About Us

The staff at Dakota Rural Action are committed to the ideal of Community Organizing to create a better South Dakota, ag economy and to protect South Dakota resources.

Below is a super-simplified breakdown of what the various staff types do within Dakota Rural Action:

The Staff Director works to keep all the staff focused on the objectives of the Board of Directors and the membership at-large. He's the lead organizer for the Board and various committees. He also works with fundraising and grants, budgeting, and many other aspects of leading the organization's administrative and organizing areas. All staff report directly to the Staff Director.

Community Organizers work with the members of Dakota Rural Action, staffing the various DRA chapters and issue committees, facilitating meetings and programs, facilitating training sessions, planning and evaluating campaigns and programs, identifying and developing member leaders, making referrals and suggestions, helping chapters or committees develop strategy, writing reports to enhance communication with the Board, doing group troubleshooting, as well as analysis and research. They also implement fundraising into their work to provide the general funds to do what the membership hopes to accomplish.

For more information on Community Organizers, go to the Western Organization of Resource Councils Resource Page.

Fundraising and Program Support staff work to keep the organization's administrative arm in top shape, bringing in funds by working on grant proposals, fundraising planning and coordination and membership dues, other aspects of membership development, fundraising for special events and DRA promotion, printing, the membership database, mailings, HR, bills, accounts, IT and the DRA web presence, and other clerical and support work. They also organize members to work on fundraising, events and other special-duty clerical teams. In truth, almost all staff at DRA organize to some extent. This makes us all aware of who makes up the organization: Our Members.