Luwaina Al-Otaibi (she/her) is a creative event organizer, collaborator, environmental advocate, and artist! Born and raised in the Middle East, she moved to the US at the age of 17 to attend University where she received a degree in Environmental Science. Nine years ago she moved to her mother’s small hometown of Granite Falls, MN for (what was supposed to be) just a short period of time. She ended up falling in love with the riverside town and found her passion embedding herself in the vibrant arts community through her work as Bluenose Gopher Public House’s first Chief Operating Officer. Collaborating with musicians, dancers, foragers, theater artists, and more to help create local events, proving that art of all shapes and sizes is an essential piece of any thriving downtown. Luwaina lives in Granite Falls with her two cats and dog. She enjoys the beauty of the Minnesota River Valley by kayaking the rivers and hiking the land.

email Luwaina

Holly Doll, Anpao Win (First Light Woman) (she/her) lives in North Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She is the founder and president of Native Artists United, owner of Five Nations Arts, a public speaker on cultural education and racial sensitivity, and making a shift to having a healing-centered approach to work and life. Holly is also an artist, specializing in traditional Lakota forms of beadwork and quillwork, modern painting with watercolor, and occasionally writing poetry. Her mother taught from the age of two everything she knows when it comes to art and she has kept it up ever since.

A lover of Halloween, astrology, fall scented candles, poetry, baking, fiction books, and crying over Pixar movies. Lives by this quote by spoken word poet Shane Koyczan: “If we ever become who we hope we are, it is because we see how far there is still to go. And if we are none of these things to everyone, then we are none of these things at all.”

email Holly

Benjamin Domask-Ruh (he/him) is a practicing Circus and Theatre artist based in Minnesota and traveling all around the world. He is a member of the American Circus Alliance, board member with the International Jugglers’ Association, Director of the Youth Juggling Academy, and Editor with Modern Vaudeville Press. Benjamin is a COMPAS roster artist. He facilitates Circus Arts teaching residencies with rural communities all over Minnesota. He was a Hinge Arts Resident Artist (2018) and New York Mills Resident Artist (2019.) In 2020, he was commissioned by the Arrowhead Library in Northern Minnesota to make 1,045 juggling art kits for their communities and summer programming. This is all very fancy sounding, but in reality, he is just a clown that is curious about creating joy through the art of community. He holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. (Very fancy.)

email Benjamin

Elisa M. Franco (she/her) is a marketing and communications professional, clinical herbalist, and interdisciplinary artist. Elisa and her partner are currently building an art and herbalism farm residency in an 18th century house, with the intention to serve the surrounding communities as a creative incubator for the arts and small-scale farming. Elisa has an undergraduate degree in International Business, a graduate degree in Digital Marketing, a graduate certificate in Clinical Herbalism, and has done independent art studies and apprenticeships within the mediums of metal, glass, and ceramics.

email Elisa

Ashley Hanson (she/her) has 15 years of experience working with rural communities to activate stories, connect neighbors, and exercise collective imagination. She is a member of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice Leadership Circle and she was an Artist-in-Residence in both the Planning Department at the City of Minneapolis and with the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, where she employed creative community engagement strategies for equitable participation in urban and rural planning and development processes. Previously, she was the Program Director for the Minnesota Theater Alliance—where she managed statewide regional networks and resource sharing—and the Program Director for Public Art Saint Paul—where she produced large-scale participatory public art events and projects, including the Saint Paul City Artist-in-Residence program. In addition to her work with DoPT, she is the founder of PlaceBase Productions, a theater company that creates original, site-specific musicals celebrating small-town life. She holds an MA in Applied Theater with a focus on Rural Community Development, and she was named an Obama Foundation Fellow and a Bush Fellow for her work with rural communities. She believes deeply in the power of play and exclamation points!

email Ash

Shy Miguel (she/her) is a local artist with a passion for a diverse range of art forms including digital art, drawing, makeup artistry, photography, and more. After earning her degree in Social Work, she returned to her roots in rural Granite Falls 6 years ago. Shy spent several years working as a children’s mental health social worker before welcoming her first daughter in 2023. Combining her lifelong love for art with her commitment to social justice and mental health, Shy discovered her true passion. She found that using creativity as a therapeutic tool not only helped build stronger relationships, but also addressed trauma that words often can’t reach. Moreover, it provided folks with lasting hobbies and skills to support their ongoing growth and healing. Shy is most proud of being a mom to Nelly, a partner to Matthew, and an auntie to her five nieces and two nephews. 

