My co-chair, Christy Marsden, and I are excited to welcome eight new members to the Streets.mn board of directors for 2024-2025 terms. They join nine other board members who volunteer many hours to keep our organization not just running day to day but moving forward to become a better place for more people to talk about the streets and landscapes we all use and share.
In 2024, the Streets.mn board has committed to improving our outreach to groups not usually heard in the urbanist space, implementing further action steps from our racial equity analysis, and expanding opportunities to engage with the organization, whether as a contributor, listener, reader or attendee at one of our events, like the annual summer picnic and a “warm winter” bonfire this past January (photos below).
There’s a lot happening, and we want to thank all of our 2024 board members for their hard work and great ideas for improving Streets.mn!
Meet the Co-Chairs
Glen Johnson
- Name and current residence: Glen Johnson (he/him), Downtown Minneapolis
- Board service: Joined in 2020, co-chair since 2023 and lead the Board Development Committee.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “Future-oriented is my number one value. For both the organization itself and making our built environment safe, welcoming and joyous, we need to think long term. What small changes can we make today to welcome someone new into this space or have conversations with those who aren’t convinced about safe streets or the climate crisis?”
- Goal for 2024: “Streets.mn is now in year 12, and a lot has changed since it was founded — and even from when I joined the board in 2020. I spend a lot of my time bringing more people into the conversation around land use and transportation. Continuing to publish great articles and broadcast interesting podcasts is huge, but I want to bring back those fun social events that let everyone find like-minded people to talk about transit, zoning and bike infrastructure.”
Christy Marsden
- Name and current residence: Christy Marsden (she/her), East Lakes neighborhood, Minneapolis
- Board service: Joined in 2021, co-chair since 2023 and serve on the Volunteer and Reader Engagement Task Force and the Anti-Racism and Social Media committees.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “Delight-cultivating. It’s not easy advocating for people-centered spaces, and taking time to enjoy what makes these spaces great helps remind me why we do this work, and what we have to gain. When we build spaces where people are first, we are able to find so much more joy in where we live — from running into neighbors and friends to noticing how the plants and animals change through the seasons with us.”
- Goal for 2024: “I’m looking forward to helping Streets.mn build a strategic plan for sustainability in the years ahead, and continuing to support the work of my fellow board members and our fantastic volunteer writers and editors.”
Welcome, New Board Members!
Regina Burstein
- Name and current residence: Regina Burstein (she/her), Wedge neighborhood, Minneapolis (below, left)
- Board service: Joined the board in 2024 and looking forward to joining the Social Media Committee.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “Although I firmly believe in all four, the Streets.mn core value that speaks to me the most is creating spaces that are Future-Oriented. In addition to creating sustainable cities that don’t contribute to a warming climate, we need to reorient our streets — a part of the public realm — to serve the needs of future generations, which are increasingly foregoing driving for other modes. In a changing world where more and more people work from home, order things online, and where social isolation is becoming a major public health concern, we need public spaces where people can gather and interact with their neighbors. We need streets where people can move freely and comfortably, no matter what mode they use to get around. We especially need streets that prioritize sustainable modes of transportation, modes that also facilitate connection and community.”
- Goal for 2024: “During my board term, I hope to contribute to spreading the core values that Streets.mn advocates for through its stories by increasing its social media presence and bringing its stories to more people. There are a lot of folks out there who believe in what Streets.mn stands for, but aren’t yet engaged with advocacy and don’t yet have the vocabulary to talk about how to make our cities better. I want to help bring these people into the movement. I also want to help increase the number of events hosted by Streets.mn and engage more people with the important work shared through the stories on the website.”
Jesse Cook
- Name and current residence: Jesse Cook (he/him), Stadium Village, Minneapolis (above, right)
- Board service: First year on the Streets.mn board; joining the Technology and Events committees
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “Streets.mn’s Future-Oriented value resonates most with me. I believe we are living through one of the most pivotal eras in our state’s history: politically, socioeconomically and otherwise. Urban development and transportation intersect — and underlie — many of our mainstream issues, whether directly or indirectly, and long-term sustainability should lie at the heart of every discussion.
- Goal for 2024: “Through my board term, my goal is to engage more deeply with the broader Twin Cities community. Through my advocacy, I’ve had the privilege of meeting and interacting with tons of fantastic people — present company included. But I want to build ties with those who don’t typically find themselves in these circles, listen to some fresh perspectives and bring new voices to Streets.mn.”
