Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Nations is providing substantive support and capacity-building for the goals and their related thematic issues, including water, energy, climate, oceans, urbanization, transport, science and technology, the Global Sustainable Development Report and more.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Aitkin Retired Workers Network (A.R.W.N.)
www.arwn.org - A major complaint of Aitkin County businesses is that they have trouble filling the skilled talent and experienced workers that will allow their companies to grow and flourish. One untapped resource in the Aitkin area is the abundance of talented retired people that have come to the area to reside. The retired people that have come to the area represent a talent pool that covers the spectrum of expertise from Doctors and Lawyers to Handymen and Janitors. Businesses in the area need people with skills and talents that can get the job done, on time and fit in with the realities of Covid19 related business practices. The Aitkin Senior Workers Network is a solution for both retired people looking to work in their profession, on their own terms, and businesses that need skilled workers to round out their strategic staffing needs now and into the future. Aitkin Retired Workers Network will build a database will search out and identify retired workers in Aitkin County, catalogue their experience, skills and interests. The network will then reach out to area businesses, help determine their strategic needs and match our clients with businesses that can benefit from their talents.
American Kickoff
www.americankickoff.com - Football is America's favorite pastime, and the music during the game is significant. The American Kickoff concert program is a celebration of the sport with songs. Various artists will come together to give their fans a selection of hit singles. The musicians want to give the crowd the same experience they'll find in a stadium. Football music covers a range of genres, but the basic emotions are the same. People want to see their teams take home the trophy, and these songs are the anthems for those games.
This focused program brings awareness to a setting otherwise unreachable and brings economic recovery, disaster recovery and educational support without question when structured in this way.
The American Kickoff program was born in 2016 at the Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs. Fans of country music made the event a success, and demonstrated the "power of entertainment" for future events and stakeholders.
Happy Valley Jam
www.happyvalleyjam.com - Football is America's favorite pastime, and the music during the game is significant. Happy Valley Jam concert program is a celebration of the sport with songs. Various artists will come together to give their fans a selection of hit singles. The musicians want to give the crowd the same experience they'll find in a stadium. Football music covers a range of genres, but the basic emotions are the same. People want to see their teams take home the trophy, and these songs are the anthems for those games.
This focused program brings awareness to a setting otherwise unreachable and brings economic recovery, disaster recovery and educational support without question when structured in this way.
The Happy Valley program was born in 2017 at Beaver Stadium at Penn State in University Park, PA. Fans of country music made the event a success, and demonstrated the "power of entertainment" for future events and stakeholders.
Iowa Jam
www.iowajam.com - www.americankickoff.com - Iowa Jam started back in 1974 as a Memorial Day weekend concert conceived by Steve White, Jim Henneberry and John Hoak after much success in booking shows in the Midwest. Huge acts came through including ZZ Top, Toto, Winger, Poison and others. Steve White skipped college to open up a record store called Music Circuit in Des Moines’ Drake Neighborhood at 3213 Forest Ave. It was down the block from Jolly’s (old school rock club). Several months after opening his record store, he started promoting shows through his company, Music City Productions, with big acts such as Savoy Brown, Rory Gallagher, Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. They even had their own ticketing service called the Music City Ticketing Network, years prior to Ticketmaster.
White and his partners made headlines that first year after rain forced the first Iowa Jam to cancel in 1974 and some fans became irate. The incident made the front page of The Des Moines Register, and the boys came up with what is now the industry standard for portable roof structures. The first successful Iowa Jam was in 1975 with a lineup consisting of Bonnie Koloc, Dan Fogelberg and The Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
With that rich history, the revived focus of this program is to Iowa Jam back in 2024 for its 50 year reunion tour. This program will bring obvious program awareness to a setting otherwise unreachable and brings economic recovery, disaster recovery and local support without question when structured in this way.
Greenbelt Park
www.greenbeltpark.com - The Greenbelt Park Grand Opening has been delayed, but is now scheduled in 2022 with Grammy Award winner ****** (to be announced) who will kicked it all off with a 3-night Grand Opening celebration in the beautiful state-of-the-art 1850-capacity venue!
Signature Greenbelt Park aesthetics, vintage concert posters and local touches will adorn our 36,000 square foot venue when we open the doors.
Signature Greenbelt aesthetics, vintage concert posters and local touches adorn our 36,000 square foot venue. Known for our hospitality, incredible sight lines and warm environment, The Greenbelt proudly carries on a tradition of welcoming guests and treating them like family for years to come.
Nations will provide ticketing and promotion services for this venue which add to its roster of service locations that support its cause.
Aitkin Event Center
www.aitkin.net - The Aitkin Event Center is a 38,000 square foot pillar free event center located on the south side of the town of Aitkin, Minnesota.
With a wide range of sizes and options, The Aitkin Event Center allows you to create a special event that reflects your personal taste. From small groups of under 100 people, up to a 3,000+ concert Aitkin Event Center will have a layout that will accommodate everyone.
This program is yet another location where program ticketing, promotion services and Food & Beverage services ensure local economic development, youth sports support and more from its program proceeds.
2100 Club
www.2100club.com - The 2100 Club is a 27,000 square foot pillar free event center located in Des Moines, Iowa.
With a wide range of sizes and options, 2100 Club allows you to create a special event that reflects your personal taste. From small groups of under 100 people, up to a 2,500+ concert 2100 Club will have a layout that will accommodate everyone.
This program is yet another location where program ticketing, promotion services and Food & Beverage services ensure local economic development, youth sports support and more from its program proceeds.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of businesses developed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations
Related Program
Aitkin Retired Workers Network (A.R.W.N.)
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Here at Nations, we are driven by a single goal; to do our part in making the world a better place for all. Our decision making process is informed by comprehensive empirical studies & high quality data evaluation. We strive to build productive relationships & make a positive impact with all of our pursuits.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Nations's work provides analytical inputs for deliberations on sustainable development, including through its science-policy interface. Nations contributes studies and analytical inputs to the review of major conferences related to sustainable development. For this purpose, it undertakes reviews of assessments of sustainable development challenges.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Nations, with support from its three offices away from the Headquarters, and in collaboration with other partner entities, focuses on supporting members in preparing their voluntary national reviews at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, as well as building capacity for integrated planning and policy design, linking to the national planning process key sectoral areas such as transport, agriculture, energy, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, waste management and disaster reduction, as appropriate. These activities in turn allows Nations to inform intergovernmental bodies on the relevance and impact of normative and analytical efforts at the national, regional and global levels.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Nations serves Member States, Major Groups and other stakeholders, as well as the general public, by providing wide access to information and knowledge for sustainable development, through its online Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform and social media outlets.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Nations Inc
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Sherry Lyn
Nations Inc
Term: 2018 -
Brooke R Olsen
Tateum L Mattingly
Ava E Doran
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
No data
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/25/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.