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Here is the deep dive story that came from this first round of Changemakers Alliance conversations.
More conversations to be held. Contact anna@womenspress.com to be informed.
Why?
Details
Ranae Hanson, author of Minnesota Book Award-winning “Watershed,” has organized a series of conversations as part of our Changemakers Alliance story development network. This 30-minute conversation, in a nutshell, represents the voices of four perspectives of people who are deeply invested in how northern Minnesota survives, thrives, co-creates, and reinvents itself in the coming years.
The conversation features Lacey Squire (community leader in Ely), Ranae Hanson (author), her brother Jeff Hanson (engineer from Babbitt), and Barbara Jones (retired resident who relocated to Ely after a career in astrophysics).
Aaron Brown
We also had a conversation with northern Minnesota columnist, teacher, and political historian Aaron Brown.
Related Resources
- The politics of northern Minnesota, with the retirement of Independent state senator Tom Bakk (Cook)
- How nickel mining and the war on Ukraine entangle in Minnesota
- Stakeholders who are trying to understanding the potential direction of the greening of iron ore in Northern Minnesota
- Union support as a voting bloc in Minnesota
- Two-minute short intro to the future of DRI that could be done on the Iron Range
- Past Tuesday Group presentations in Ely
Ranae Hanson Contributions
- Find the full afternoon of Badass Women talks here
- See our story about “Watershed” from last summer
- See Ranae’s essay about political polarization in our October issue


For 2025 coverage, Minnesota Women’s Press earned a community leadership award, three photography awards, and four editorial awards, including for coverage of social issues and for our Spring 2025 “Know Your Rights” special section supported by Unidos MN. Our publisher was named Journalist of the Year by Violence Free Minnesota for gender-based violence coverage.