Legacy Story: Changemakers 1989-2020

Our new 162-page book “35 Years of Minnesota Women” ends with a first-ever compilation of all of the people and organizations who have been recognized each year since 1989 as a Changemaker. We are reprinting that list here.

1989 Newsmakers

Chris Voelz, U of M women’s athletic director
Geraldine Carter, Survival Skills Institute
Sen. Linda Berglin
Melinda Creed & Shelley Jacobson, fundraising project for single mothers to take vacations
Karen Thompson, gay woman not allowed to visit her partner in nursing home turned advocate
Nicci Hagenah, young playwright
Stephen Cooper, Human Rights Department head focused on gender discrimination
Phyllis Goldin, Physicians for Social Responsibility (anti-war)
Winston Granger, abortion rights legislator
Heart Warrior Chosa, first female (and Native) mayor of Ely
Carolyn McKay, doctor focused on racial inequality and infant mortality rates
Joanne Smith & Roberta Levy, chief judges of Hennepin and Ramsey County district courts
Minnesota Supreme Court, for comprehensive study of gender bias in the state’s courts
Jean Keffeler, advocate for women at the University of Minnesota

April 1990 Mavericks

A special award was given to Minnesota Mavericks, honoring women who follow their own way, sponsored by Minnesota Women’s Press and the Minnesota Press Club. In her talk, Catherine Jordan defined herself and sister mavericks as women who “avoid being branded, who challenge the status quo, who make waves and rock the boat whenever possible.”

Carole Osborne Bratter, founder of organization helping women and men follow their own paths in the workplace
Valerie Lee, received award from MN women’s fund
Sage Cowles, activist, dancer, athlete
Isabel Gomez, judge in Hennepin County district court, serving on juvenile bench
Catherine Jordan, founder and director of Peer Education Health Resources

1990 Newsmakers

Vivian Jenkins-Nelson, INTER-RACE program
Steven Miles, advocated for women’s needs in court system
Tamara Taylor & Liane Nelson, called out gubernatorial candidate on charges of sexual assault
Meridel Lesueur, Meridel Lesueur Peace and Justice Center, writer and activist
Eucharist Planners, women who held mass without priest in Harriet Rose Garden
Jean Foster, Mary Hourigan, Jeanne Weigum, anti-tobacco activists
Cathy Nelson, 1990 Teacher of the Year
Linda Fancher White, developed “her-story” program at Metro State University
Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson, Metropolitan Economic Development Association
Marj Schneider and Lynn Zelvin, founder of Womyn’s Braille Press
Julie Tilley, established battered women shelter in Mankato
Hubert H. Humphrey III, MN attorney general

1991 Newsmakers

Judy Mahle Lutter, educates women about physical exercise, Melpomene Institute
Jenny Hanley, hockey player
Jilly Olson, Katy Lyle, Susan Black, filed sexual harassment lawsuits and won
Ann Bancroft, explorer
Mark Andrew and Peter McLaughlin, champions of affirmative action
Carol Banister, East Metro women’s council director
LaJune Lange, judge who sentenced rapist and murderer Richard Moorman to life in prison
Phyllis Wiener, artists
Doug Grow, journalist
Cathy Meredig, designed more realistically proportioned doll

1992 Newsmakers

Ada Posey, state political director of Clinton campaign
Kathy Thurber, park board member
Pat Mindt, LGBTQ+ advocate and army national guard captain
Sophie Liu, diversity in arts activist
Shirley Nelson, political organizer and head of coalition focused on getting women elected to office
Jeri Rassmussen, executive director of Midwest Health Center for Women
Rosalie Maggio, highlighting representation of women in literature
Edith Pacini, speaker about Prairie Island Reservation’s struggle with Northern States Power Co.
Anne Wolf & Gretchen Thompson, launched campaign to get “johns” out of their neighborhood
Carol Faricy & Gloria Segal, founders of Anita Faye Hill fund
Joanne Whiterabbit, founder of Native Americans in Philanthropy
Deb Sunderman, member of U.S. Women’s paralympic basketball team
Cher Johnson, founder of Minnesota Breast Cancer Coalition
Laura Kuhn, Action Committee to End Sexism and Violence Against Women in the Media
Lola Reed, first woman head of St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly (union)
Andrea Minkkinen, St. Paul’s first female firefighter
Sue Mutziger & Cheltzie Heintz, filed sexual harassment charges against school district on behalf of daughter

