Engage Winona
We grow community.
Engage Winona
EIN: 82-2726124
as of November 2025
as of November 14, 2025
Mission
Engage Winona strengthens communities by reigniting community participation through dialogue, support, and training.
Ruling year
2018
Executive Director
Marcia Ratliff
Main address
119 E 3rd St
Winona, MN 55987-3417 USA
EIN
82-2726124
Humanities
Community improvement
Population served
Economically disadvantaged people
Children and youth
Ethnic and racial groups
NTEE code
Community, Neighborhood Development, Improvement (S20)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
Folks in the Winona region have great ideas, priorities, and projects for the community. They are passionate, organized, and ready. But despite the best efforts of employees and volunteers alike, the reality of creating community change is difficult and almost always done at a marathon pace. Institutional silos, unequal resource flows, and deficit-based mental models comprise formidable headwinds around change work in non-metropolitan communities. Engage Winona serves as a network builder, advocate, mentor and champion together to cultivate and lead every step of community change. Engage Winona creates opportunities for folks to come together to talk about what matters, and then stay together to pursue shared passions and create the change we seek.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Winona Area Kitchen Table
We know many people in the Winona area struggle to find safe, affordable housing. The Winona Kitchen Table is an initiative to advance solutions to the housing crisis in Winona and across the state of Minnesota. The Winona Area Kitchen Table is a cohort of local community members who have faced housing instability or homelessness. The team brings their own lived experience and invites cross-sector stakeholders to work together on solutions to housing issues that will truly work in our community.
Lived Experience Leaders
Lived Experience Leaders trains, supports and resources the community leadership and changemaking ideas of diverse residents whose lived experiences have given them powerful expertise to create equitable change. We welcomed our inaugural cohort in fall 2020 of 11 participants and 7 facilitator-participants - a large majority folks of color and women, multigenerational with ages ranging from early 20s to late 60s, with lived experiences in poverty, race, culture, gender, age, and more. Participants work collaboratively in an immersive experience over the first three months on individual and inner work, to own their innate leadership and value and lived expertise, and unlock inner skills and capacities. They then work on community change projects while developing changemaking, organizing and advocacy skills over the next three to four months, with support from the community, relatable mentors, and program staff.
Engagement is for Everyone!
Have a great idea to change Winona, but don’t know where to start? Looking to get connected to the community or to a cause you’re passionate about, but don’t know how or don’t feel included? Engage Winona’s Engagement for Everyone! workshops are here to help. The series of accessible workshops are designed help everyone in Winona — no matter their background, level of experience, or time commitment — discover how to get engaged in the community and turn their ideas to improve Winona into reality. We have offered these workshops in more than a dozen accessible and public locations across Winona. These workshops are available by request: Companies and institutions looking for fun ways to help their employees get engaged can receive a workshop for a donation, and all workshops are offered for free to organizations that serve marginalized populations in the Winona area.
Where we work
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Winona (Minnesota, United States)
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Winona County (Minnesota, United States)
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Technical assistance hours
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Lived Experience Leaders
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Number of training workshops
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Lived Experience Leaders
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This includes workshops that were open to the public and cohort-only workshops.
Number of public events held to further mission
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of participants attending course/session/workshop
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
These totals reflect total attendance at public events and facilitated program meetings. Totals do not include social media group members or board and committee meeting attendance.
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?
We seek to:
Increase access to civic and community organizations by creating opportunities to get the full community involved.
Center the voices of community members in defining next steps.
Increase the ability of individuals and organizations in our community to tackle big problems, work across sectors, and maximize their collective impact.
Nurture the connections and relationships that move the work forward.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
On a day to day basis, we:
Partner with governments and organizations to create new pathways for community involvement
Work with community members to solve persistent issues
Facilitate workgroups to drive convergent solutions that work for everybody
Provide training, workshops, and resources for people with lived experience and anyone looking to level up their community work
Host fun, all-ages events that reduce barriers to participation and build relationships
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2017, Engage Winona has grown from 1 staff member to 4. We've developed new programs and tools in response to community needs, with a core focus being investing in people with lived experience of social and economic barriers, from discrimination to poverty.
Our two core programs include:
Lived Experience Leaders, a cohort program that provides training and resources to amplify voices and support changemaking ideas of folks across Winona whose diverse lived experiences have given them unique and powerful expertise to create equitable change for Winona.
and
Winona Area Kitchen Table, a program that invites people with lived experience of housing instability to vision and advocate for positive change. This program is part of a statewide initiative focused on preventing housing crises and eliminating racial and rural disparities. The initiative is designed to shift power to those who have historically been harmed, and to create support structures that will help people before they experience a housing crisis. Were working closely with regional cohorts in Duluth and Minneapolis.
Program objectives include:
-building relationships between people with lived experience and key stakeholders,
-collective visioning and design of actionable solutions, and
-motivating support for tangible change in both policy and practice that advances housing justice.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,
Financials
Revenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2024 info
69.12
Months of cash in 2024 info
7.1
Fringe rate in 2024 info
11%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
Engage Winona
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
This snapshot of Engage Winona’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $35,555 | -$511 |
| As % of expenses | 13.7% | -0.1% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $35,555 | -$511 |
| As % of expenses | 13.7% | -0.1% |
| Revenue composition info | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $319,880 | $404,673 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 0.0% | 26.5% |
| Program services revenue | 8.8% | 8.3% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| Government grants | 7.8% | 0.0% |
| All other grants and contributions | 83.2% | 91.2% |
| Other revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Expense composition info | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $259,325 | $368,934 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 0.0% | 42.3% |
| Personnel | 61.5% | 51.7% |
| Professional fees | 0.5% | 1.8% |
| Occupancy | 4.5% | 4.9% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other expenses | 33.5% | 41.6% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $259,325 | $368,934 |
| One month of savings | $21,610 | $30,745 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $0 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $280,935 | $399,679 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 8.6 | 7.1 |
| Months of cash and investments | 8.6 | 7.1 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 7.2 | 5.1 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | $185,029 | $219,802 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 |
| Receivables | $0 | $0 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $0 | $0 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 2.2% | 1.4% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $155,883 | $155,372 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $25,000 | $61,250 |
| Total net assets | $180,883 | $216,622 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Executive Director
Marcia Ratliff
I’m a writer, poet, and creative thinker with experience in community engagement, communications, and youth development. I’m passionate about facilitating vibrant conversations, including diverse voices, and strengthening rural communities. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, South Africa, 2016-2018.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Engage Winona
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
Engage Winona
Board of directorsas of 6/10/2025
Board of directors data
Kevin McGree
Alexa Shapiro
Winona Outdoor Collaborative
Brittney Theuer
Danya Espinosa
Erica Ericksen
Gundersen Health
Jackson Ramsland Director
Jay Palmer
Winona State University
Kevin McGree
Laurie Krause Director
Marcia Ratliff Executive Director
Randy Skarlupka
Miller Ingenuity
Sierra Verdin
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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? yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? yes -
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? yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
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- Contractor and/or Paid Preparer data for 2024, 2023
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