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Jan Joannides
(612) 251-7304
jan@rtcinfo.org
 Jan Joannides is the Executive Director and co-founder
of Renewing the Countryside. For the past ten years, she has been an
advocate and organizer for rural communities and citizens who are
working to stimulate economic growth and enhance their communities
through sustainable uses of their landscapes and resources. Prior to
her work with Renewing the Countryside, Jan coordinated the Community
Assistantship Program at the University of Minnesota and helped
found and directed the Center for Integrated Natural Resources and
Agricultural Management. Jan holds a master's degree in natural
resources from the University of Minnesota. She lives in St. Paul,
Minnesota with her husband Brett, daughter Olivia, and son Axel.
Christy James
(612) 963-0467
christy@rtcinfo.org
 Christy James is Director of Community Initiatives for Renewing the
Countryside. She has over 17 years of experience conducting workshops,
trainings, and facilitating meetings and strategy sessions. Having
previously worked with RTC on various projects, including sowing the
seeds for and helping to launch Green Routes, Christy brings a depth of
experience and enthusiasm for rural revitalization, entrepreneur
development and microenterprise business issues to Renewing the
Countryside. Previously, she has worked with Minnesota Rural Partners,
the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, and as the interim director of
the Alliance for Minnesota Microenterprise. Currently she serves on the
rural committee of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity and is
active in the Minnesota Facilitators Network. In addition to her
professional work, Christy is an active volunteer in her community and
serves on the board of a high adventure camp that works with at risk
youth. She has a passion for traveling off the beaten track and finding
unique, quaint and quirky locations. Christy is a silent sports
enthusiast and lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband Randy, three
canoes and a kayak.
Brett Olson
(651) 293-1172
brett@rtcinfo.org
Brett Olson is co-founder and the Creative Director for all of the publications
and marketing projects of Renewing the Countryside. Along with fundraising, design and Green Routes, he also hosts Local Food Hero radio. He has been working
as an art director and designer for fifteen years. Starting as a
designer at a small design company in Minneapolis, he quickly opened
his own firm and has designed many printed advertising and media
campaigns for both non-profit and corporate clients. By the year 2000
much of his work was for the non-profit sector and in 2001 he focused
most of his time on designing for Renewing the Countryside. As one of
the founders, Brett has been involved in much of the planning and
organizing and promotion of Renewing the Countryside since it's
beginning. Brett lives with Jan and their two kids in
St. Paul.
Jonathan Beutler
612-871-1541
Jonathan began working with Renewing the Countryside as a
 volunteer in 2007. In 2009, he completed a B.S. in Environmental Policy at the University of Minnesota, with an emphasis on sustainability studies and organic agriculture. Since then, he has worked primarily on coordination of the Green Routes sustainable travel program, and a variety of other projects for RTC. In his spare time, Jonathan enjoys cooking, biking, rock climbing, vinyasa yoga, working in the garden, and caring for his three laying hens: Pumpkin, Belle, and Mary Pip.
ASSOCIATES
Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko
info@ruralrenaissance.org
www.ruralrenaissance.org
www.innserendipity.com
 Lisa and John are co-founders of the RuralRenaissance Network and co-authors of the book, "Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the
Good Life" and numerous others. They live on their farm in Wisconsin,
where they operate the nationally recognized Inn Serendipity, and grow
organically for market and for themselves. Known for their contemporary
approach to more sustainable living, the husband and wife duo share
their farm with their son, two llamas, a flock of chickens, and
millions of ladybugs.
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Staff
