SRAM, this is a people issue. It is about standing alongside our team members, athletes, and local communities. It’s about having a kind heart, doing what is right, and believing that we must treat each other equally, regardless of our differences.

Facilitator: Bobbie Larson, Duluth Area Outdoor Alliance

Location: Zeitgeist Bar & Restaurant + Atrium

Boxed lunches are available. ORDER HERE

ALL LUNCH ORDERS MUST BE IN BY OCTOBER 19TH AT 4 P.M.

There are two main boxed lunch options including: a Marinated Grilled Vegetable Vegetarian Sandwich or an Italian Club Sandwich. Each option can come gluten free for an additional $1. All boxed lunches include a soda, chips, and a cookie for $20 + service fees. Lunches will be available for pick-up in the Zeitgeist Bar and Restaurant.

Location: Cinema 1
Description: This marketing presentation is designed to empower organizations, nonprofits and businesses with limited resources to effectively market their mission, programs, and campaigns. In an era where competition for donor support and community engagement is fierce, this presentation will provide practical strategies, tips, and actionable insights for attendees to make the most of their shoestring marketing budget.

Presented by: Molly Solberg has been a marketing consultant in the Duluth area for over 20 years. She was Director of Sales and Marketing for Duluth Pack for 11 years and a consultant for small businesses and non profits for the last 8 years. She loves to train businesses to market themselves and gives them tools and training to do so. Molly is also the Founder of the Social Media Breakfast Twin Ports (#SMBTP), a group with over 1000 members and now in its 13th year. SMBTP is made up of large and medium corporations, small and micro businesses, students, universities and entrepreneurs. On the second Friday of each month, SMBTP gathers to swap success stories as well as frustrations and learn from local experts how to improve the visibility and sales of our businesses. Come with questions!

Location: Theatro
Description: Minnesota currently has the 15th largest outdoor recreation economy in the United States. This is cause for celebration and a testament to Minnesotans' passion for the outdoors and our many innovators and champions.

How did we get here? In the coming decade(s), what can we do to improve this and move into the top 10? And how can nonprofits and other advocates use our newly formed state office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Partnership to facilitate forward progress?

The outdoor recreation industry has three distinct yet equally important sectors; private, non-profit, and public. The panel will consist of representatives from each sector.

Panelists Include:
Emily Larson was elected Mayor of Duluth in November 2015 with 72% of the vote. She was inaugurated on January 4th, 2016, and reelected in November 2019. Prior to becoming Mayor, Emily was President of the Duluth City Council, served as a commissioner on the Duluth Economic Development Authority, and was the Council conduit to Parks and Libraries. Currently, Mayor Larson serves on the Executive Council of the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota, the Mayors Advisory Council on Coastal Resilience, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund Board of Directors, Minnesota Mayors Together, and the Minnesota Sea Grant Advisory Board. As Mayor, her priorities include: addressing economic, racial, and opportunity disparities city-wide; advancing energy efficiency and climate resilience; increasing and improving our affordable housing stock; ensuring every resident has access to reliable, high-speed broadband internet, and; continuing to grow Duluth’s robust and unique economy. Emily earned an undergraduate degree from the College of St. Scholastica, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and is a graduate of Intermedia Arts Creative Community Leadership Institute. She is an active trail runner and full-time admirer of Lake Superior. Emily is married to Doug Zaun and together they have two grown sons.

Claire Wilson is a creative and energetic leader with two decades of leadership experience in both government and non-profit organizational management. Claire currently serves as the Executive Director of the Loppet Foundation - where her love of the outdoors, her commitment to racial equity and her belief in the joy of camp counseling have converged to help the organization grow into its mission of connecting people to the outdoors through experiences that grow community. Claire loves working in partnership with others to create equitable access to the outdoors.

