Funding Sources

February 8, 2009 by admin 

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is funded by individual and organizational donations from our membership and supporters, event sponsorship and grant support.

The Otto Bremer Foundation provided initial funding for the Coalition’s work. They have awarded the Coalition additioanl grants in years since. The most recent was a matching grant that was active in 2007 and 2008.

The Coalition is currently funded by the following foundations:

PFund: Support for education and advocacy work surrounding legislation to add sexual orientation as a protected class in North Dakota.

RESIST, Inc.: Support for education and advocacy work surrounding human rights issues during the 2009 North Dakota legislative session.

Legislative Tracking Grid

January 5, 2009 by admin 

Fair Housing of the Dakotas provides a great tracking grid for human rights related legislation. You can find it online here.

Winter 2008 Newsletter

December 22, 2008 by admin 

Winter 2008 Newsletter

Download the latest Coalition newsletter, published December 2008. (PDF)

Coalition updates, announcements, photos, and more.

Join the NDHRC Board of Directors

October 14, 2008 by admin 

Join the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition’s Board of Directors!

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition seeks new board members across the state who are interested in furthering human rights in North Dakota. The NDHRC’s mission is to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights.

Applications and position descriptions can be found below or by contacting NDHRC directly at 701-239-9323 or humanrights@ndhrc.org.

The board is comprised of fifteen members across the state, from Bismarck to Fargo to Grand Forks and in-between. The NDHRC carries out its mission through education, grassroots organizing and legislative action directed toward systemic change.

For more information or to request an application, contact the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition at 701-239-9323 or humanrights@ndhrc.org.

NDHRC Board Member Position Description

Board of Directors Application

Mail applications to:

NDHRC / Nominating Committee
P.O. Box 1961
Fargo, ND 58107

or email: humanrights@ndhrc.org

History

September 21, 2008 by admin 

History

According to the 1999 report of the North Dakota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, “North Dakota desperately needs a mechanism to carry out the provisions of the North Dakota Human Rights Act. In addition, the extent of discrimination in the state needs to be determined, and human rights commission established with full investigative and enforcement powers.” In response, 61 organizations from across North Dakota came together in 2000 to form the North Dakotans for a Human Rights Commission Coalition (NDHR Commission Coalition).

In the 2001 legislative session, the NDHR Commission Coalition initiated legislation to create an independent state human rights commission. The response of legislators was to amend legislation the NDHR Commission Coalition proposed. The amended legislation gave the North Dakota Department of Labor’s Division of Human Rights the authority to investigate allegations of discrimination and ensure that justice and fair compensation was provided to victims of illegal discrimination in North Dakota.

Member organizations of the NDHR Commission Coalition determined that although progress had been made toward its goal, much remained in terms of accountability and a fully functioning human rights education and enforcement agency. In 2002, as a result of a three-year grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation, the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition (NDHRC) was formed.

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is a broad-based coalition of individuals and organizations with an interest in the furtherance of human rights in North Dakota. The director and assistant director and a 14-member board of directors continue to advance the mission and goals of the Coalition.


Annual Reports

Board & Staff

September 21, 2008 by admin 

Board of Directors:

Thomas Fiebiger – Chair
Committee(s): Executive, Development, GLBT Legislative Working Group
Tom Fiebiger is a licensed attorney currently serving as a State Senator from District 45 where he serves on the Judiciary and Transportation Committees. Currently, Tom has his own law office and is in practice in Fargo, licensed in both North Dakota and Minnesota. He has represented workers and business owners in labor and employment matters and civil litigation for the last 15 years.

He is a former member and chair of the Fargo Human Relations Commission, past president of Trinity Lutheran Church, former member and chair of the Lost and Found Ministry Board and currently serves on the Cultural Diversity Resources Board. Tom has been a member of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board of Directors since February 2005.

Kipp Harris – Vice-Chair/Secretary
Committee(s): Executive, Development
Kipp Harris is a local real estate agent who grew up in the small town of Kenmare, North Dakota. Experiencing little diversity, he moved away after high school in 1986.  After living in several different cities in the Midwest, he moved to California in 2001, where he spent five years.  After being gone from North Dakota for nearly 20 years, he realized that the state he grew up in was calling him back.  Having experienced different cultures and made friends around the world, he now serves on the board of directors in order to implement change in people’s minds as well as in state laws.  Kipp has served on the board of directors since January 2009.

