SPNN celebrates our partners and members at Annual Meeting

SPNN saluted our community at our Annual Meeting on May 8 at our studios in downtown St. Paul. Each year, we wrap up our fiscal year by giving an update on our progress as a non-profit, and thanking the people who made the year special. This year, we had plenty to be thankful for: a successful financial year; expanded staffing; a new logo, website and newsletter; increased outreach; and new programs, like Doc U and the Market web series. 

Above it all, we wanted to thank the people who helped us triumph over the past year.  After a warm welcome from our Executive Director Mike Wassenaar and some kind words from the Director of the Office of Technology and Communications for the City of Saint Paul Andrea Casselton, we  honored our valued partners, producers and volunteers.

Presenting to a packed house, we honored two supervisors in CTEP for their service and great spirit:  Cecilia Pierson from Employment Action Center, and Kara Schommer from Neighborhood House.  Cecilia and Kara work with our AmeriCorps members to help bridge the digital divide in St Paul, and they have demostrated outstanding leadership in their partnership with us. 

Two of our youth received special accolades this year. First, Andrew Lonnes was recognized as Volunteer of the Year.  Andrew started as a participant in our youth programs, and since graduation has become involved as youth mentor. Second, Breon Jones was honored as our Youth Producer of the Year for her award winning work in the youth department. This can be seen in the quality of her work in Set It Up, for which she has received five awards in the past two years – most recently a Student Television Award for Excellence from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 

From the Access Center, the creators of Bi-Cities! were recognized as our Producers of the Year for their consistent work, committment to improvement and sense of teamwork. Bi-Cities! brings together a diverse team of creators to produce a truly unique program about the bisexual community in the Twin Cities.

In our final presentation, we honored Kim Vanderwall and Grant Abbott for their service as Board Members of the Year.  Both exhibited stewardship and devotion to our mission as volunteers on the Board the last several years.

All in all, it was a great evening with friends and colleagues as we celebrated all the great community work of our community media organization.