The next East Downtown Council Business Forum is scheduled for Thursday, April 21, at the Normandy Inn – 405 South 8th Street.
The topic for this event is “The Water Works Project: Culminating 30 Years of Mill Ruins Park Riverfront Development.” The featured speakers for the Annual Meeting will be Jennifer Downham, the Chief Development Officer for the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, and Kate Lamers, the project manager for the Water Works project at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
In addition, EDC Board and staff members will provide a year-in-review and a strategy update for the future along with special Guest Steve Cramer, CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council-DID. Elections to the EDC Board of Directors will also take place at this meeting. There are seven board members up for election: Alex Tittle, Kelly Stenzel, Bert Winkel, Tim Briggs, Hillary Hart, Tom Hayes and Brian Maupin.
Registration, lunch and networking starts at 11:30 a.m., with the program starting at Noon. The cost to attend the forum is just $20. Attendees can purchase lunch tickets in advance (scroll to the bottom of the page), or pay by cash or check at the door. Please RSVP by sending an email to [email protected] by no later than Monday, April 18, at Noon.
FORUM AGENDA
- Call to Order & Introductions (Paul Mellblom, 7 Minutes)
- Board Candidate Election (Paul Mellblom, 2 Minutes)
- EDC Strategic Plan Report (Paul Mellblom, 5 Minutes)
- Year in Review (Christie Rock Hantge, 5 Minutes)
- MDC-DID Partnership Update (Steve Cramer, 5 Minutes)
- Membership and Program Growth (Dan Collison, 5 Minutes)
- “The Water Works Project: Culminating 30 years of Mill Ruins Park Riverfront Development” (Jennifer Downham and Kate Lamers, 25 Minutes)
- Closing Announcements (Dan Collison, 2 Minutes)
- Adjournment (Paul Mellblom, 1 Minute)
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
Kate Lamers, Project Manager, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Kate Lamers is a landscape architect with experience in urban redevelopment and park planning and design. Kate has worked with numerous communities throughout the Midwest to transform underutilized waterfronts into public green spaces. Prior to starting at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in 2014, Kate worked at large and small multidisciplinary firms in Colorado and the Twin Cities. Her project experience includes parks of all sizes, aquatic centers, streetscapes, mixed use urban redevelopment areas, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities; from the initial planning stages through construction implementation.
Jennifer Downham, Chief Development Officer, Minneapolis Parks Foundation
Jennifer Downham is a fifteen-year professional fundraiser, who has made a career of encouraging community support for “free” services: public radio and public parks. As Chief Development Officer, Downham will oversee the Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s Major Gifts and annual giving program, as well as plan and execute new opportunities for donors to support Minneapolis parks through philanthropy.
Downham was most recently the Director of Individual Giving for Como Friends. She has also worked in fundraising for Concordia University, Minnesota International Center, and KFAI, Fresh Air Radio. She has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
“Growing up I spent my summers “up north” at the cabin and lived my city life among the parks. I was fortunate to live and study abroad and managed to include green destinations in any travel plans – most recently to Kew Gardens in London and the Portland Japanese Garden in Williams Park,” says Jennifer. “When I’m not rallying support of a mission, I’m chasing around a preschooler, trying to make it to the music gigs of a high-schooler and sneaking in a run around Nokomis.”
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