Behind every talented individual is a community of supporters poised to provide mentorship, advice, and encouragement. At Pollen we know no person succeeds alone, so we went in search of those who took up the call to help the next generation thrive. Who are the faces behind Twin Cities’ talent? We ask Bridgette Rongitsch to introduce us to the individuals who’ve helped shape her into the person she is today.
Growing up, a gunny sack filled with sawdust hung from a tree in Bridgette Rongitsch’s backyard. But Bridgette had bigger plans for the makeshift swing her grandfather made for her than pumping her legs and sailing into the air.
Even as a kid, organizing and activism came naturally to Bridgette. Take the tree swing. It set the stage for the backyard circus she assembled where neighborhood kids would perform for an audience of adults who bought tickets. After that she moved onto casting the same kids in “ridiculously long and sentimental” plays that pondered the meaning of life. And then there was the time she petitioned her Catholic school principal and threatened a walk-off because girls weren’t allowed to be altar servers.
These days Bridgette has stepped away from her ringmaster role to channel her childhood talents elsewhere—as project manager at Grassroots Solutions. Instead of refereeing altar service equality, she oversees projects ranging from clean energy and access to health care, to LGBT justice.
“It boils down to participating in the development of intentional space within community, listening, and making collective decisions about how we take action in service of creating the world we truly desire,” she says.
Bridgette has a long track record—dating back to at least the fourth grade—of working toward that world. Here are six people who’ve shaped her along the way.
Bridgette’s Six Can’t-Live-Without Mentors
Sarah Bellamy
Co-Artistic Director, Penumbra Theatre
“Sarah is brilliant. As the co-artistic director of the largest African American theater company in the nation, she brings profound art into our community and uses it as a mechanism for social change. Sarah centralizes youth leadership development in her work. She created the Summer Institute at Penumbra—a three-year-long leadership development program that nurtures growth, creativity, and courage; and gives young artists the opportunity to use their passion for the arts to promote justice and equity. She brings art and beauty into every aspect of her life and shares that generously in community. Every time I am around Sarah I am challenged, changed, and moved to deeper places of understanding. Sarah’s friendship is soul food to me.”
Maria De La Cruz
Associate Executive Director, Headwaters Foundation for Justice
“Maria is a bossy, femme Latina fundraiser—and she’s awesome. If you’ve ever witnessed Maria doing an ‘ask,’ you know she could get you to hand over one of your body parts without even breaking a sweat. It’s because of her deep commitment to the work. Maria thinks critically about organizational development and change. She is bold in her work and uses her super smarts and myriad talents in service of social change. Maria is authentically interested in everyone she meets and forms immediate and authentic connections. Maria inspires me to be more brave, more direct, and more present in my work; and to ask (without blinking) for what I want.”
Andrea Jenkins
Poet, Writer, Multimedia Visual and Performance Artist, and Senior Policy Aide
“Andrea was one of the first queer artists I ever saw perform. At that time, her work felt immensely challenging to me, but it also felt like coming home. Since that time, I’ve been honored to share community with Andrea through activism and art. Andrea consistently creates spaces for queer writers and artists to convene, collaborate, and perform their work. She is an out transgender artist and uses her art to give agency and dignity to transgender and black people around the world. Andrea gives immeasurably to the arts and queer communities—serving on multiple boards, presenting her work broadly, and showing up literally and figuratively for art and queer justice, all of the time. She is an artist whose work has changed, healed, and challenged me for years, and continues to do so.”
Anne Johnson
Executive Director, Generation Progress
“Anne is a badass leader who seriously gets stuff done that dramatically improves people’s lives. Anne and I met when we were both young organizers in Minneapolis, however I didn’t get to know her until she moved to D.C. where I often traveled for my previous job. During that time I would often crash on her couch and we would stay up late into the night drinking wine and talking. I’m drawn to how smart and confident Anne is and was even as a young women in a field dominated by older alpha males. She always has brilliant ideas and isn’t afraid to share them. She constantly encourages and challenges me to share mine, to speak truth to power, to claim space in the political world, and to not take any shit.”
Katrina Knutson
Painter, Graffiti Writer, Teacher
“Katrina is a working artist whose life is centered in radical politics, street art, and hip-hop. Katrina transformed the way I view my work in politics and the world. She introduced me to the possibility of living in and working toward a world that we truly desire, rather than settling for what we think is possible within our current political paradigm. In the summertime, Katrina can be found creating murals across Minneapolis, always in community with others, and often with youth. She was the graffiti curator for B-Girl Be: A Celebration of Women in Hip-Hop—a festival that was the first of its kind worldwide. The connection between social justice, creating, teaching, learning, and sharing is central to the way Katrina lives her life and what she hopes to accomplish in her work.”
Evangeline Weiss
Leadership Programs Director, National LGBTQ Task Force; Evangeline Weiss Consulting
“Evangeline is a social justice community builder, group facilitator, and poet. She works with groups in times of deep transformation, change, conflict, and courage. Evangeline believes that leadership development opportunities exist in the day-to-day challenges and opportunities that life sends our way. Since meeting her, she has consistently pushed and challenged me to be more courageous in my social justice work, at my job, and in my life. She approaches her work with a huge open heart, deep authenticity, and zero bullshit. Evangeline is the real deal.”
Good mentors make all the difference when you take the leap into professional life. Every so often it’s great to give them a shout out to let them know just how much they mean to you. From dishing out helpful advice to offering up a listening ear, who would make your list?