Seeking to fulfill their mission of connecting and celebrating the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, Emerging Prairie adds four new positions to their growing team.
Andrew Jason has joined Emerging Prairie as Director of Ecosystem.
In this position, Andrew will lead a team in strategizing, planning and hosting Emerging Prairie’s events and programming that directly impact our ecosystem.
Andrew’s entire professional career has been born out of a love of Fargo. During his nine years at Spotlight, Andrew worked his way up from unpaid intern to Editorial Director where he oversaw a team of a dozen talented staff in telling the story of Fargo-Moorhead’s growth. He is excited about the opportunity to continue growing Fargo into being nationally recognized for its entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Blair Peterson has joined Emerging Prairie as Executive Assistant.
Blair will be assisting the Emerging Prairie’s executive team with planning, scheduling and day-to-day activities.
Blair is from sunny Southern California and recently moved to Fargo to join hands with the team at Emerging Prairie. She has had the luxury to serve as Senior Executive Assistant to leading tech-based startups and will play an active part in the sustainability and growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. She is an avid seeker of knowledge who loves working in a constructive workspace environment fostering community growth.
Lee Schwartz has joined Emerging Prairie as Director of Marketing, focusing on Grand Farm and Emerging Digital Academy.
Lee will be leading Emerging Prairie’s marketing efforts especially as it relates to elevating the Grand Farm Initiative and launching the Emerging Digital Academy.
A native of Fargo, Lee graduated from MSU-Moorhead with a degree in International Business. He won the Northern League’s “Executive of the Year” award as general manager of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks before spending 10 years with two Fargo advertising agencies, focusing on casino and college marketing. Lee has an extensive background booking, planning and marketing arena events and has been a featured speaker at non-profit & casino marketing seminars.
Maranda Tasa has joined Emerging Prairie as Business Operations Manager.
Maranda will focus on building up the processes around financials, human resources and operations management at Emerging Prairie.
Maranda has more than 10 years of experience having vast knowledge in process improvement, data analysis and operations management. Maranda completed a B.S. in Psychology and later continued her education in the field of business, receiving her MBA. Maranda has spent 19 years in the United States Army Reserve, primarily in Engineering and Human Resources roles.
As a Captain, she is the principal advisor to the commander regarding all Human Resource matters.
