Gathering Diverse Perspectives for Powerful Change

Granite Table is an initiative to build collaboration among the residents, businesses, local governments, and community organizations in the six communities of Greater St. Cloud. By focusing attention and resources on underlying issues in the region, together we are creating a vibrant, thriving, diverse, and sustainable community that attracts people to live, work, and play.

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Mission

Enriching lives in the Greater St. Cloud Region through intentional, collaborative, and equitable action.

Vision

Greater St. Cloud is recognized as a community of inclusion where all thrive and feel a sense of belonging.

Beliefs

Engage Community
Create Equity
Welcome All

Communities of Excellence

Granite Table follows the Communities of Excellence Framework based on the proven Baldrige’s Principles of Improvement as part of a national learning collaborative with more than 40 other USA communities. The framework includes a set of key questions for improving the performance of communities and the people who lead and live in them. Rather than prescribing how communities should structure their community leadership, shared initiatives or action plans, or what the mission, goals and measures should be, the framework asks you to make those decisions as a community with input from all key sectors and generations involved.

Granite Table is the only participant in Minnesota. The framework focuses on economic vitality, health, education, safety and infrastructure, and quality of life. It uses a community systems perspective to optimize the entire system. A fundamental purpose of Granite Table is to encourage beliefs and behaviors found in high-performing communities.

It's time to move past the silo model and work in unison towards a greater good for our community.

Building Alignment

Efforts to address critical issues are often carried out in silos and sometimes with multiple groups, organizations, and people unknowingly all working on the same core issues at the same time. With a solid, proactive framework for cross-sector collaboration and performance excellence among key players and stakeholders, we bring diverse perspectives together for powerful change.

Granite Table uses the “Two Loops System Model” to Name, Connect, Nourish and Illuminate the innovators and pioneers in the community towards better alignment and more effective action.

Community leadership and partners collectively assess the Greater St. Cloud region’s performance and direction based on a variety of data points, including our dashboard, to determine where improvements and innovations are most needed to get positive and measurable results. Ongoing challenges are tackled with systemic thinking and action, collaboration and cooperation.

Our Leadership

Granite Table has an engaged board of directors and committee members representing various sectors and backgrounds in the community to maximize collaboration.

Board of Directors

Clare Richards, Board Chair – Impacks
Dr. David Tilstra, Ex Officio – CentraCare
Briana Torborg, Treasurer & Fiscal Committee Chair – Falcon National Bank
Gary Floss, Communities of Excellence Advisor
Molly Weyrens, Community Engagement Chair – Christ Our Light Catholic Church
Peggy Sammons, Data & Information Chair – Sherburne County
Nicole Ruhoff – Governance Committee Chair, Sherburne County

Action Committees

Community Engagement

Lacey Schirmers – GREAT Theatre
Jason Woods – St. Cloud State University
Jaclyn Litfin – Benton County

Data & Information

Tyler Bevier – St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce
Amy Trombley, United Way of Central Minnesota
Danielle Protivinski – CentraCare
Ellen Wolter – University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality
Dr. David Wall – St. Cloud State University
Dr. Luis Estevez – Metropolitan Council
Dr. Christopher Thoms – CentraCare

Fiscal Committee

Greta Stark – Central Minnesota Community Foundation
Dan Edelbrock – U.S. Bank
John Inkster – CentraCare
Janet Goligowski – Stearn County Human Services – Public Health

Governance Committee

Jodi Gertken – CentraCare
Gail Cruikshank – Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation
Jaclyn Litfin – Benton County
Amy Trombley, United Way of Central Minnesota