Betsy Sohn has played a role in community-driven work in the Twin Cities since 1979, beginning with 22 years as a builder – first as a laborer, then learning the carpentry trade while also developing project management skills and a strong curiosity about urban development. At the same time, she became deeply involved in activism at a community level, growing her understanding of how average people can work together to achieve big things. In 1995, Sohn established a business providing project management and production services to projects rooted in building, celebrating, and amplifying community interests, assets, and concerns; work included facilitating community planning projects, managing building renovations, co-producing a documentary film, and collaborating with community artists on public projects in Minneapolis MN and in Phoenix AZ. Sohn first connected with Hope Community in 1999 as a participant in a Hope Listening Project; in 2002 she was invited to join Hope’s staff as an organizer. As Hope’s work has evolved, Sohn has held several different positions – all centering on building community capacity and power. Since 2017, she has led Hope’s Grant Development team along with work to strengthen Hope’s capacity for evaluation and organizational learning. Motivated by opportunities to learn, and passionate about building personal and collective power, resilience, and culture to support healing from impacts of trauma and white-bodied supremacy, Sohn is a resident of Minneapolis.