Dakota Resources is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that helps rural communities create their own solutions and shape a thriving rural. Our mission is to connect financial capital and leadership capacity to empower rural communities.

Dakota Resources is a rural non-profit enriching communities and empowering leaders. It is a catalyst and champion for rural communities seeking to realize their fullest potential. We invest in people who invest in themselves. http://dakotaresrouces.orgI stewarded community leadership capacity-building initiatives, including an entrepreneur growth fellowship called Dakota Rising, a local leadership and engagement coaching system called Empower! Dakota, a learning network for rural economic development pros, and other initiatives aimed at empowering local leaders in small rural communities.http://dakotaresources.orghttp://dakotarising.org

I help facilitators and nonprofit leaders love the work behind their work. Read more...For facilitators, that means showing you simple tools and ideas to improve your business and help more clients. I write "Facilitators on Fire," a newsletter with quick ideas and tools to help independent facilitators fuel their businesses. For nonprofit leaders, that means helping up your governance and strategy game by building better board meetings, relationships, and alignment. I only work with a few nonprofits at a time, so don't wait to book your work with Joe. You can also apply to have Joe speak or facilitate crowd-sourced breakouts for your conference or event

I serve on the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Advisory Board and the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Advisory Board for Sunrise Banks.

The BALLE Local Economy Fellowship is a two-year program designed for leaders who are advancing the development of healthy, equitable local economies. Local Economy Fellows are selected based on their vision, their leadership, and their role as strategic connectors, supporters, and influencers of local entrepreneurs and their businesses. Whether leading entrepreneur networks, community business incubators, or regional economic development initiatives, they are practical champions of new ways of doing business and organizing economies that work for all. Learn more about our 2018 Fellows focused on building rural economies here.The immersive program connects leaders with their peers, equips them with new skills, perspectives, and resources to help advance their work, and provides a platform to share experiments and models so that other regions can learn from them.

We’re a little company of change process artists with a social mission: helping local people design better systems in a bright rural. We believe in diving deep, co-creating, local leaders, and a good harvest. There’s lots to do, and we’re pumped to discover with you. (Weaver is also known as Rural Weaver LLC.)http://weavercodesign.com

Astronaut is a brand studio. We deliver strategy, design and digital content for companies shaping the new economy. Our crew brings a wealth of experience serving Fortune 100 luminaries, from DuPont and Intel to Nike and United Health. We’ve also served countless small business heroes and non-profit champions.I served as strategist on sustainability and environmental issues, and helped facilitate client engagement. We worked with multi-national companies, and helped equip several local environmental efforts with brand design and strategy, including: Sioux Falls Green Drinks, Sioux Falls Beautiful, and Groundworks Midwest.http://www.astronautstudio.com

Leading the organization for South Dakota's architects, and showing people why design matters in every community. I facilitated a 3-year transition from the retiring 20-year Executive Director to the next stage for AIA SD, serving as Executive Director by contract during that time. http://aiasouthdakota.org

Non-profit management outsourcing, speaking, consulting, facilitation and project hosting in social change projects. (Ignite Workshop, formerly known as Ignite Strategies, has been merged into Weaver Co-design.)This was my one-person company for 9 years. In addition to project consulting, I found a niche in outsourcing leadership to non-profits during start-up or major transitions.

I helped the organization navigate an intentional transitional leap from its local roots and the retirement of its legendary founder and 10-year President toward a nationwide organization serving rural leaders. While I wasn't around long enough to help see that whole vision through, I did lead the community-driven design, completion and start up of a first-of-its-kind LEED Platinum certified rural conference and training center, restaurant and hotel in a town of 900 people.At RLC, we helped small town leaders to Reimagine Rural by hosting meaningful conversations and collaborations for the future of rural people and places. Discovering real issues and sustainable solutions for a new rural way of life. Connecting and helping rural leaders and change agents to build a vibrant and sustainable future for rural communities.

I took a leave from the Rural Learning Center to help launch a movement to educate and inspire the Sioux Falls regional community to build a greener future.Created the SF Trash Talkers (now known as the Ecomaniacs), launched SF Green Drinks, Coordinated Plain Green Conference, helped organize Sustainable House design competition, helped launch a school gardens project, taught recycling and composting workshops, hosted candidate forums on sustainability, "greened" the Sioux Falls JazzFest, assisted City of Sioux Falls to launch their "Leading Green" initiative, supported in launch of a local arboretum, worked with local companies to launch and expand environmental, recycling and reuse programs, etc.

Our Outreach Team helped leaders to Reimagine Rural by hosting meaningful conversations and collaborations for the future of rural people and places. Discovering real issues and sustainable solutions for rural way of life. Connecting and helping rural leaders and change agents to build a vibrant and sustainable future for rural communities.I also co-lead our internal team as we successfully merged two separate non-profit organizations, Miner County Community Revitalization and The Rural Learning Center, into one integrated entity and brand, and developed a strategic plan and crowdsourced design for positioning Miner County as a nationwide gathering place for rural leadership and learning.

GMDA facilitates collaborative, innovative and sustainable growth in the greater McCook County, SD community.A group of business and community leaders from my home county asked me to help them form a new regional economic development organization serving 6 member communities. We formed the organization and raised the money, and then I decided to leave my dream job with Downtown Sioux Falls to work for my home people.

http://dtsf.comFormerly known as Main Street Sioux Falls, Inc., DTSF continually enhances downtown Sioux Falls, SD's vitality through design and historic preservation, events, retail development, economic development, the arts, and place-building.I also managed, with an expert lending committee, this investor- and federally-funded revolving loan program for downtown Sioux Falls businesses. DEDIF's Mission: To provide economic incentives for downtown Sioux Falls. To encourage, promote and assist the growth, development, and location of business concerns, including small business, the creation of new and improved job opportunities, the reduction of unemployment, and the betterment of individual and community prosperity within the downtown area of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Formerly known as Main Street Sioux Falls, Inc., DTSF continually enhances downtown Sioux Falls, SD's vitality through design and historic preservation, events, retail development, economic development, the arts, and place-building.I served as assistant executive director and managed all Committees and the Downtown Economic Development Incentive Fund (DEDIF). I also managed all downtown festivals, events, and community activities as well as all marketing and sponsorship development for DTSF.

Formerly known as Main Street Sioux Falls, Inc., DTSF continually enhances downtown Sioux Falls, SD's vitality through design and historic preservation, events, retail development, economic development, the arts, and place-building.I recruited and supported DTSF's volunteer force and managed all festivals, special events, and community activities for the downtown neighborhood. I also managed sponsor relationships and managed a rebranding process and website development transitioning to a new "DTSF" branding for downtown.