Our Team

Lise Abazs is a long-time resident of Finland, MN, where she and her husband David founded Round River Farm, an off-grid organic homestead that grows fruit and vegetables for nourishing the local food system and climate smart tree seedlings for strengthening the northern forest ecosystem. She has an Environmental and Intercultural Studies degree and for over 35 years, she has worked with nonprofit organizations, including 25 years as store manager at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and 10 years as Executive Director of North Shore Area Partners. She has served in leadership and treasurer roles for Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Association, Friends of the Finland Community, and Land Access Alliance, and she has served over a decade as Crystal Bay Township Treasurer. She has been a member of WaterLegacy’s board since its founding and is committed to the long term effort of ensuring protection of the precious gift of life-sustaining water.

Ricky is an elder and member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. He works for the Band to help preserve Ojibwe language and culture. Ricky also serves as a Pipe Carrier, Nagaajiwanaang, to lead spiritual ceremonies and teach the need to protect and care for the water and for plant, animal and human beings of this earth. Ricky has served in the U.S. Army National Guard, and he worked as a union ironworker for more than 20 years. Ricky served as co-chair or chair of the Duluth Indigenous Commission (formerly Duluth American Indian Commission) for most of the eight years when he was on the Commission. He also served as co-chair of an oversight committee to reduce racial disparities in juvenile detention supported by the Annie Casey Foundation and traveled to Honduras as a volunteer Witness for Peace to advocate that U.S. policy protect Indigenous people resisting a dam proposed by a multinational corporation to privatize and control water resources.

Gwen is an expert in public relations and online marketing with a background in writing, newspaper reporting, and radio broadcasting. After working as a general assignment news reporter and radio host in northwest Iowa, Gwen came to Minnesota and served as the communications and marketing coordinator for the K-12 school districts in Hopkins and Rochester. Ten years later, Gwen began her tenure at Maccabee Public Relations as Senior Account Executive and ended as Executive Vice President for the agency. Among her accomplishments in 22 years of service at the agency, Gwen directed the media relations component of a multi-agency, 50-state campaign to encourage Americans to purchase organic food, which resulted in an 8% jump in organic food sales. Since her retirement in 2022, Gwen has pursued her lifelong passion for art. Her oil paintings are regularly represented at the Red Wing Depot Art Gallery in Red Wing, MN. Gwen’s work has also been exhibited and sold across Minnesota through the Minnesota Artists Association and other organizations. She is part of a small cadre of artists in Prior Lake working toward the establishment of the Prior Lake Art Dock, an independent organization to strengthen the local art community and provide access to locally crafted, original artworks.

Mike is a veteran, retired miner, and lifelong resident of Hibbing, Minnesota with expertise in labor leadership and environmental advocacy. After graduating from Hibbing High School in 1972 and earning a degree in Chef’s Management from the Hibbing Area Vocational Technical Institute in 1975, Mike joined the iron mining industry and became a member of the United Steelworkers. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Morse code intercept operator before returning to the mine in Eveleth following his honorable discharge in 1982. Mike worked his way up to become a union electrician and later president of his union chapter. In 2008, Mike helped lead successful contract negotiations, during which he gained insight into the taconite mining industry’s powerful hold on the communities of northeastern Minnesota. Mike has served his community for decades as a volunteer, serving as a firearms safety instructor, board member of the Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability (IRPS), and dues-paying member of Disabled American Veterans. He is an avid canoeist and outdoorsman and member of the Board of Directors for Senate District 7.