What's New.
August 2025
​
Celebrating 1 Year of Creative Problem Solving
​
It’s hard to believe that Amelanchier is already celebrating its one-year anniversary! What began as a gut instinct to try something different has grown into something much more meaningful. I’ve been blown away by the incredible support and partnership of so many civic-minded leaders in the social sector. This past year has exceeded all my expectations, and I want to share some gratitude and reflections as I look ahead.
​
Thank You to Visionary, Courageous Leaders
​
Launching a business like Amelanchier—where the whole point is to challenge assumptions and imagining greater possibilities—can’t happen without leaders who value the wellbeing of their communities more than their own comfort. I’ve been blessed to work with so many who do just that: pushing outside their comfort zones and doubling down on the values of equity, power-sharing, and justice.
​
Gratitude to Ibrahim Mohamed at Community Resource Center, Jennifer Walton at Advocating Change Together, Nikki Conway and Marti Fischbach at Dakota County, Kelly Harder and Leo Ribas with the Human Services Group, Andrea Zuber at Skifte, LLC, the Minnesota Board on Aging, the MN First Provider Alliance, and the Birth Justice Collaborative of Hennepin County for your partnership and example over the past year!
​
The Sources of Power
​
As I reflect on the work I’m privileged to do, I’ve been thinking a lot about power—specifically, how we perceive it in the social sector. It’s easy to get hung up on formal power structures. We spend our days chasing funding, twisting ourselves in knots to meet complex rules and regulations, or trying to convince policymakers to care about the issues that matter to us. In doing so, we can convince ourselves that we’re powerless—or that change is only possible when those with formal power say so.
​
Don’t get me wrong: formal power matters. Formal systems shape access and opportunity and create real harm. But as people in community, we also have real power—because we have each other.
​
Where systems create barriers, we can open doors through shared action.
Where political priorities shift, we can stay rooted in relationships and values that endure.
Where bureaucracies say “no,” communities can say “we’ll find another way.”
​
There is power in mutuality—a power that grows through give-and-take, through trust and shared purpose. This kind of power is not about control. It’s about connection. And when we build coalitions of care, rooted in those connections, we create the conditions for real and lasting change.
​
Together, we can build power by continuing to choose community.
​
– Evan
​​
P.S. If you're curious about working together in Amelanchier’s second year, I’d love to hear from you!