Meet The Team
Our Coordinators facilitate four Regional Networks and are trained to connect women to resources and funding available through federal conservation programs. Please reach out directly to a Coordinator near you or contact Burke Murphy, MNWiC State Coordinator. For press inquiries, contact Kriss Marion, Communications and Media Coordinator.
MNWiC State Coordinator
Burke Murphy
Burke (she/her) has worked in Minnesota for 20 years, doing work grounded in rural community and economic development, as a practitioner, an educator, a network builder – connecting people with each other and the resources they need. Since the early seventies, Burke’s been in love with rural life in small communities from Vermont and Massachusetts to Northern California, finally settling in Red Wing, Minnesota. She brings a wide range of experience – from field work in cultural anthropology with ranchers and farmers, to grant and program development, with a particular focus on introducing our youth to career opportunities in agriculture and manufacturing in Greater MN. She also brings years of experience leading regional initiatives in the US and Latin America. For Burke, inclusion is the path to progress, cultivating resilient communities. “I believe that none of us is smarter than the whole of us. So, let’s elevate the strength and diversity of experience that women bring to the practice of conservation in Minnesota!”
South East Region Coordinator
Rice, Goodhue, and Dakota Counties
Ginger Fride
Ginger (she/her) grew up in the Driftless Region of South East Minnesota on a hobby farm fostering her lifelong love of horses, herons, rivers, plants, and mushrooms. Ginger earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and was awarded the Sylvia Bremer Award for Poetry in 2005. After graduation, Ginger delved into the world of food justice as a manager of the local food co-op, creating and nurturing relationships with food growers and food businesses and learning from the wisdom of the slow food movement. Ginger is a Minnesota Master Naturalist and has a background in hospitality, communications, and equity strategy. Ginger lives in Lake City, Minnesota on beautiful Lake Pepin with her son. In her free time, Ginger enjoys hiking, cooking, painting, reading, and writing. "The land, the waters, the creatures, and the flora and fauna have always been a source of mystery and beauty in my life- a true magic. My grandmother taught me that as a woman, it is my responsibility to steward and protect the land that nurtures us. I am passionate about sustainability and conservation and especially love sharing my knowledge with others who also hear the call to protect our natural resources and in turn, each other."
Digital Communications Associate
Maddy Bartsch
Maddy (they/them) is a natural dye farmer, art educator and organizer of local textile economies. For Maddy, seeing our textile systems as intrinsically linked to sustainable agriculture is paramount to the creation of a thriving decentralized textile economy in the Midwest. They farm cooperatively at Get Bentz Farm in Northfield, Minnesota and live in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. Copy and paste watch this great podcast with Maddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R58VRAkk7x8 "Land stewardship is, at its core, relational work. It is a privilege to commune with all who call our farm home and to accept the humble invitation to listen, offer care and be cared for, and to see ourselves as part a beautiful tapestry that works best when we see the goodness in each other."
West Central Region Coordinator
Chippewa, Swift, Lac qui Parle Counties
Alex Kiminski
Alex has been working with MN Women in Conservation since 2024 and joined RTC in 2025. After 20-some-odd years working in the nooks and crannies of the food industry and inhaling what she can about small-scale farming and conservation practices, she hopes to continue learning and sharing resources throughout the great Western Minnesota. "Such good fortune to be learning from this galvanized group of fellow nature fanatics. I, like many, relish the outdoors and am elated to learn and explore the myriad of ways women express affection for Mother Nature."
North East Region Coordinator
Aitkin and Itasca Counties
Allison Rian
Allison (she/her) has served as the Aitkin Farmers’ Market Hub manager since 2020 and has no plans to stop shortening supply chains, championing local businesses, and working for the chaotic good. She's excited to expand small and local agriculture work to include a greater story of conservation, preservation, and production. Allison and her husband Scott own and operate AlliCat Farm in Aitkin, MN, where their motto is, “Food that nourishes, land that thrives.” Of their 80 acres, they have about half an acre in vegetable production, 20 in hayland, and the rest is mixed forest land. Soil health and ecological diversity are and always will be the lenses through which farming and stewardship decisions are made. "In all of my work and across all aspects of my life, I have found that most often it is the women that come to the table with open hearts and minds. A community built around women in conservation has the potential to make the change we’re all looking for to preserve Minnesota’s unique natural beauty and resources.”
Communications and Media Coordinator
Kriss Marion
Kriss (she/her) is a former Chicago journalist-turned-CSA farmer who recently transitioned her organic veggie fields into managed grazing paddocks for sheep and pollinator habitat. She hosts a farmstay campground on her Driftless Region property called Circle M Market Farm. "Conservation is contagious AND addictive. You can catch it from a visit to a well-stewarded farm with innovative practices or from a sunset walk in a neighbor's prairie with dragonflies and bees diving around your head. Once you've caught that bug, you can't stop thinking about what else you could do on your place. I love to help women achieve these conservation dreams."