1993 Newsmakers

Sharon Sayles Belton, Minneapolis mayor
Emilie Buchwald, Pamela Fletcher, Martha Roth, “Transforming a Rape Culture” editors
Karen Clark, State representative, legislated for LGBTQ+ rights
Sally Hill, Twin Cities Metropolitan Church Commission
Ann Bancroft, explorer
Brenda St. Germaine, American Indian Business Development Corporation
Arvonne Fraser, President Clinton chose her to represent U.S. women at global conversation
Kim Cardelli, Children’s Safety Center
Jane Hodgson, abortion doctor
Doua Lee, Home Based Industries, Inc. sewing company

1994 Newsmakers

Sheila Wellstone, domestic violence advocate
Carol Ann Shudlick, basketball player
Rosemary Rocco, Tina Welsh, Karen Diver, Duluth Building for Women
Judy Schaubach & Sandra Peterson, MEA, MFT
Winona LaDuke, activist for Native rights
Anna Chong, Engineered Demolition
Ann Wynia, Senate candidate
K. Ilean Her, first female Hmong attorney in Minnesota
Annie Lee, Leaders of Today and Tomorrow, leadership and public policy seminar for college-age women
Jean Harris, Eden Prairie mayor

1995 Newsmakers

Angie Losh and Dawn Litzau, petitioned for name change of tribal area
Ethel Curry, died at age 107 and left behind more than $2 million for scholarships
Amy Hixon & Carolyn Cushman, Twin Cities Take Back the Night
Jeanne Audrey Powers, lesbian clergywoman
Rafala Green, created art for Minneapolis’ Philips Neighborhood
Skyway BPW, presented opposition to growing sex industry in downtown Minneapolis
WILPF, sent 20 delegates on the Peace Train, a historic trans-continental journey to Beijing
Mitzi Witchger, advocated for girls’ hockey
Barbara Stuhler, authored book about Minnesota suffragists
Harriet Tubman Center

1996 Newsmakers

Susan Hagel & Josie Johnson, paralympic athletes
Helen Healy, battled state board of medical practice to practice naturopathic medicine
Domestic Alert Alliance
Ellen O’Neill, worked 11 years to build the Minnesota Women’s Fund
Brenda Elsagher, hairdresser, cancer survivor, standup comic
Margaret Boyer & Sharon Henry, The Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals
Alice Hausman, Becky Lourey, Mindy Greiling, ousted speaker of the house
Neng Lee, first Hmong artist to exhibit her work commercially in Minnesota
Nina Rothchild & Bonnie Watkins, oral history of feminism, “In the Company of Women”
Karen Sunna, one of only a few Buddhist women leaders in the country

1997 Newsmakers

18 women from eight Twin Cities nursing homes, formed an organizing committee
Ricky Rask, organized Fund Kids First to make legislators reconsider allocating public funds to Twins Stadium
Roseann Lloyd, honoring unnamed women who died from domestic violence
Rose Robinson & Global Women’s Network, provides business training and networking help for women crafters
Alika Galloway, pastor at first Black Presybyterian church in Minnesota
Gayle Winegar, runs fitness club
Denise Brooks & Carol Soto, organized Minnesota contingent of Million Woman March
Gail Brinkmeier, organizer of Midwestern Young Feminist Summit
Colleen Hathaway & Danielle Olson, run chiropractic clinic based on patient-set fees
Julie Gay, Agricultural Women’s Institute founder

1998 Newsmakers

Jearlyn Steele Battle, first Black woman to host her own radio show on WCCO
Rita Steinhagen, women in prison advocate
Kifah Abdi-Coleman, torture survivor and advocate
Lar Mundstock, United Cambodian Association of Minnesota
Directors of abortion clinics, who are targeted by anti-abortion terrorists
Jennifer Schmidgall & Alana Blahoski, gold medal winning hockey player

