Serving the four southeast Minneapolis neighborhoods
KEEWAYDIN · MINNEHAHA · MORRIS PARK · WENONAH
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Executive Director
Brandon
Long
Brandon moved to the Highland neighborhood of Saint Paul from Iowa with his wife in 2012 to begin his Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at St. Kate’s. He began work at the Minnesota Autism Center as an occupational therapist in 2015. Brandon served as an elected At-Large board member of the Highland District Council on their engagement committee and helped found the neighborhood non-profit Sustain Ward 3 (now Sustain Saint Paul).
Prior to serving as NENA’s new Executive Director, he served in the same role with the Union Park District Council. Brandon is also a graduate of Neighborhoods Now!, the grassroots organizing training program through the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota.
With a history of proactive leadership and community involvement, we are confident that Brandon will help to further NENA’s goals to promote neighborhood connections and implement our 2022-2024 Strategic Plan.
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Program & Communication Manager
Sarah Friedman
After obtaining her Bachelor’s in English, Sarah moved to Minnesota in 2019 to pursue her Master’s degree in Public Policy with a concentration in nonprofit management at the University of Minnesota.
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Sarah has lived on four continents, most notably, she lived in Ukraine for three years while serving with the Peace Corps. Sarah continues to help her friends in Ukraine by working with other returned Peace Corps Volunteers and community members to raise awareness and funds for Ukraine. One of these projects is publishing a Ukrainian cookbook that directly funds grants given to Ukrainians.
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In her spare time, Sarah plays with her one-year-old and is often rock climbing, hiking, running, or hiding behind her massive camera.
Community Organizer
Adrian Flournoy
Adrian moved to Minnesota in 2017 from Louisiana. He attended Saint Johns University where he played collegiate football. He also obtained a Bachelor's degree in Political Science with a Minor in History.
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After college, Adrian did a year of service with the St.Johns Abbey Benedictine volunteers in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Where he lived amongst a monastic community primarily working with students at the local high school. There he taught many classes mostly in fields related to Political Science and History. In Adrian’s spare time he loves to be with family he is the oldest of five. He has two brothers and two sisters.
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He also enjoys being with friends in nature and weekly pickup games of pickle ball and basketball.