Meet Jodi Payne, a 2018 BS Communication Studies & Dance Minor from North Branch, MI. Jodi currently resides in Gunnison, CO where she is employed as the Executive director at the Gunnison County Food pantry. Jodi also teaches Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Hip-Hop for grades k-5 at the Crested Butte School of Dance.
Former and Current Roles
Former:
Resident Director: Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Operations Coordinator at Winona Community Warming Center
Resident Director: Western Colorado University
Current:
Executive Director: Gunnison Country Food Pantry
Teacher: Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Hip-Hop grade K-5 at the Crested Butte School of Dance
Volunteer Roles:
Board of Director for Gunnison County Service Block Grants
Leadership Team for Gunnison County Health Coalition
Chair of Gunnison County Cooperative Employee Assistance Program
Co-Chair of Gunnison Community Thanksgiving
Brief Description of What You Do
At Gunnison Country Food Pantry I manage day-to-day operations such as food acquisition/distribution, programs, evaluation, fund development, partnerships/collaborations, and manage key staff. The mission of the Food Pantry is to provide food assistance to those in need in a kind, confidential, and supportive environment. We distribute food to neighbors in Gunnison County up to six days a week via No Cost Grocery Distribution, Home Deliveries, and the Fresh Mobile Pantry. The Food Pantry works in partnership with Western Colorado University to offer students the Mountaineer Marketplace. This is a direct collaboration between me and alumni McKenzie Mathewson. I feel so grateful to work with one of my best friends on a project we both love so much!
In the evenings, I occasionally teach a dance class for the Crested Butte School of Dance. Primarily, I teach k-5 grade and love fostering connections and sharing my love of dance with my community.
My favorite volunteer commitment is with the Gunnison County Health Coalition Leadership. I lead an Ad Hoc Committee tasked with launching a community-owned employee assistance program so that local businesses and organizations may offer mental and behavioral resources (and more!) to their employees for only $34 a year, per employee. Gunnison County is an isolated rural community, and mental/behavioral health stigma is high. This program is a direct response to a need for mental/behavioral health resources in the Gunnison Valley.
What at NMU helped you most in your current role?
During my time at NMU, I was a Resident Advisor in Van Antwerp Hall and Hunt Hall. Hosting events such as the Nearly Naked Mile and Root Beer Bash with my housemates uncovered skills, I did not know I had. I loved being in a leadership role that fostered community and allowed me to explore facilitation skills, conflict management, event planning, and so much more!
Connections made at NMU have been pivotal in my personal and professional career. I ended up in Gunnison because of a connection from undergrad and moved here with one of my very best friends (we were RAs in Hunt Hall together) McKenzie Mathewson. Currently, McKenzie and I collaborate to run an on-campus food pantry for students at Western Colorado University.
Additionally, I volunteered at Room at the Inn, the local shelter and warming center, during my time at NMU. There I started to learn more about how nonprofit organizations play a key role in helping to provide a quality of life for everyone in the community. This experience changed the total trajectory of my college career and ultimately my life!
I grew up dancing and when I arrived at NMU immediately began filling holes in my schedule with dance classes. Before I knew it, I had racked up enough credits for a minor! While in class, I connected with the brilliant and compassionate minds that founded Tamama Dance Company. I danced with them for two years and fell in love with improvisational dance, contact improv, and producing nontraditional pieces of art. That experience coupled with years of formal dance training opened a door for me to teach youth dance classes in my community.
What advice would you give current students?
Try new things! To this day, I still get a little bit of what I call "anticipation" anxiety. It's the feeling in your gut when you feel like you have over-committed or maybe you'll fail at whatever it is you're doing, and you very much want to flake. All four years at NMU I was exposed to new experiences like being an RA, studying abroad in Cape Town SA, joining the local improv dance group- Tamama Dance Company, or simply learning to camp in the woods a night by myself.
A friend once told me, "At some point in adulthood, you get to the point where it's more embarrassing to not try- then to have tried and failed." Trying something new is intimidating, and after college you have to seek it out intentionally, it is easy to find a routine and stay in it. I think you'll find beautiful friendships, awesome views, or a newfound passion if you're willing to challenge yourself. And I hope you do.
Are there personal interests and/or activities you care to share?
Since moving to Colorado, I have learned to downhill ski, which is a newfound passion of mine. While I am no expert, I enjoy being able to get outside during the long cold winters to see the mountains! I love back packing surrounding area with my fiancée and two dogs. Gunnison is known for its spectacular wildflowers and in June and July you can find me wondering around identifying and admiring all the flowers.