Lori Brownshield – Treasurer
Committee(s): Executive, Spring Conference, Nominating
Lori Brownshield is an advanced practice psychiatric nurse at Prairie St. John’s in Fargo, North Dakota.

Amy Phillips
Committee(s): Executive, Development, Spring Conference
Amy Phillips is a social worker with twenty years experience in work with families, groups, organizations, and communities. She has been a higher education social work instructor for eleven years and currently teaches in the Department of Social Work at the University of North Dakota.

Gerry Even
Committee(s): Development, GLBT Legislative Working Group
Gerry Even is the controller for John T. Jones Construction Co. and is also responsible for human resources and benefits for the regional construction company and its affiliates. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is active on several industry and professional committees. Gerry has been a member of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board of Directors since 2003.

Crysta Parkinson
Committee(s): Fall Conference
Crysta Parkinson is a freelance writer and editor, along with managing the Williston, North Dakota station for Great Lakes Airlines. Previously, she was the managing editor of the Williston Daily Herald. She grew up and received her education in western Washington, and has lived in North Dakota since 2005.

Crysta has a particular interest in issues of domestic violence and issues facing North Dakota’s women. She sits on the North Dakota Domestic and Sexual Violence State Prevention Team and is a charter member of the North Dakota Women’s Network. She is also a director for the Upper Missouri Arts Council in Williston. In September, 2008, Crysta was named the 75th President of the North Dakota Junior Chamber (Jaycees), an organization focusing on leadership development through community service for the state’s future leaders.

She and her husband Justin enjoy travel and theater in their spare time. She has three children and two step-children. Crysta has been a member of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board of Directors since 2007.


Carol A. Reed
Committee(s): Spring Conference
Carol was born and raised in Rapid City, SD, and received a B.S. in Geology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Carol moved to North Dakota in 1975, where she worked as a geologist for 19 years. She is married and with two grown sons. As a result of being a woman in a non-traditional occupation, personal and work experiences made her realize that her passion was civil rights and especially women’s equality. She was appointed by the governor to the North Dakota Commission on the Status of Women in 1994 and served for 10 years, 8 years as chair. Carol also served as a Board Member and Secretary of the National Association of Commissions for Women 6 years.

Carol currently works as a Civil Rights Manager for USDA-Rural Development. In 2002 she earned a Masters in Public Administration degree from the University of North Dakota. Carol annually volunteers as a judge for state and national American Indian Science and Engineering Fairs and high school Science Bowls in order to serve as a role model for young women in science and engineering. Carol has been a member of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board of Directors since 2003. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Fair Housing of the Dakotas and is Chair of the Board of the ND Women’Network.


Wade Schemmel
Committee(s): Development
Wade Schemmel is the Conference Minister for the Northern Plains Conference of the United Church of Christ. Over the years Wade has served in a variety of capacities as part of workgroups and as a committee member in organizations that have sought to address the needs of the poor and the marginalized. As a new member of the Human Rights Coalition, Wade is looking forward to the opportunity to continue in that service.


Dan Mahli
Committee(s):
Dan is the senior Community Development Planner for the City of Fargo. He is responsible for the development and implementation of housing and homelessness programs, neighborhood revitalization initiatives, neighborhood planning and administration of the City’s CDBG, HOME, social service and arts grants. Dan has been with the Fargo Department of Planning and Development since 2001. Prior to working with the City of Fargo, Dan served as a field representative for Senator Byron Dorgan and as the Executive Director of the Park Rapids, MN, Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dan has a Master’s Degree in Public and Human Service Administration from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a BS from North Dakota State University. Dan is married to Kim with three children.

Colleen Whitaker
Committee(s): GLBT Legislative Working Group
Colleen Whitaker has operated successful small businesses in the public sector, and has managed large and small engineering projects, both Federal and State. She has worked with the ACLU and LAMBDA on cases involving discrimination in the workplace.

