Maggie Lorenz (Dakota, Ojibwe, Irish, German) has a “heart connection” to Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi, also known as Lower Phalen Creek Project, on the East Side of St. Paul. Her nonprofit organization’s impact is bringing about “healing justice for the land, the water, the plants, and for the animals and the winged and finned relatives” of this place. And while she may walk in two worlds, her vision unites the area’s original inhabitants, visitors to the area, and her many neighbors who are helping her steward the sacred site.

St. Paul is a city of neighborhoods, and James Walsh – writer and native-born son – knows somebody (or 20 somebodies) in each one of them.

Emily Hunt Turner is an Minneapolis entrepreneur and an iconoclast who hopes a remarkable grilled cheese sandwich can slake hunger and serve up justice, healing, reconciliation.

Imagining a future ripe for vibrant storytelling, archivist and historian Lisa Vecoli collects personal narratives from women whose work and perspectives are vital to understanding the spunk of the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota.

Ron Harris, Chief Resilience Officer for Minneapolis, knows that to create something great, something beautiful and robust, one must work with what one has, making do - and making better - even if an ingredient or two is in short supply. The trick? Leverage existing strengths, work together, keep going.

Divya Maiya is not afraid to stand out. In fact, she radiates when noticed, when her costume or colors shine, when her movement causes a stir. Divya is a devotee and teacher of South Asian dance, and she wants you to join her.

Tom Evers discovered the fun of parks, as many of us did, when he was a kid. “Growing up on a cul-de-sac” in his hometown of Mankato, Tom says, “my childhood was full of free play down at the river and in the woods.” To Tom, who is both a “big kid” at heart and a big thinker, fun is only half the power of parks; the compelling remainder lies in a park’s ability to heal a city, and the people who call it home.

Ten thousand hours, and ten thousand stitches, could not begin to describe the sewing output of Suzanne Thao. To quantify her workflow, one might as well count the singular daubs of paint on the canvasses of Mary Cassatt, or individual letters in the writing of Louise Erdrich.

The Coven is a female-centric co-working and community space in St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood. Erinn Farrell and her co-conspirators - Alex West Steinman, Bethany Iverson, and Liz Giel – have crafted a space that meets the needs of women who work. Think: Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” with high-speed internet and a coffee bar.

Essie Simpson has the inside scoop on what’s going down in downtown Minneapolis. Essie is an Ambassador with the Downtown Improvement District (DID), a visible, mobile envoy of hospitality in the city’s urban core.