1999 Newsmakers

Lois Jenson, settled nation’s first class action sexual harassment suit
Brianna Scurry, U.S. women’s soccer goalkeeper
Catherine Azora-Minda, KFAI feminist radio voice
Nancy Hite, CEO of Minneapolis YWCA
Amal Yusuf, founder of Somalian Women’s Association
Sandy Spieler, Heart of the Beast Theater
Mary Gaines, campaign to bring Minnesota children to mothers in federal prison
Amazon Bookstore Owners, sued Amazon.com for trademark infringement
Jodi-Michaelle Carlson & Jeanne Engen-Duranske, citizen lobbyists
Yee Won Chong, co-directs Women Against Military Madness
Patricia Weaver Francisco, rape survivor who wrote memoir

2000 Newsmakers

Dads and Daughters (DADS) Joe Kelly, valuing daughters for who they are
Winona LaDuke, activist for Native rights
Jaye Rykunyk, advocate for workers’ rights
Betty McCollum, representative, 4th District
Meena Natarajan, Minneapolis playwright, elected President of Women Playwrights International
Neva Walker, first Black woman elected to the Minnesota Legislature, district 61B
Jessica Roe and the late Sen. Janet Johnson, shepherds of environmental law
St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church, ordained openly LGBTQ+ Pastor Anita C. Hill
Target Market, youth movement targeting the tobacco industry
Hmong Women’s Action Team, volunteers writing Hmong women into history (Mai Vang Thao, chair)

2001 Newsmakers

Sarah Harris, Artistic Director of Patrick’s Cabaret, building community through art
Ann Bancroft, explorer
Hot Flash, first crew of women over 50 to compete in the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship
Sonia Hohnadel, first person of color to serve on the Moorhead school board
New Moon, ‘The Magazine for Girls and their Dreams,’ edited by Nancy Gruver
Welfare Rights Committee, grassroots organization of 20 welfare recipients, low-income women, and immigrants
Marcia Zimmerman, Senior Rabbi Temple Israel, largest reform congregation led by a woman
Linda Berglin, U.S. Representative, champion for reproductive choice
Men’s Action Committee to End Violence Against Women (Chuck Derry and Joe Morse, founders)

2002 Newsmakers

American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation, goal to clean up East Franklin Ave.
Dr. Amy Gilbert, Family Tree Clinic, improving access to emergency contraception
Somalian Women’s Association (Amal Yusuf, President and CEO)
Judi Dutcher & Becky Lourey, gubernatorial runners up
Yvette Boe Oldendorf, Career Solutions, employment counseling agency for women entering the workforce
June Goemer, Salary Equity Warrior, three pay equity lawsuits at St. Cloud State
E–Women Win, electronic mailing list developed by the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus
Minnesota Nurses Association, health care activists (Monica Vollmuth, President)
Lois Beckel, lead teacher at Minneapolis YWCA, teaching self-confidence to kids
Stompin’ Grounds Coffee Shop in Staples, youth-owned and run

2003 Changemakers

Joyce Yamamoto, Director of Social Justice Programs at the YWCA
Merceil Ennis Burkhalter, Keeping it Real
Barbara Hensley, Hope Chest for Breast Health
Catherine Settanni, Digital Access Project
Speak Out Sisters!, gathering together to fight patriarchy
Jan Johnson and CODEPINK: Women for Peace, protesting war with Iraq
Dads and Daughters (Joe Kelly)
Faith Zwemke, Speak Softly and carry a pay equity plan
Center for Ecomomic Progress, Kim Farris and Kimberly Gartner
Jeanne Bailey, International Institute for Women Entrepreneurs, College of St. Catherine
Elaine Fleming, first woman and Native American to hold office in Cass County and only Green Party mayor in state

