Dave and Amy Freeman’s 100 day, 2,000 mile journey to Washington DC reached its conclusion with he successful delivery of their “floating petition” canoe to the White House. The trek raised awareness of the dangers of a proposed copper mine near the Boundary Waters watershed.
Cathryn Kennedy’s team publicized the first North Pole Express at Union Depot, taking families on a short train ride to see Santa. Here Lee Valsvik from KARE-11 interviews Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority’s Chair Rafael Ortega.
Photo credit: Nate Ptacek
Save the Boundary Waters’ Paddle to D.C. launched on September 7th, as David and Amy Freeman started paddling in their canoe from Duluth, MN to Washington, D.C., in order to raise awareness for the 1-million acres of protected lands and waters of the Boundary Waters  Canoe Area Wilderness. Cathy helped gain media coverage including with the Associated Press, Minnesota Public Radio
The innovative Rail~Volution Conference, which each year brings together citizens and elected officials to discuss transportation and communities, was hosted this year in transit-rich St. Paul and Minneapolis. Cathy helped place Rail~Volution in the Star Tribune, alongside one of her other clients, the newly-revamped transit-hub Union Depot.
A crew of 17 Mortenson women volunteered on July 16 to help build a special Habitat for Humanity home in south Minneapolis.
Led by construction executive Kelly Mansell, the Mortenson team helped install siding, hang sheetrock and frame a garage as part of the WomenBuild home, which is entirely constructed and funded by female volunteers from Twin Cities organizations.
This Habitat house will soon be home to a family of five, originally from Somali, who have two children with epilepsy needing wheelchair accessibility.
A highlight of the day was an early morning visit by Edward Moody of WCCO-TV, who reported live from the house interviewing Mortenson’s own Kelly Mansell.
Cathy and her colleague, Pam McCarthy-Kern, targeted the StarTribune to tell the story financial planner Nicole Winter Tietel, who broke into the traditionally male-dominated insurance business and continues the legacy of the fourth-generation family business at Winter and Associates in St. Paul.
David Wald is no ordinary financial advisor, and Cathy placed the fascinating story of Securian’s ophthalmologist turned professional kickboxer, turned financial advisor with the Minot Daily News. Wald, left, referees a kickboxing match.
Connecticut artist Tim Prentice installed his kinetic sculpture Side Track, which he calls a “railroad track, not for the train, but for the eye,” at Union Depot in St. Paul. The installation of the permanent sculpture was covered by MinnPost, KSTP, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and the Star Tribune online. This installation is part of the $1.25 million public arts program at Union Depot in St. Paul.
Farmers and fishermen will walk in each others shoes this summer as part of the Theordore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Barnyard to Boatyard Conservation Exchange. Cathy and her team are publicizing this first-of-its-kind exchange in which South Dakota farmers will spend three days learning about Louisiana Gulf fishing and water quality. Then Louisiana fishermen will travel to South Dakota to get a first-hand understanding of farming and ranching in the nation’s breadbasket.
Minnesota now has a new solar energy standard of 1.5 percent, thanks to the efforts of the MN Clean Energy & Jobs Coalition. The solar standard for investor-owned utilities is to be reached by 2020, with a goal of 10 percent by 2030. Working with Fourth Sector Consulting, Cathy concentrated on statewide media outreach and editorial board meetings to help the coalition pass this “first step forward in answering the Governor’s call to establish a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.”