In honor of Women’s History Month, this month’s Community Profile features conservation leader, Ellen Reed, Executive Director of Mississippi Park Connection. We talked about her passion for conservation and the vital work being done to protect the Mississippi River. Ellen highlights the importance of community support for organizations like Mississippi Park Connection, especially during challenging times when funding and resources are at risk. There are many ways local communities can get involved in protecting the river, from volunteering and advocacy to simple actions that make a big difference.
Can you tell us about your journey to becoming the executive director of Mississippi Park Connection and what inspired you to work in this field?
If you had asked 8-year-old me if I’d be doing this job today, I would have never guessed it. My background is in communications and business administration, so I spent most of my early career in the for-profit world. But I always found myself wanting to be involved with nonprofits—whether it was volunteering, serving on boards, or lending my skills to causes I cared about. I realized that my real passion was in the nonprofit world. I worked for organizations like the American Heart Association and Wounded Warrior Project and eventually landed a role for a small nonprofit focused on conservation in North Florida as their first executive director. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.
I lived in Florida for a long time, but after visiting Duluth, Minnesota in late 2018, I completely fell in love with it. When I saw the opportunity to become the executive director of Mississippi Park Connection, it felt like serendipity. I was thrilled to get the job and made the move in July 2023. Since then, I haven’t looked back. I absolutely love Minnesota—the seasons, the community, even the winters! It’s been about 18 months now, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
How do you see the Mississippi Park Connection’s role in fostering a connection between the public and the Mississippi River in Minneapolis?
Our role at Mississippi Park Connection is really about connecting the disconnected. Our goal is to help people discover and enjoy the river, especially those who might not even realize it’s there or don’t know how to access it. We work closely with partners like the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and Three Rivers Park District to find new ways to bring people down to the river and help them feel like they belong in these natural spaces.
Speaking from my own experience, I didn’t grow up in an outdoorsy family. Looking back, I see all that missed opportunity and think about how many years I didn’t know that national parks were for me—that they belong to all of us. That’s what we want to change. Whether the disconnection is because of technology, history, generational gaps, or economic reasons, our job is to bridge that gap. Even if it’s just getting someone close enough to look at the river and think, “Wow, that’s pretty,” that’s a win for us.
Can you share more about the mission of the Mississippi Park Connection and some of the key initiatives that you’re focused on right now?
A lot of our work focuses on restoring habitats, like replanting trees along the river and improving natural areas in the corridor. We collaborate closely with partners to support youth education programs and host events that encourage people to get out on the river. One of our key initiatives is the Paddle Share program, a self-service kayak option designed to make it easier for people to experience the water. Our goal is to make the river accessible and welcoming to everyone by identifying and removing any barriers that might prevent people from enjoying these natural spaces.
Our mission at Mississippi Park Connection is to strengthen the enduring connection between people and the Mississippi River. We’re honored to be the nonprofit support organization for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, which is the National Park right here in the Twin Cities. This park spans about 72 miles of the Mississippi River corridor, covering around 52,000 acres from Dayton down to Hastings. It’s one of the first partnership parks in the National Park Service system, and most of the land is managed through collaborations with city, state, and federal agencies, making partnerships essential to our work.
How has the current Administration’s freeze on Federal funding impacted the Mississippi Park Connection specifically, and what challenges has it brought?
This has been a tough time for us at Mississippi Park Connection. We’re a small team of just ten hardworking staff, and the recent freeze on federal funding has hit us hard. We had two contracts with the Department of the Interior to help restore the tree canopy along the river, which has been devastated by the Emerald ash borer. These contracts were funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) dollars, and we’d already completed about $140,000 worth of work. But now, with the funding freeze, we can’t access the online government portal to get reimbursed, and we have no idea if or when that might change. For an organization of our size, that’s a huge blow. Every day, I’m just trying to figure out how to keep us afloat, not just for our staff but for the community that benefits from this work.