2004 CHANGEMAKERS (Special anniversary issue)

Linda Berglin, State Senator, Power for the People
Lois Jenson, fought Eveleth Mines for 15 years
Judge LaJune Lange, passionate about civil and human rights
Justice Rosalie Wahl, Supreme Court Justice
The MN Women’s Consortium, Bonnie Peace Watkins
Winona LaDuke, founder of White Earth Land Recovery Project
Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, Word Warriors
American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation
Pacyinz Lyfoung, Hmong Women activist
The Portage for Youth, Raeann Ruth, afterschool enrichment center for Hmong girls
Arvonne Fraser, putting human rights on an international agenda
Shirley Nelson, Women Candidate Development Coalition
Casa de Esperanza, training videos for Latino teens
Dr. Mildred Hanson and Dr. Jane Hodgson, provide safe, legal abortions
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, helping neighbors
Women’s Prison Project, books open doors for those who are locked in
Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women (former directors Nina Rothchild, Aviva Breen)
Silent Witness National Initiative & Janet Olson Hagberg, exhibit of women who have died from domestic abuse
Ann Bancroft, explorer
Women’s Foundation of Minnesota
Chris Voelz, architect of University of Minnesota women’s sports
Women Against Military Madness, founder Polly Mann
Nancy Gruver & Joe Kelly, New Moon Magazine, Dads and Daughters
Sheila Wellstone, advocate for victims of domestic violence
Womenventure, teaching women about careers and business

2005 Changemakers

TvbyGirls, empowers girls to tell their stories and use media for social change
Joy Anderson, restaurant server who helped persuade state legislature to increase the minimum wage
Regina Nicolosi, defiant deacon from Red Wing
Erin Matson, president, MN NOW
Elizabeth Dickenson and Farheen Hakeem, Green Party first-time mayoral candidates
B-Girl Be, celebrating women in hip-hop
Dorothy Mayer, Confederation of Somali community of Minnesota
Ananya Chatterjea, activist, Ananya Dance Theatre
Cheryl Thomas, director, Women’s Human Rights Program at Minnesota Advocates
Ann Lynch, organized women’s campaign school in 2003 to help elect women to local and state offices

2006 Changemakers

Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator
Liz Johnson, The White House Project, Vote Run Win
Patricia Torres Ray, first Latina State Senator
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, first woman from Minnesota to go into space
Shannon Drury, radical housewife, activist, president MN NOW
Greater Minneapolis Girl Scout Council, director Shelley Jacobson
International Girls Summit, director Zora Radosevich
Women’s Environmental Institute, director, Karen Clark
Sally Kenney, director, the Center for Women and Public Policy, U of MN Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs

2007 Changemakers

Vednita Carter & Breaking Free, helps Black women and girls escape prostitution and educates about sexual exploitation
Connie Perpich and Planned Parenthood, reproductive justice
TADA! Teens Against Dating Abuse (Princeton, Milaca, Onamia), Pearl Crisis Center, director Judy Pearson
Pakou Hang, ran for St. Paul City Council, setting a high bar for community-based campaigns
Nancy Scheibe, paddled the Mississippi from the headwaters to the delta
Nancy Stephan, honoring Women Worldwide
Native Women Lead, Sheila Wellstone Institute program, led by Lonna Stevens
Julie Hellwich, Smart Woman Creations, social change through business
Lauretta Dawolo, KFAI News director, Youth News Initiative
Foundation IX, eliminating cost as a barrier to girls’ participation in sports and fitness

2008 Changemakers

Infinity Project: Lisa M. Brabbit, Marie Falliner, Sally Kenney, and Mary Vasaly, getting more women judges
Wendy Rahn, Survivors Studio for Women’s Health
Cindy Reuther & Laura Jeffry Academy, girl-focused education, recruit from underserved populations
Ann Dwight Lewis, Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers
Susan Armington & Meeock Park, Talking Suitcases Project
MNPOWER Camp, math and science, Metro State
Mujeres en Liderazgo, Maria Cisneros and Alicia Ramsey, Waite House Pillsbury United Communities
Kathryn Kysar, feminist anthologist of women’s writings about their mothers
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, policy role model for girls

