rhonda conn
associate director
native sun community power development
bemidji

Bio

Rhonda Conn is Associate Director of Native Sun Community Power Development, where she helps lead organizational strategy, operations, resource development, financial management, and programs advancing energy sovereignty and economic opportunity in Tribal and rural communities. She brings more than two decades of experience working with nonprofit organizations, Tribal governments, and community-based initiatives across Minnesota. Her career has included executive leadership, nonprofit finance, grant development and management, workforce and community development, and organizational capacity building. Rhonda has helped organizations strengthen their systems, secure and manage resources, navigate growth, and build the infrastructure needed to sustain their work. Her leadership is grounded in strong institutions, community voice, and ensuring resources reach the people and places they are intended to serve.

Why do you feel you would make a valuable addition to the MCN board?

I would bring to the MCN board more than two decades of experience working inside nonprofit organizations, Tribal governments, and community-based initiatives. My work has crossed executive leadership, finance, grants, operations, workforce development, organizational growth, and partnerships across sectors and communities.

That experience has given me a strong understanding of what nonprofit organizations are being asked to carry. Leaders are responding to complex community needs while managing funding uncertainty, workforce challenges, compliance requirements, limited capacity, and growing expectations for accountability and results. I also understand how differently those pressures affect organizations depending on their size, geography, resources, and the communities they serve.

I would bring a perspective strongly rooted in northern and rural Minnesota, while also drawing on experience in Tribal, regional, urban, and statewide settings. I want to help ensure that organizations of every size and from every part of Minnesota have a meaningful voice in the decisions and systems that shape our nonprofit sector.

For more information about Native Sun, visit: https://www.nativesun.org.