Micah Davison
- Name and current residence: Micah Davison (he/him), Downtown St. Paul (below, left)
- Board service: “I’m a new board member for 2024, but I’ve been an editor for Streets.mn since 2020. I have been enjoying taking on the editor in chief position.”
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I want to see our state creating vibrant urban spaces that emphasize the human scale and facilitate people coming together and rubbing shoulders in celebratory events and in everyday life. In that respect, Streets.mn’s People-Centered value resonates most with me.”
- Goal for 2024: “I’m looking forward to working with the editorial team to streamline our process for writers and editors, making it as easy as possible for both new and seasoned writers to get their articles published on Streets.mn. I am also excited to work with the Anti-Racism Committee to identify and put into practice some strategies to cultivate more diverse writership on our site.”
Joe Harrington
- Name and current residence: Joe Harrington (he/him), Macalester-Groveland neighborhood, St. Paul (above, right)
- Board service: First year on the Streets.mn board, looking to get involved with editorial, fundraising and GIS efforts at Streets.mn
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I connect with the Future-Oriented and People-Centered values at Streets.mn. We have a responsibility to address injustices and flawed urban policies of the past and put people and communities first in future urban planning and policy. I also pursue these goals through work at Our Streets Minneapolis as a GIS specialist, aiming to create an equitable and multi-modal future in the Twin Cities.”
- Goal for 2024: “I hope to integrate GIS into more of what Streets.mn does, adding depth to spatial humanities and data work done at Streets.mn. I also hope to aid in efforts to expand our fundraising and increase our overall capacity to broaden our work.”
Erik Noonan
- Name and current residence: Erik Noonan (he/him they/them), Uptown neighborhood, Rochester (below, left)
- Board service: On the board for one year, due to pending relocation, shoring up the fundraising and social media.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I want to see People Centered and Future Oriented design within the built environment of every community: Big or small. Urban or rural. Every community deserves transit equity. We all do better when we all do better!”
- Goal for 2024: “I hope to increase statewide focus and foment greater conversations about transportation and placemaking outside of the Twin Cities metro.”
Jacob Sevde Preisler
- Name and current residence: Jacob Sevde Preisler (he/him), Triangle neighborhood, Minneapolis (above, right)
- Board service: Joined in January 2024. “I’m brand new and excited to learn more about our community.”
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I resonate with our Justice-Driven and People-Centered core values. I want to inspire people to think creatively and sustainably in every facet of life, while recognizing the health benefits that such lifestyles present — not only individually, but communally as well. Building consensus to support these initiatives at the governing level is most important in creating environments that support all people. From fertile ground sprouts vibrant life.”
- Goal for 2024: “As an avid sustainability advocate, I hope to contribute to placemaking initiatives and policy advocacy that creates healthy, sustainable and vibrant communities. In this regard, I will be contributing to Streets.mn engagement initiatives and outdoor events.”
Jeremy Winter
- Name and current residence: Jeremy Winter (he/him), Powderhorn neighborhood, Minneapolis (below, left)
- Board service: First year on the board; joined the Podcast Committee.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I love people! People-centered places are my favorite kinds of places. I find joy in small community projects and public amenities. Sometimes I bike along desolate highways or through bleak underpasses and wonder what my surroundings looked like when they were last oriented for people. Perhaps that’s why projects like Our Streets Minneapolis’ Bring Back 6th campaign resonate with me; I want to reclaim our streets, in memory of the communities that lived on them, for the people who could live on them in the future.”
- Goal for 2024: “I hope to loop in the podcast more closely to the rest of the team and add a more diverse set of hosts, interviewees and stories. The Streets.mn podcast has much to gain from better integration with the organization and more community input.”
Kelsey Zimmerman
- Name and current residence: Kelsey Zimmerman (she/her), Northeast Minneapolis (above, right)
- Board service: First year of term, hoping to join the Technology and Editorial committees.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “Delight-Cultivating speaks to me the most. Delight is the gift people give one another by showing they care about a place. It means paying attention to details we often don’t notice in the day-to-day and finding a sense of wonder again. Cultivating delight means showing everyone that the way things are isn’t how they have to be — things can be different, and better.”
- Goal for 2024: “I hope to start having conversations about how GIS could supplement the work Streets.mn does as an organization, learn more about our editorial process and dive into reader engagement.”