Sarina Otaibi (she/her) is an Arab American rural cultural worker shaped by her 15 years of experience working in entrepreneurship, community development, building activation, and local government. As the Activate Rural Program Director at DoPT, she works with artists and community leaders to cultivate creative physical places of connection. Previous to joining DoPT, Sarina directed the statewide Minnesota Main Street program and worked with communities across the state to establish preservation and arts-based community development approaches. In her home community of Granite Falls, MN, she served as an elected City Council Member and as the founding Board Chair of a creative taproom and gathering place, Bluenose Gopher Public House Cooperative. She holds a master’s degree in historic preservation from the University of Maryland.

email Sarina

Sara Marshall (she/they) is a place-based storyteller, creative problem-solver, and ad hoc historian whose heart still lives in the Great Lakes. As an interdisciplinary artist and placekeeper, she creates work that lives at the intersection of beautiful and functional—like murals or macramé lampshades. Her creative practice is rooted in humanism and shaped by a deep love for rural communities, often drawing on archival materials and found objects to honor overlooked histories. Through thoughtful storytelling, Sara seeks to bridge divides by focusing on shared experiences and collective imagination.

Sara holds an MA in Arts Administration from Indiana University Bloomington and a BA in Professional Writing from the University of Indianapolis. Her creative writing has appeared in various literary magazines, and her book Creating the Crossroads: 100 Years of Civil Construction in Indiana was published through the Indiana Historical Society Press in 2024. Like a good Hoosier, Sara is a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut (so it goes).

Leah Cooper has been passionately devoted to the performing arts for over 30 years. She is currently Co-Artistic Director of Wonderlust Productions, a community-story-driven arts ensemble. She is also a freelance stage director, and a consultant in arts leadership and community engagement. Leah was the first Executive Director of the Minnesota Theater Alliance, serving all 450 theaters in the state, from 2010 to 2016; Co-Founder and Partner at MinnesotaPlaylist.com, the state’s performing arts trade journal, from 2008-2017; and the Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival from 2001-2006. Prior to her full time transition to work in the performing arts in 2001, Leah worked by day in the corporate sector as a software engineer and business consultant for ten years. She lives, gardens and bicycles in Minneapolis and works in St. Paul. See More: Wonderlust Productions

Bethany Lacktorin is a performance artist, organizer, media producer and musician. Currently based in rural Minnesota, she is Board Chair/Director of Little Theatre Auditorium in New London, serves on the board of the New London Arts & Culture Alliance, heads up the NL Human Rights Commission and is graphic designer for local newspaper, Lakes Area Review. Bethany studied violin at Lawrence University, received her AAS in Music Production at McNally Smith College of Music and her BAFA in Experimental Media at Prague College School of Art & Design. See more: Bethany Lacktorin, Little Theatre Auditorium, New London Arts & Culture Alliance, NL Human Rights Commission

Nancy XiáoRong Valentine Stewart (preferred is: Nancy X. Valentine) is a Chinese American artist living and making a life in rural Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Conceived as the second child of a family residing in Lanzhou, Gansu during the era of China’s ‘One Child Policy,’ Valentine views her artistry as a channel to deepen her cultural connections to and between her Chinese heritage and Midwestern roots. Valentine’s artwork is created using Chinese ink and water mediums activated site-specific sourced water. In addition to her artistry, she serves as the Executive Director of Kaddatz Galleries, a nonprofit art gallery located in downtown Fergus Falls, MN. Valentine believes that artistry and advocacy work in tandem and lives out this value by being present and active in the Otter Tail County, MN creative community. In 2020, Valentine was named a Blandin Community Leadership Institute Cohort Member, an LRAC 2021 Cohort Artist and Career Development Grant recipient, and a 2021 Springboard for the Arts Artists Respond: Equitable Rural Futures Artist. She was awarded a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board(MSAB) for FY 2022 and 2023, an FY 2023 Legacy Individual Arts grant from LRAC, named a 2022-2024 Springboard for the Arts Rural Regenerator Fellow, and, most recently, awarded a FY 2024 Creative Individuals grant from MSAB.

