Meet Megan Ernst

Meet Megan Ernst

Donor Outreach
and Marketing Specialist

megan.ernst@groundworkcenter.org | (616) 560-1234

For Megan, the most rewarding part of her work is seeing up close the positive change that local-based solutions make at the community level and in individual lives. “A grant here, a program there … you can really see the progress being made,” she says. For example, she’s seen first-hand the results of the Farm to School program 10 Cents a Meal when she worked at an early childhood education center. “The program made it possible for kids to eat nutritious local food, and you could see them get really excited about eating an apple from a farmer who brought the apples into the school.”

As Donor Outreach & Marketing Specialist, Megan will be working with donors and supporters of all kinds to help them know more about the organization and the impact of Groundwork programs. “I’ll be helping engage people who know about us and who already know we are great and also people who we’ll be introducing ourselves to,” she says.

For Megan, the outreach mission is so much a natural expression of her character. “I like to get people involved in things I like,” she says, whether it’s about cooking (“It’s like Christmas every time I open my CSA farm share box,” she says), favorite books, swimming, plants, or any other pursuit that’s captured her interest.

Good to know

Education

Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, with two second areas of study, in Art History and Anthropology

In her spare time ...

Megan likes “to swim and hike. I have a dog and I’m obsessed with walking him. And I love cooking and having dinner parties. And reading.” A favorite book recently was Bad Blood, about the Theranos DNA testing scandal.

Favorite spots in northern Michigan

Cathead Bay, north of Northport in Leelanau State Park. I truly feel like it's the best beach in the entire world. The water is incredible, the dune landscape is unreal, and more often than not, you can find the elusive second sandbar. I try to swim there every day in August, but I hike back to it throughout all four seasons.

Why the prop?

“I bought this plant in Brooklyn back in 2010. It was my first house plant. I brought it with me when I moved here, and it kind of became a physical expression of my transition from New York City to Leelanau County. It’s called Pothos plant. It’s thriving here and now I propagate it. When the offspring get big enough I give them away as Christmas gifts.”

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