2009 Changemakers

Kathleen Murphy, MN C.A.F.E. Coalition, working to get the Equal Rights Amendment in the state constitution
Shá Cage, The Teen Summit, sponsored by the Minnesota Spoken Word Association
Kristine Holmgren, Dead Feminists Society, provocative feminist salons
Elizabeth Erickson & Patricia Olson, community for artists, Women’s Art Institute
Bukola Oriola, trafficking survivor who shares her story
Marlene Jezierksi, book of poetry illuminates emotional domestic abuse
Audrey Thayer, Native Women Together Sewing Project

2010 Changemakers

Peace Circle Initiative, St. Paul group to break the cycle of city youth violence
Sayer Frey, film gives voice to healing after abuse
Nurses’ strike, one-day walkout raises awareness about healthcare delivery
Marie Garza, the Brides’ March honors and remembers abused women
Ellen Kennedy, World Without Genocide, works to end mass atrocities around the globe
29th Street Petal Pushers, Log Cabin Flowers, grows socially responsible business women
Silvia Pérez Sánchez, organizer in Powderhorn neighborhood creates community for Latina immigrants
Hnub Tshiab, Hmong Women Working Together
Reentry Clinic, one-to-one mentor relationships rebuild lives of women leaving prison
Women & Water Rights, art as a catalyst for water issues

2011 Changemakers

Safe Harbor, legislation to protect exploited youth
Global Women’s Leadership Convening, led by Sandy Pappas and Paula King
Monica Nilsson, director of homeless outreach program
Girls Getting Ahead in Leadership, WISE mentoring program
“Women Making Change” video by AAUW and TPT documents political women in Minnesota
SlutWalk Minneapolis, Kimberia Sherva
MCAD and WILPF, merging organizations on behalf of peacemaking
Candy Hadsall, chlamydia educator
Northside Women’s Space, Kwanzaa Community Church, refuge from the sex trade

2012 Changemakers

Gender Justice, Lisa Stratton and Jill Gaulding
Fatima Mohamed, Hijab Day confronts stereotypes about Muslim women
League of Women Voters, led the charge against voter ID
Gender Democracy Toolkit, by Refugee and Immigrant Women for Change
“With Impunity,” documentary by Michael Paymar, Ellen Pence, and TPT about gender-based violence
Marsha Freeman, director of International Women’s Rights Action Watch
Theatre Unbound, women’s theater company shrinking the gender gap on stage
“Of scars,” Kate Kunkel Bailey and Elli Rader portraits of breast cancer patients
Christine Stark, speaks out for sexually exploited Native women
Susan Strauss, campaign against sexual harassment

2013 Changemakers

Marriage equality, historic legislation
Janeé Harteau, Minneapolis police chief
Angela Champagne-From, teaching women and girls to ‘Fight Like a Girl’
Girls Restorative Program, a high school ‘girls at risk’ support group
Ami Wazlawik and Hollaback! Twin Cities, hollering back at street harassment
“Nellie,” History Theatre and playwright Kim Hines about Minnesota activist Nellie Stone Johnson
Pippi Ardennia, supporting young female jazz musicians
Cindy Larson, helping women veterans find housing and support
Allison Broeren, bringing the Women of the World Poetry Slam to Twin Cities
“Our Mama is a Beautiful Garden,” Katy Tessman Stanoch book for children about a mother’s cancer treatment

2014 Changemakers

Women’s Economic Security Act, expands unpaid leave for parents and supports economic security for women
Alexandra Pierce and Lauren Martin, study sex trafficking
Ethelind Kaba, StarGirl Initiative to build self-confidence in teens
Betty Folliard, organizer of “We Are Woman” Minnesota delegation to Washington, D.C. about the ERA
Ann Manning, organizer of national Women’s Congress for Future Generations about environmental change
Erica Gerrity and Isis Rising, coalition to support pregnant women and new mothers in Minnesota prisons and jails
“How to Be a Feminist Artist,” investigations from the Women’s Art Institute
Barb Greenberg, support and knowledge for women to rebuild lives during and after divorce

