Minnesota Women’s Press elevates Changemakers at their First Gala

On Thursday, December 5, the Minnesota Women’s Press held their first-ever Changemaker’s Gala in the Rauenhorst Ballroom at St. Kate’s. The event attracted donors, supporters, students, and community leaders alike. During an opening reception in the third-floor atrium, Wheel staff members spoke with D’Ann Lesch, director of St. Kate’s Center for Community Work and Learning. “The Minnesota Women’s Press was actually my first and only college internship,” shared Lesch. “I did copy editing. I liked that it was a woman-owned publication.”

The Changemaker’s Gala is an event to celebrate the Minnesota Women’s Press and a group of selected Changemakers – women that have made a significant positive impact on the community around them. This year’s Changemakers are Anika Bowie, Vice President of the Minneapolis NAACP, Tea Rozman Clark, founder of Green Card Voices, Asma Mohammed, Advocacy Director at Reviving Sisterhood, Sarah Super of Break the Silence, and prominent water rights activist Winona LaDuke.

The night opened with an arresting performance by Tiyumba Drum and Dance Group that brought the entire audience to their feet. Then came to calming chords of Duluth-based folk artist Sara Thomsen. St. Kate’s President ReBecca Roloff gave the welcome, highlighting the important relationship between St. Kate’s and the Minnesota Women’s Press. After guests filed through for a buffet dinner, publisher and editor of the Minnesota Women’s Press Mikki Morrissette gave opening remarks. Morrisette purchased the Minnesota Women’s Press on December 14, 2017, at the urging of her mother, a St. Kate’s Nursing alum.

President ReBecca Roloff gave the event’s opening remarks.

The Minnesota Women’s Press is the longest-running feminist publication in the United States. It was started by Molly Hoban and Glenda Martin and celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Their mission is to: Amplify and inspire, with personal stories and action steps, the leadership of powerful, everyday women.

This goal is totally encapsulated by the Changemaker Award, which is given annually to a set of community leaders. This year’s recipients were chosen out of a group of over 100 nominees. After Morrissette’s opening, it was time for the Changemakers to take the stage. First came Rising Star awardee Anika Bowie, who spoke of her race for St. Paul City Council Ward 1. Although not elected, she shared the power of resilience and her continued leadership on the Minneapolis NAACP and Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. Next came Storyteller award recipient Tea Rozman discussed her powerful mission to amplify immigrant voices in the United States through her organization Green Card Voices. Rozman says her ultimate goal is for her organization, which shares the lived experienced of immigrants to the United States, to no longer be needed. She encouraged the audience to, “listen to those who are quiet, those that are in the corners, those that are not on the stage.”

Asma Mohammed and Sarah Super received the joint Dynamic Duo award for their combined work with Breaking the Silence Minnesota. Mohammed called for listeners to exercise their rights by joining her for the annual Muslim and Jewish Women’s Day at the capitol on February 18, 2020, be counted in the census, and to caucus on February 25, 2020. Together with Super, she talked about their efforts to ensure greater protection for survivors of sexual violence in the Minnesota State legislature. Super also powerfully recounted her activism at St. Kate’s in 2016 when the school partnered with Heartland Circle, a leadership and development firm owned by her rapist’s parents. A peaceful demonstration led by Super inspired St. Kate’s to discontinue association with the firm.

Finally, Winona LaDuke, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award, conversed with the audience on her historical defense of water and land in northern Minnesota against big oil companies. She told women that “we shouldn’t just be hanging in there; we should be thriving.” This statement was very much in stride with the tone of the event as it closed, again with music. While a celebration and an acknowledgment, the Minnesota Women’s Press Gala was, above all, a source of hope. As LaDuke also shared, “change is inevitable – it’s just a question of who controls the change.” With the Minnesota Women’s Press, it is clear that we can make the change by all being parts of a greater whole.