EMERGING PRAIRIE
cultural perspective. He calls himself a
millennial expert, although he draws a
line between the “Oregon trail millennials
and the virtual reality millennials,” he
said. He spoke about what millennials
are looking for in a city: good public
schools, walkability, pet friendliness, and
being great for young families.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
The audience also learned the value of a
healthy mentality as well, with speakers
Kaitlin Hopkins, award-winning actress
and educator; Lissa Rankin; author of
Mind over Medicine, and Bec Heinrich,
leadership consultant.
Hopkins prodded at the lack of mental
health education, particularly in the
entertainment industry where mental
illness is prevalent. She asked the
audience, “We check our blood pressure
once a year. Why not our mental health?”
Rankin, too, stated that mental and
spiritual health is a key component to
our overall well-being. Loneliness is the
biggest threat to our health, she said,
and fostering connections and “leaning
in to relationships” are the correct
medicine. To demonstrate, she asked
everyone in the room to rise and hold
hands with their neighbor.
“This is medicine, people.” she said.
Heinrich addressed another threat to
mental health and that is a disease she
calls “the disease of doing.” That being
the push and pull many feel from the
30
AUGUST 2016
world to do, do, do. The antidote to this
damaging pressure is one word: rest.
“Rest is deep internal renewal,”
Heinrich said, noting that leaders who
are constantly giving need an equally
constant process of refueling. “We need
to slow down in order to accelerate.”
WHAT NOW?
These are only glimpses. Richard Wiese
told stories from his travels and Julia
Huffman called for a renewed reverence
of nature and the wolf. The Minimalists
questioned consumerist America, asking
the audience, “What would your life look
like with less?” And Fargo’s own Jack
Wood shared how in the community
garden he started to help bring food
to impoverished families, it’s about
“community, not charity.”
The event concluded with Jim Hodge, a
world-renowned master of fundraising,
calling for change in philanthropy.
“I believe a whole lot of shift has to
happen for philanthropy to return to its
purpose,” he said.
Philanthropy is about dreams, not
strategic plans, he said. It’s about
compelling, not selling. It’s about
abundance, not scarcity.
“When we abandon the model of
scarcity, we stop scheming on how to
get a benefactor and start dreaming,” he
said.
The event, which was organized by
Annie Wood and Lindsay Breuler,
curated by Emerging Prairie's Greg
Tehven, and came to fruition with the
help of more than 100 volunteers and
sponsors, was hailed as another success
by many attendees. Scott Holdman, cocreator of FundingLogic, claimed it was
the “best one yet.”
But the true success of an event built
around the mantra of “ideas worth
spreading” is in the aftermath. Now is
when we see how the ideas presented
on stage will be embodied in each of the
hundreds upon hundreds of attendees,
returning to their respective cities and
countries.
The rallying cry for the event might be
summarized best in the closing line from
Peter Reike, the first paraplegic man to
conquer Mt. Rainier.
“Choose to be the power for change,”
he said. “If we each do this, then we can
truly accelerate.”
See you next year.
MORE INFO
Emerging Prairie
emergingprairie.com
122 1/2 Broadway N, Fargo