Mikaela Swanlund's background is in guiding outdoor experiences, advocating for the benefits of spending time outside, and building community through outdoor recreation. She spent 16 years supporting community engagement for REI Co-op in Minnesota, and now works for REI Co-op’s national Community Advocacy and Impact team. In this role she supports the co-op’s philanthropy and government affairs by managing grants, product donations, disaster relief efforts, and supporting relationships with partners. She also developed and manages the REI Employee Engagement in Impact program, where she works to expand knowledge and engagement in the co-op's impact work for REI employees across the country. Mikaela serves on the Board of Directors of the Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness, supporting the Save the Boundary Waters campaign, working to protect this unparalleled wilderness area. She is passionate about inspiring and enabling a life outside for everyone, especially those who experience less access, comfort, or sense of belonging in outdoor spaces. You’ll find her in the Twin Cities area playing outside in all 4 glorious seasons with her family and friends.

Facilitated by: Randolph Briley is the Deputy Director of Outdoor Recreation at Explore Minnesota Tourism and Coordinator of the Outdoor Recreation Industry Partnership. In this role Randolph works to strengthen Minnesota's outdoor recreation economy by connecting people to resources and expertise, building community among the outdoor recreation sector and promoting the many benefits Minnesotans derive from time spent outdoors. Randolph has his JD and Masters in natural resource law and policy from the Vermont Law School. He lives in Southwest Minneapolis with his wife, two sons and a golden retriever named Loki.

Location: Theatro
Description: In terms of creating a sustainable landscape, these are the ingredients that make the magic sauce: natural resources, conservation, recreation, cultural uses, climate resiliency. You need a space, you need to protect it, you need to connect a full diversity of people with it, and you need to make it resilient.

The newly formed Lake Superior Headwaters Partnership is a collaboration between local, state, and tribal partners working toward a sustainable future for the St. Louis River Estuary and its tributaries.

This session will focus on how this unique and innovative partnership is moving to achieve these goals, and how this model might be applied to other places and communities.

Presented by:
Gini Breidenbach is a Restoration Program Manager at Minnesota Land Trust in Duluth, MN. She has been working as an environmental engineer in water resources, conservation planning, and habitat restoration for over 25 years. Since 2005, she has had the complete joy of the serving the natural resource she loves most – Lake Superior – with her work. Over the past four years, Gini led development of the Lake Superior Headwaters Sustainability Partnership with a group of committed partners in the Lower St. Louis River watershed. She is now coordinating the partnership. Gini loves to race sailboats on Lake Superior, paddle and ski in the wild, and walk the beach at Minnesota Point.

Location: Cinema 1

Description: Ice farming—irrigating a clifftop in winter to grow ice for ice climbing—is now happening at three locations in Minnesota, resulting in greater and more diverse climbing opportunities in Winona, Sandstone, and Duluth.

Historically, ice farming has required dedicated volunteers working in cold and wet conditions, often through the nights, to bring the ice harvest to fruition. At Quarry Park in Duluth, however, innovation has largely put the freeze on misery.

Join us as long-time Duluth climbing activist Dave Pagel outlines the development of Minnesota’s newest ice climbing park—a rags to riches story of how one group of outdoor enthusiasts mobilized to transform an abandoned industrial site into a new city park—and how, at Quarry Park, much of the farming operation and monitoring can be done from the screen of a smart phone.

Presented by:
Dave Pagel came to Duluth in 1978 as a college student, lured by the largely untapped climbing potential on the North Shore. Since that time, Dave has been a prime mover in terms of regional climbing development and access. He authored the first climbing guidebooks for the region, played a key role in the creation and implementation of a climbing management plan for Minnesota state parks, and is a founding member of the Duluth Climbers Coalition. Even in his vocation as a writer climbing has often been front and center: Dave’s collection of mountain journalism, Cold Feet; Stories of a Middling Climber, was shortlisted for the prestigious Boardman-Tasker Prize for mountaineering literature, and he penned the successful proposal that transformed Duluth’s Casket Quarry, a significant regional ice climbing location, into a city park.

Location: Atrium

Following the Summit, from 4 to 6 p.m., we invite you to join us in the Atrium for a social and networking happy hour. Groups will continue to table with information about their agency and we are offering a special cocktail of the night, which proceeds will be donated to provide scholarships for future Summits.