Coffee Hour: Redefining the Role of Minorities in Sustainable Food & Agriculture Systems 5/14
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
10:00 - 11:45 AM
La Conexion de las Americas
3019 Minnehaha Ave, Ste 20
Minneapolis, MN 55406
(One half-block south of Lake St. on Minnehaha)
Language: Mostly English, Spanish when necessary
Description:
The Rural Enterprise Center is a program of Main Street Project and takes an economic development approach to poverty reduction and community building - bringing together the support infrastructure, resources, systems, and programs that rural community members and entrepreneurs need to succeed. The program specifically aims to create economic opportunity for rural Latino families through the Agripreneur training approach, which addresses the following challenges often tied to structural racism: lack of access to land, working capital, marketing and business support infrastructure, and focused training.
The Hillside Farmer’s Cooperative is the first formal undertaking of the Rural Enterprise Center. At the end of their presentation they will outline how the wider community can participate in building the support infrastructure necessary to ensure success of the minority Agripreneurs.
Presenter:
Reginaldo (Regi) Haslett-Marroquin
Program Director, Rural Enterprise Center
Reginaldo (Regi) Haslett-Marroquin launched the Rural Enterprise Center program of Main Street Project in 2006, but has a long history of successful transnational entrepreneurial leadership. He began working on economic development projects with indigenous Guatemalan communities in 1988, and has served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Latin America and advisor to the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. He founded the Fair Trade Federation and co-created Peace Coffee, a successful fair-trade coffee company, and then went on to work with woodland owners in the Midwest and Guatemala where he organized several stewardship-certified cooperative forestry businesses.
Regi was recognized for his work in 1996 when he was named one of the Twin Cities International Citizens of the Year. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Northfield Area Foundation and is an active member of the Rotary Club of Northfield. A Guatemalan native, Regi received his agronomy degree from the Central National School of Agriculture and studied at the Universidad de San Carlos in Guatemala. He also received a bachelor’s degree in International Business Administration from Augsburg College, Minneapolis.
Contact: Reginaldo (Regi) Haslett-Marroquin
regi@ruralec.com
952-201-8852