2015 Changemakers

MN Tradeswomen & JE Dunn Construction, Women Build the Capitol
Minneapolis NAACP
Panyia Vang, Linda Miller & Sia Her, breaking the silence about sexual abuse in the Hmong community
Sarah Super, speaking out as a rape survivor
Sarah Deer, work to stop violence against Native women
The Anna Westin Act, advocates to eliminate discrimination for those with eating disorders
Barbara Porwit, artist turns health challenges into power
Carolyn Holbrook and The Loft Literary Center, curators of safer spaces for Black women’s stories
Wiki edit-a-thons, grassroots editors aims to get more women on Wikipedia
Ginger Jentzen and advocates for fair wages

2016 Changemakers

Moms Demand Action Minnesota, to end gun violence
The Minnesota Lynx, role models on the basketball court
Anne McKeig, Minnesota’s first Native American Supreme Court Justice
Barbara Battiste, Office on the Economic Status of Women
Nausheena Hussain, Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
Guerrilla Girls Takeover organizers, arts collaboration
Jessica Smith, art exhibit about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer
Gretchen Carlson & Abby Honold, speaking up against sexual assault and sexual harassment
FairPlay MN, equitable space for women-trans-femme improvisers
Maiv PAC, first Hmong American women’s political action committee in the U.S.
Marva Lynn Shellenberger, Lego team coach brings ‘girl effect’ to STEM competition

2017 Changemakers

Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota, with the Governor’s Office and Women’s Foundation of Minnesota
WeARE The Clinic, offering sex education and resources to youth in Brainerd
First Nations Women’s Caucus: Mary Kunesh-Podein, Susan Allen, Jamie Becker-Finn and Peggy Flanagan
Sarah Rasmussen, artistic director of Jungle Theater
Ilhan Omar, first Somali-American, Muslim legislator in the U.S.
Melissa Hortman, listening to women of color at the State Capitol
Hannah and Dave Edwards, fighting for their child’s transgender rights
Girls in Aviation Day
U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team, pay equity champions
Women’s March Marchers, “Nevertheless she persisted” to raise women’s voices

2018 Changemakers

Maria Regan Gonzalez, Minnesota’s First Latina Mayor (Richfield)
Der Vang, Hmong Village lawyer
Eileen Hudon, Ogitchidakwe Council
Leslie Redmond, Minneapolis NAACP
Asma Mohammed, advocate for Muslim women to break silence about sexual abuse
Jessie Diggins, part of a duo to win the first women’s medal in Olympic Cross Country, advocate about eating disorders
Kathy Hermes, legal protections for transgender people in Duluth
Me’Lea Connelly, Village Financial, Black-led credit union
Norah Shapiro, documentary filmmaker, “Time for Ilhan”
Kathy Magnuson & Norma Smith Olson, editors of Minnesota Women’s Press, 2003-2017

2019 Changemakers

Sarah Park Dahlen, researcher of diversity in children’s literature
Daniela R. Montoya-Barthelemy, doula and sexual health advocate
Kim Norton, Rochester mayor focused on building a sustainable community
Valerie Shirley, activist on behalf of the deaf Muslim community
Laura Connelly, UnTapped Inc., healing around trauma
Valerie Castile, activist around school lunch debt and police violence after death of son Philando Castile
Elaine Wynne, Veteran Resilience Project, bringing new technique to post-traumatic stress disorder
Antoinette Smith, representing for women of color in technology
Jill Ahlberg Yohe and Teri Greeves, curators of MIA exhibit of Native women artists
Joy Dolo, transform narratives through diversity in theater
Kari Larson (in memoriam), long-time Minnesota Women’s Press staff member

2020 Changemakers

Victoria McWane-Creek, Fergus Falls anti-racism facilitator
Markeela Toreen, organizing with elders in Lower Sioux Community during pandemic
Marny Xiong (posthumous), education activist
Magdalena Kaluza, tenants rights activist
Claire Avitabile, 20% Theatre Company founder
Ellen Longfellow, legal advocate for Muslims facing discrimination
The Alliance, bringing equity voices to development and policy decision-making tables
Teen Activists: Juwaria Jama, Monique Walker, Nyagach Kueth, Semhar Solomon
Women for Political Change, pivoting with mutual aid after uprising about George Floyd murder
Jael Kerandi, student who quickly worked to end University of Minnesota relationship with police

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