Creating Community Consulting

10/13/2026

Childcare is not a side detail. It is a participation strategy.
For our upcoming Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) cohort, we are being proactive in partnering strategically with our area Universities and Colleges to create a new type of internship to support parent participation.
We’re hiring interns to lead a creative, supportive space for children while their parents and caregivers take part in PLTI, a free 20-week national training that helps parents and caregivers become advocates for children and leaders in their communities.
Interns won’t be handed a binder. There’s no set curriculum. They’ll design short lessons and activities that connect to what the adults are learning down the hall.
Along the way, they’ll work with kids of different ages, needs, and backgrounds. They’ll connect with parents and family-serving professionals and see community engagement, advocacy, facilitation, and program design up close. They’ll also help us figure out what to improve for future cohorts.
Thank you to Jill Wenger at Concordia College, Lacey Hoppe at Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Tyler Strand at M State for being our sounding boards as we built this role.
Know a student who would thrive here? Tell them to check out our internship on Handshake!

10/09/2026

We have news! Creating Community Consulting is proud to share that Mackenzie Hamm, Executive Director of CornerStone in Frazee, MN, has received the Paula Stocke Award of Excellence! This is a statewide recognition of the Minnesota Family Resource Network Annual Awards noting incredible individual leadership to strengthen families.

When Frazee youth said they didn’t feel welcome and had nowhere to go, Mackenzie listened and stepped in to lead as the permanent Director. Over the last three years she led turning a retired church into a place where kids can grab a meal, make art, work in the bistro, and find adults who show up every day. It’s now a Family Resource Center that helps whole families get what they need.

Mackenzie says “anyone would do this.” We know better. She fed kids every day through a summer of construction, fostered pets while families found housing, and hosts a Haunted Forest where 40+ youth scare more than 400 visitors, all while working from one small basement office. Congratulations, Mackenzie! CornerStone: Frazee Community and Youth Project

10/08/2026

We're so excited to celebrate Kori Nelson of YESS -Youth Emergency Shelter & Supports on receiving the 2026 Evergreen Community Impact Award! This award recognizes someone who has made a meaningful, lasting difference in the lives of youth and families, leading with compassion, creativity, and commitment while strengthening connections and creating space for growth and belonging. Kori's work serving youth in Hubbard County is something special, and we were lucky enough to see it up close when we partnered with her last year.

YESS helps young people across northern Minnesota get back on their feet through emergency shelter, counseling, and the support they need to move forward, because every young person deserves that chance. Congratulations, and we can't wait to cheer you on in your next chapter!

10/02/2026

Bemidji isn't starting from scratch.

This week, more than 30 people gathered to kick off a community needs assessment focused on people who are unhoused, sheltered, or doubled up. City and county leaders, elected officials, nonprofits, advocates, shelter workers, faith communities, service providers, and people with lived experience all came.

Before asking what's missing, the group asked what they had already built. Together, they mapped what Bemidji has accomplished since 2014: facilities, programs, partnerships, cultural knowledge and practices, and people who keep showing up for one another.

When we asked why people came, the answer was simple. They care about their neighbors.

Peoples Church, Village of Hope, and the Nameless Coalition for the Homeless are leading this work, with funding from the Northwest Minnesota Foundation and an anonymous donor. Next, in partnership with the Wilder Foundation, we'll hold interviews and talking circles that center the voices of the people most affected.

Creating Community™ Consulting is grateful to help bring these voices together. Strong communities aren't built by starting over. They're built from what's already strong.

09/29/2026

Big change often starts with one conversation.
A conversation where someone asks, “What if we tried this?”
Where a resident shares an idea.
A local leader listens.
A new partner comes to the table.
And suddenly, something that felt impossible begins to feel possible.
At Creating Community Consulting, we believe some of the best community solutions already exist in the people who live, work, serve, and care about the places they call home.
Our job is to help bring those voices together—and turn good conversations into meaningful action.
What’s one conversation happening in your community right now that could lead to something bigger?

09/23/2026

Giving a huge shout-out to Megan Jensen, Co-Owner and Consultant at Creating Community Consulting, who will be presenting at the 2026 Together for Families Virtual Conference, October 20–22!

Megan’s session: “From Data to Direction: A Practical Framework for Continuous Improvement in Family Resource Centers.”

Congratulations, Megan! We’re excited to see you share your knowledge and experience with Family Resource Center professionals.

09/23/2026

Less than two days.
Two organizations.
Two different boards.
20+ people around the tables.

And a whole lot of laughing, learning, dreaming, problem-solving…and, because we believe in doing things right, good food may have been included. 🥘🙌😂

This is some of my favorite work is facilitating skill building with boards and moving action plans forward.

Because stronger communities don’t just happen.

They’re built by people who are willing to pull up a chair, have the hard conversations, learn new skills, challenge old ways of doing things, and figure out how to move from:

“We should really do something about that…”

to

“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

Over the last two days, we’ve been helping board members and community leaders build the skills to engage people, strengthen their organizations, mobilize resources, and actually move ideas into action.

This work makes my heart sing.

I’m incredibly grateful for organizations that trust Creating Community Consulting to come alongside them. Not to swoop in with all the answers, but to help uncover the strengths, people, ideas and possibilities that are already there. And yes, they do get to take advantage of my 15+ years of experience in leading nonprofits, so we have a few answers. 😎

Maybe your organization is feeling a little stuck right now.

Your board isn’t accomplishing what you hoped it would.

You can’t find enough people willing to serve on your board or committees.

There’s a project your community desperately needs…but not enough money to build it.

You’ve held meetings about the meetings about the thing you still haven’t done. 😬

Or you simply know your organization could be doing more and you just aren’t sure how to get from here to there.

Here’s what I want you to know:

Stuck doesn’t mean broken. It usually means you need a different way forward.

Sometimes that starts with getting the right people around a table, feeding people something delicious, asking the right questions, taking inventory on what’s working, what’s desired, building their skills, and reminding them that change is actually possible and then acting on it.

That’s the work we do.

And I absolutely love getting to do it. ❤️

09/15/2026