Jennifer Fletcher

Jenna leads the open space/greenways collaborative, “Embrace Open Space,” that brings together local officials, staff, soil and watershed district leaders, non-profits, agency staff and environmental consultants. The collaborative promotes sustainable land use in the Twin Cities and outlying fast growing suburbs with the goal of protecting sensitive natural areas by increasing awareness of economic and other benefits. The collaborative’s work encourages cities, townships and counties to conduct open space planning using maps, and to adopt local policies as part of their required comprehensive plans in order to guide communities’ growth.

Previously Jenna was Policy Analyst with the Minnesota Forest Resource Council in Edina, Minnesota. Jenna served as project manager, financial manager, communications and public relations officer, and helped to shape public policy options to work towards the sustainability of Minnesota’s forests. This work served to frame what forest sustainability looks like in Minnesota. The organization created the venue for trust-based decision-making that balances economic, ecological and social goals.

Jenna is past Board Chair of Eco Education, a small non-profit that provides experiential environmental problem-solving education in urban schools. Through the Fellow’s work with visioning skills, Jenna led the Eco Education Board through a visioning process that has resulted in a vision/growth plan that is currently being implemented. In addition, Jenna continues to work to influence local decision-makers on land use and natural area goals utilizing leadership skills that she has honed as a Fellow.