2024-26 Strategic Framework

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  • Our Mission

    Clean River Partners inspires people and organizations to value, protect, and improve the Cannon River Watershed’s land and water.

  • Our Vision

    A community that collaboratively creates and protects a watershed with healthy soils; drinkable groundwater; and clean, fishable, and swimmable rivers, lakes, and streams.

Our Core Values

  • Build Resilience

    We build individual and community capacity to act in ways that are economically, environmentally, and culturally sustainable, even in the face of adversity. Everything we do on land shows up in the water.

  • Act Equitably

    We work to create equitable and sustainable benefits from and access to the watershed and consider the impacts of our actions in all we say and do. Who will benefit from this? Who will be hurt by it?

  • Engage Intentionally

    We meet people where they are and support them in what they’re doing to improve the watershed. Everyone can do something to help the watershed.

  • Inspire Hope

    Our work is driven forward because we believe that there are actions that people and communities can take to make a difference for the land, water, and climate. People can change our environment.

Jennifer Tonko, CRP Executive Director

Dear Clean River Partners members and community,

As a community, we know how important it is to work towards clean water, thriving soils, and a livable climate–for ourselves and for future generations. For almost a year, we've been reflecting on how Clean River Partners can better connect people to actions that support these goals. We've considered our existing framework, the changing conditions in our world, and our organizational health and trajectory to envision 2024-2026.

We’ve worked with our Board of Directors, Clean River Partners members, and Cannon and Straight River Watershed residents to identify what we need to accomplish together.

The result is this strategic framework and a set of commitments to you, our community, who love and care for the land and water here.

Clean River Partners will work with you to build water, land, and climate health. We’ll focus on community relationships so people from all backgrounds shape and accomplish our work. We’ll build experiences that welcome and connect all people to the outdoors. And we’re going to make sure our organization is as efficient and effective as possible so all of our actions have a greater impact.

Protecting our environment is a collective effort. Federal, state, and local governments incentivize, regulate, and fund environmental initiatives. Businesses, including farmers large and small, use and replenish resources. And ultimately, we all make choices about what we consume, how we get around, and how we care for where we live, work, and play.

At Clean River Partners, we connect those efforts, helping individuals and organizations make conscious choices that support the natural world. We inspire action and bring together diverse partners who are all necessary to co-create a healthy and resilient watershed.

This strategic framework lays out our commitments to engaging more with our communities, expanding our reach, and being with people on the land and in the water. This work is your work too! As you read on, I ask you to identify at least one way you can make it happen: Join us at an event, volunteer, bring people you care about, or make a gift in any amount that is meaningful to you.

I have so much hope for what we can achieve together. Let's build a sustainable future for our communities!

Yours in action,

Key Skill Sets

  • Facilitating connections between watershed community members, making individual changes more effective through a systems approach.

  • Learning from others and providing community members with information, resources, and inspiration to take meaningful action toward watershed health.

  • Encourage productive dialogue and reach community members from all areas of the Cannon River Watershed.

  • Maintain sound operating practices that enable the expansion of Clean River Partners’ programs and activities.

Strategic Focus Areas

  • Improve the environmental health of the Cannon River Watershed and the aquifers that support it by connecting, supporting, recognizing, and providing opportunities for residents, farmers, and landowners.

    Impacts:

    • Soils are living, healthy ecosystems

    • Water is drinkable, fishable, and swimmable

    • Habitat is restored and protected

    • Urban water management practices support watershed health

    • Land ownership and land management practices are equitable

    • Agricultural practices mitigate climate change and/or are adapted to it

    • Innovative crops and practices keep farmers and the watershed resilient

  • Build relationships with individuals and organizations in the watershed, region, and state, and connect them to each other to inspire shared actions.

    Impacts:

    • Communities are seen, heard, amplified, and advocated for

    • Community members from all backgrounds enhance Clean River Partners’ work and contribute to water, land, and climate health

    • Collaboration and collective action build water, land, and climate health

    • Relevant, accessible, and useful programming and activities strengthen relationships and inspire meaningful change

  • Create opportunities for people to directly experience the land and water of the Cannon River Watershed.

    Impacts:

    • People feel safe and welcome outdoors

    • People examine and deepen their own relationship and personal values with nature

    • People are inspired to protect and restore our natural systems

    • People understand our dependence on the water, land, and climate here

    • People develop connections with special places in the watershed

  • Strengthen Clean River Partners’ organizational capacity and capabilities.

    Impacts:

    • Organizational effectiveness is strengthened through the diversity of backgrounds, lived experiences, and skill sets contributing to the organization

    • Financial stability is built through improved fundraising, budgeting, and oversight

    • Brand awareness is increased

    • Policies and processes are defined and documented to buttress institutional memory and manage change