Meet the Secretary and Treasurer
Fran Di Caprio
- Name and current residence: Fran Di Caprio (he/him), longtime resident of St. Paul who now lives in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood (below, left)
- Board service: Secretary since 2023 and sits on the Anti-Racism and Board Development committees.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I strongly connect to the Justice-driven value of Streets.mn. I believe that sustainability is fundamentally about equity, as building a more environmentally responsible society and creating a more equitable society are inseparable goals.”
- Goal for 2024: “This year, I am excited to work on building partnerships between Streets.mn and other local organizations, and doing outreach to expand and diversify the readership and writership of the site.”
Martha Grant
- Name and current residence: Martha Grant (she/her), St. Paul (above, right)
- Board service: “I joined the board in 2022 with a passion for fundraising and have been serving as treasurer since 2023.”
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I truly believe our cities should be delight-cultivating. I love walking down a street and imagining how great it would be if traffic moved slower, there were off-road bike paths, more trees, more places to hang a hammock. Let’s make the Twin Cities the bike-friendly Amsterdam of the U.S.!”
- Goal for 2024: “I’m focusing on keeping our finances clear, organized and transparent. I’m also particularly excited about our work this year to sustainably increase our budget through fundraising and grants.”
Returning Board Members
José Antonio Zayas Cabán
- Name and current residence: José Antonio Zayas Cában (he/him), executive director of Our Streets Minneapolis, lives in North Minneapolis (above, right).
- Board service: Joined the board in 2023 and serves on the Finance Committee.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “Justice-driven. Historically, transportation advocacy in the Twin Cities has been focused on the needs and interests of wealthy, white urbanists. My focus is to work toward creating a shift that includes and prioritizes the needs of marginalized communities that have been most harmed by past transportation infrastructure decisions — so they are represented and prioritized while the future of the transportation system is decided in the Twin Cities.”
- Goal for 2024: “Continue to support growing our individual giving to ensure more of our readers become supporters of the organization.”
Brian Mitchell
- Name and current residence: Brian Mitchell (he/him), Uptown neighborhood, Minneapolis (below, left)
- Board service: Third year on the board, chairing the Technology Committee.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I connect the most with our delight-cultivating value. I am car-free, bike year round, and am so happy to be able to see the Twin Cities and everything I ride past at a slower pace. It’s fun to hear about others’ — hopefully joyous — experiences, too!”
- Goal for 2024: “This year, I’m excited to continue making changes and improvements to the website to support other initiatives of Streets.mn. I feel much more comfortable with it after completing the redesign in December of last year.”
Andy Monserud
- Name and current residence: Andy Monserud (he/him), Lyn-Lake neighborhood, Minneapolis (above, right)
- Board service: Joined the board in 2021 and a member of the Anti-Racism Committee.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I really value Streets.mn’s commitment to people-centered spaces. Why have built environments if they don’t make us happy to live in them?”
- Goal for 2024: “I want to continue pushing forward Streets.mn’s commitment to racial equity and, as a copy editor on the site, help us keep publishing great discussions of transportation, land use and life in Minnesota.”
Jeb Rach
- Name and current residence: Jeb Rach (he/him), St. Paul (below, left)
- Board service: Board member since 2022, currently co-chair of the Events Committee and member of the Technology Committee and Fundraising Committee.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “‘Delight-cultivating’ speaks the most to me. I love spaces where I feel like there was intention for joy to be inspired here, where people can explore and connect, and I feel as though those spaces are a highlight to my day rather than just blending into the routine of everyday life.”
- Goal for 2024: “I want to strengthen our events presence, especially having events where people can reconnect, explore different parts of our communities, and connect with other people with similar interests and goals. I also hope that these events and explorations help participants to find new topics and inspiration to write about on Streets.mn!”
Erik Ruthruff
- Name and current residence: Erik Ruthruff (he/him), Plymouth, a second-ring suburb of Minneapolis (above, right)
- Board service: Joined the board in 2020 and have volunteered primarily in editorial, currently as content manager.
- Favorite Streets.mn core value: “I’m very future-oriented. We can’t let the NIMBY mindset stop us from making investments for the next million or more people who will live in our area in the next 15 years. Everyone should have a space in the tent. My yard in the suburbs, like all of the others around me, could be rezoned to increase density.”
- Goal for 2024: “Build more publishing partnerships with area nonprofits that share many of our core values. Plus finally get us to the point where we have a newsletter and we know how to manage it and give it a voice so readers look forward to it.”
Photo at top by Clay Banks on Unsplash