Colleen has also been involved with securing federal grants, funding for municipal / MR&I reclamation projects & EEOC project compliance within the state. She has also done public speaking at NDSU and MSUM in Minneapolis on cultural diversity, GLBT issues and job discrimination.


Jamie Selzler
Committee(s): Development
Jamie Selzler is the former Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party. Before that, he was with Amazon.com’s Grand Forks location since 2000 as a Manager in Technical Account Management. Jamie has a particular interest in the issues affecting young people of North Dakota, and has previously served on the Minot Commission on Youth.

He most recently served as a member of Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown’s Cabinet on Young People and was Chairman of North Dakota Government Affairs for the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce. He is active in the American Legion youth program Boy’s State. He is also a member of the North Dakota Center for the Public Good and the North Dakota Wildlife Federation. Jamie has been a member of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board of Directors since 2005.

Angela Mathers
Committee(s): GLBT Legislative Working Group
Angela earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication and Speech Communication at North Dakota State University in 2007. She is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Sociology. As an undergraduate, she participated in The Omega Project, a course designed to help students explore issues of privilege, power and oppression, learn the fundamentals of social activism, and commit to creating social change in their communities. This course empowered Angela to learn more about social issues and to become more actively engaged in being a change agent on campus and in her community.

As a graduate assistant in the Memorial Union, Angela was involved in teaching The Omega Project course, developing many diversity programs on campus – including Civil Education Month and Social Justice Retreats – and coordinating the Safe Zone Ally Program. Currently, as the graduate assistant for the Equity & Diversity Center, Angela continues to advocate for underserved populations at NDSU and in the community. She has taken a role as instructor for an undergraduate course, the Service Seminar, where she prepares students for a 10-day international service trip to Antigua, Guatemala. Angela’s passion for social change led her to volunteer hundreds of hours over the past year to advocate and lobby the North Dakota state legislature to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in the North Dakota Century Code.

Angela previously worked with SEIU’s Change that Works campaign as a Community Organizer. This position allowed her to expand her understanding of both the political and organizing worlds. In her spare time, Angela enjoys reading (non-fiction only), running, and spending time with her husband Michael, her friends, and their cats, Shadow and Rubix.

Staff:

Jesse Hegland
Interim Director
Jesse Hegland is the Interim Director of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition.  He began his work with the NDHRC in 2008 as the Administrative Assistant before becoming the Assistant Director.  He was raised on a farm near Sheyenne, North Dakota, and has lived and worked in the state for most of his life. He moved back to Fargo after spending some time in the Master’s Degree program in International Human Rights at the University of Denver. He moved back to be closer to his family and to become involved in human rights issues in the community, state, and surrounding areas. He previously worked for Access of the Red River Valley, Inc., in Moorhead; the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Fargo; and Family Tree, Inc., in Denver.

Jesse has a Master’s Degree in Human Services with a specialization in Management of Nonprofit Agencies from Capella University. He has Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology and Business Administration from North Dakota State University and Jamestown College, respectively. Jesse is board co-chair of People Escaping Poverty Project (PEPP) and a member of the North Dakota Behavioral Health Initiative Advisory Council.


Our Values

September 13, 2008 by admin 

NDHRC will:  

  • Establish a trust with its members, donors, and supporters 
  • Seek a common good without denying individual rights
  • Be equal and inclusive in its work
  •  Insure mutual respect is given to all people
  • Use its resources to benefit humanity
  • Promote social and economic justice proactively

Our Mission

September 13, 2008 by admin 

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition works to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights.

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition (NDHRC) is a broad-based coalition of individuals and organizations with an interest in the furtherance of human rights in North Dakota. We work toward the enhancement of human rights in North Dakota through information, education and legislative action.

 
We can improve the quality of life in North Dakota through individuals and organizations supporting our efforts, and through membership and financial support.

Our Vision

September 13, 2008 by admin 

The NDHRC seeks to empower individuals in North Dakota in their communities, state legislature (governments), and society at large to promote and protect human rights for all people.

 The Coalition will accomplish its goals through organizational growth to include staff and board members from around the state; develop programs targeting legislative activity, education, employment, and other social issues; continue to build alliances with other organizations working for social justice; and sustain its infrastructure with mixed public and private support.