Michael Neumann - Executive Director

Michael has over 11 years experience working with diverse rural and urban communities organizing programs in health and environmental education, natural resource management, and sustainable agriculture; including work in Indigenous communities in Minnesota.  He has over 7 years experience  in non-profit management.  In addition to his work as executive director with EJAM, Michael is presently consulting on sustainable development related projects in Haiti and Mexico ranging from sustainable building to soil conservation and food security.  Michael has a J.D. and is working towards a graduate degree in Agricultural Education at the University of Minnesota where his studies focus on Indigenous-based agroecology.  He has been a catalyst for development of community-led innovation in natural resource management and sustainable development that builds upon local knowledge and traditions.  He serves on the board of directors of several organizations promoting sustainable rural development here and abroad. 

Louis Alemayehu - Community Organizer

Louis Alemayehu has joined EJAM to organize a youth outreach project - Together Renewing Our Urban People's Environment (TROUPE). 

Louis is a writer, educator, administrator, poet, father, gransfather, performer and activist of African and Native American heritage.  He has taught classes in poetry and language arts.  He also facilitates workshops on racism, cultura and community building.  His writing has appeared in The Butterfly Tree: An Anthrology of Black Minnesota Writers; The Drum: An International Journal of Writers of Color; and The International Process Work Journal.  Louis is a cofounder of the Native Arts Circle, the oldest Native American artists organization in the Upper Midwest.  In 2000, Louis's poem, Thrones, was cast in bronze and installed within the Phillips Urban Gateway, an inner city public art installation in Minneapolis.  Louis, along with composer/musicians Carei Thomas and David Wright, was a founding member of the poetry/jazz ensamble, Ancestor Energy in 1981.  Both the Loft and InterMedia Arts have honored him for his pioneering work as a spoken word artist and creative writer.  He is the recipient of a Diverse Visions award from InterMedia Arts.  In 1993, he was awarded a Leadership in Neighborhoods (LIN) grant from Saint Paul Companies as a community-based artist.  In 2003, the Headwaters Foundation gave Louis an award for life-long commitment to social justice.  Currently, his work focuses on teaching, writing, performance, mentorship, community organizing, charter schools and organizational development.  Samples of his Ancestor Energy CD, AllWhere, can be heard online at www.cdbaby.com. 

Today, Louis works deeply across multiple cultural communities: with Ce Tempoxcalli for Chicano arts and education, with AfroEco for food security, with EJAM for green economic development, with Multicultural Indigenous Academy for intercultural education, with Women's Environmental Institute on health disparities, and Finote Tibeb for Ethiopian cultural aarts and language preservation.  In 2009, the Minnesota Spoken Word Association recognized Louis for his 30 years of excellence and innovation in performing spoken word in the Upper Midwest.