The 13 members of the Bush Foundation Board, who reside in Minnesota and the Dakotas, and foundation staff arrived in Minot Monday and left Wednesday.

Foundation President Jen Ford Reedy said the board conducts tours that rotate among the three states, with a retreat session in the fourth year. This year, the tour brought the board to Minot, with a side trip to the Turtle Mountain Reservation and International Peace Garden.

“We’ve really tried to get to know Minot a little bit, and we did a visit to Turtle Mountain. But the Bush work that we’ve been looking at is statewide,” Ford Reedy said. “Everything is sort of like, ‘What are we doing in North Dakota? How are we viewing the impact Bush is making in North Dakota? Where do we want to do better in North Dakota?'”

The board and staff received a brief introduction to Minot from Mayor Tom Ross, who spoke about the positive activities in the community, from the first year of curbside recycling to a new city hall, hospital and children’s discovery center. In addition, millions of dollars of private investment has been made into Minot, he said.

“People don’t invest in the community if they don’t believe in the future,” he said.

The Turtle Mountain segment of the tour included stops at the casino and resort, indoor water park, addiction treatment center and Turtle Mountain College, where Bush representatives heard from students impacted by the educational opportunities and learned about the college’s name change. Founded as Turtle Mountain Community College more than 50 years ago to offer certificate programs, the college began offering two-year associate degree programs and now offers several bachelor’s level programs and started its first master’s program this year, according to TMC President Dr. Donna Brown. The college is open to Native and non-Native students.

The chance to bring the Bush Foundation Board to the Turtle Mountain Reservation and to North Dakota is a huge plus, said Les Thomas, vice president for the North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance, a past recipient of a foundation grant.

“We didn’t just show them our amenities that we’re developing for economic development and what some of our programs are,” he said. “We could show them what is needed, and it was well received.”

Those needs, he said, include climate-controlled buildings to preserve heritage items, more family-friendly recreational amenities, continued educational advancements at the college and transitional living facilities to enhance the work being done at the treatment center.

The foundation board met with other representatives of grantee organizations at meetings and events in Minot.

Ford Reedy said the board has a continual process of reviewing grant requests, and sitting in a boardroom, members do their best to get a sense of the realities for the organizations and communities.

“But you can’t get close to the experience of actually being out and seeing different types of communities in different parts of the region. So board members love it, and I think they just have this sense each time that it makes them better at their job as a board member to just have a different perspective and be able to imagine a little more,” she said. “Getting to work in philanthropy is really joyful in that you get to spend time with and support people who really believe that something better is possible in some way and are willing to work for it. Those people are extraordinary to be around. So, I think, in some part, it’s taking advantage of a wonderful aspect of this work, which is actually getting to come and spend time with people who are living optimism.”

Ford Reedy said North Dakota has fewer private foundations than South Dakota or Minnesota, which can influence mindsets about the availability of grant funds.

“People in North Dakota are then less likely to think, ‘Oh, I could potentially get a grant for that.’ So, I think part of our work in reaching out in North Dakota is to help people see more what’s possible, to know that we are available and you can get not just a little grant, but you could get a lot of money – millions of dollars – to come and do something big. Because it’s not as common here for that to happen, I think we need to work harder here to make sure people know what’s possible.”