Joanna Schnedler is the Chief Financial Officer of WomenVenture, a CDFI that provides access to capital, business consulting, training, and mentorship to small business owners and entrepreneurs. In recent years, Joanna held the role of CFO for ELEA HEALY, a home renovation firm, and was Executive Director for two statewide arts service organizations: the Minnesota Music Coalition (2020-2022) and the Minnesota Theater Alliance (2016-2020). She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Moving Company theatre. Her 25 years in arts and nonprofit management include roles at organizations such as Theatre de la Jeune Lune, The Fitzgerald Theater, Rebuild Resources, Utah Festival Opera, Episcopal Community Services, and Theatre L'Homme Dieu. 

Anne O’Keefe-Jackson is an enrolled member of the Lower Sioux Community. She received her undergraduate degree in Marketing and American Indian Studies from Augsburg College and her Masters’ in Business and Leadership from Augsburg University. Anne is currently a member of the MNHS Historical Resources Advisory Committee, she also serves on the Memory Keepers Advisory Council for the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth. Anne is an artist and advocate of the arts and is currently working on creating a business to support and promote native artists.

Whitney Kimball Coe is Vice President of National Programs at the Center for Rural Strategies. In that role, she serves as a senior advisor to the Rural Assembly, a nationwide coalition of people and organizations across the country dedicated to building more opportunity and better policy for rural communities. As an organizer, speaker, moderator, and writer, Whitney has shared her perspectives on community and civic courage with audiences around the world. She has been featured on stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival and the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit, and as a guest on the radio program On Being with Krista Tippett. She authored a weekly column for her local newspaper, the Daily Post-Athenian, and hosted the biweekly podcast series Everywhere Radio. Whitney is currently pursuing her Master of Divinity degree at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut.

Benya Kraus serves as the Director of Network Advancement at Resource Rural, a national nonprofit that invests in capacity-building for rural organizations that help local communities secure federal grants and other catalytic investments. Previously, Benya co-founded Lead For America where she launched and grew the American Connection Corps program, a national service program that has supported over 400 leaders in returning to and serving their hometowns in rural and small cities. Having returned to her own family’s rural hometown of Waseca, Minnesota, Benya is passionate about not only talent development in rural and overlooked communities, but also capital development and local reinvestment strategies. Benya has an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she attended as a Neubauer Civic Scholar and was selected as a 2023-24 Obama Foundation Scholar. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Tufts University with a B.A. in International Relations.

Cheryal Hills joined Region Five Development Commission (R5DC) in 2006 and has a 25+ year national reputation as an action-oriented convener with experience in securing resources through authentic relationships that have spurred equitable economic ecosystems and honor environmental stewardship commitments in rural Central Minnesota communities. R5DC is a Nationally respected Economic Development District, designated by the US Dept. Of Commerce EDA.

Cheryal currently professionally provides oversight of seven lending programs and community development planning in areas of transportation, workforce development, climate & broadband and delivers projects related to renewable energy, food value chains and arts/culture. She is a national speaker, honored to have presented at the White House twice in her career. In May 2022, Cheryal presented to the US House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth. In August 2022, she was appointed to serve as a member of the USDA Equity Commission (EC) Rural Community Economic Development (RCED).

She and colleagues started a rural regional Welcoming Communities program in 2018, when she became a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessments to improve regional cultural competency. Cheryal’s organization “R5DC” is nationally recognized – one of six Hub experts on delivery of the WealthWorks evaluation model. Under Cheryal’s leadership, in 2023 R5DC executed a cooperative agreement with USDA AMS to lead on of 12 Regional Food Business Center, with 35 diverse partner organizations serving MN, North & South Dakotas.

Allie Cole grew up in Seattle, WA with her dad and brother. She went to NDSU to be closer to her mom and met her husband in Fargo. She is a physical therapist in Granite Falls and Montevideo and she specializes in Pelvic Health and Dry Needling. She enjoys everything outdoors and spending time with her 8-month old daughter, Laramie. What she loves most is being active in her community, connecting people with similar interests, if it’ll be mutually beneficial to know each other, and being social!