On top of that, our partners at the National Park had to cut 15% of their staff in February, which is devastating for a park that’s already small and working with limited resources. It’s frustrating, to say the least, especially when the work we’re doing, restoring habitats and maintaining public lands, benefits everyone. I understand the concerns people have about waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars—I’m a taxpayer too. But I see firsthand how thin the margins are for park rangers and staff and how carefully every dollar is stretched. We’re here to fill the gaps and help leverage every bit of funding to make sure our parks can thrive.
What can residents do to help protect the Mississippi River and support organizations like the Mississippi Park Connection, especially considering the current challenges?
It’s so important to let your representatives know that our national parks matter and need to be fully funded and fully staffed. Now is really the time to speak up. And not just to your Congressional representatives, but to your whole community. Social media can be a powerful tool for this. I always tell people that protecting the national park in your own backyard helps protect parks all over the country. I share that message with my friends and family back home in Florida, too. So, use your channels to amplify the message as much as you can.
It’s also essential to remember that we’re all connected to the river, even if we don’t see it every day. The trash on the ground outside your house can end up in the river system, so being mindful of that is a simple but powerful way to help. And right now, the Mississippi Park Connection is facing some significant revenue challenges. If you’re able to support the river, we’d really appreciate contributions at parkconnection.org. We need the community’s help more than ever to keep doing this work.
Let’s talk about the inspiration that keeps you going through these challenging times. Who are some of the women in wilderness that have inspired you, either in your work or in your personal connections?
Oh, I love this question! There are a few incredible women who come to mind right away. First is my personal celebrity inspiration, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant. She’s a wildlife ecologist and the host of Going Wild. I really connect with her story because, like me, she didn’t grow up in an outdoorsy family. She found her way into conservation after being inspired by shows like Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. What I admire most is how she translates complex science into stories that inspire people. That’s such a huge part of what we do in the nonprofit world—making science accessible and engaging for our communities.
But my inspirations aren’t just famous faces. They’re also the women I get to work with and learn from every day right here in our backyard. One of them is Allie Holdhusen. They’re the biological science technician for the park and also the Great Lakes Big Rivers program dive officer. Allie is amazing, they literally dive into dark waters to study bivalves, which are key indicator species that tell us how healthy our river is, and thus, how clean the water we drink is. Then there’s Mariellel Mateo, our forestry coordinator at Mississippi Park Connection. Marielle is out there digging up the ground, planting trees, surveying them. Watching her work is so inspiring. And I have to mention Jess Loeffler. She was a biotech with the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area until she lost her job on February 14th. Jess is chainsaw certified, did prescribed burns, and tackled invasive species. She was out there every day protecting the river. Losing her is a big loss for the park.
All of these women are fearless and dedicated to protecting the wild places we love, and they inspire me so much.
Can you share your experiences as a woman working in the environmental and nonprofit sectors, and particularly in natural spaces like the Mississippi River?
I feel really fortunate to work alongside so many strong, intelligent, and inspiring women in the nonprofit sector. That said, there’s definitely room to grow and bring more voices into the conversation. I’ve been working in environmental causes for a couple of decades now, and while there are a lot of amazing women in these spaces, they’re often in roles like communications or HR. It’s been exciting to see more women stepping into leadership and science positions.
One thing I’ve learned from working in conservation is that ecosystems are healthier when there’s a lot of natural biodiversity. The same goes for problem-solving. If everyone at the table thinks the same way, you’re not going to get the best solutions. When we have different perspectives, we end up with stronger, more effective solutions to the challenges we face. I really hope to see that continue in the environmental and nonprofit sectors.
Is there anything else that you would like to share?
I really just want to emphasize how much of the work happening on the Mississippi River is possible because of strong partnerships. Collaborating with organizations like the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and so many others is what makes all of this successful. Each group brings something unique to the table, and that’s what keeps everything moving forward.
To help support the work of the Mississippi park Connection, visit parkconnection.org.
Image Credits: Ellen Reed, Mississippi Park Connection