Leadership Team Focus Group

5/14/2026

Restructuring the RGEV Program

The Garden Education and Master Gardener Volunteer Programs are part of the University of Minnesota Extension. However, in Ramsey County, there is a second organization called the Ramsey County Master Gardeners, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was established by Master Gardeners in the mid-1990s. These two programs have worked closely together to the point where they seemed merged. As two separate legal entitles, this has caused some trouble in the past.

To address that, a lot of work has been done to untangle the Extension program from the nonprofit organization in recent years.

Regina McGoff

As part of the next steps in the process, we are pleased to learn that Regina McGoff, a business development guru from Extension who has worked with RCMG in the past on the strategic planning, will be joining the conversation. Regina will help us formalize the new organizational structure of the Ramsey County Garden Education Volunteer Program, which will be separate from the nonprofit's Board of Directors. Regina has been interviewing stakeholders and learning best practices for organizing groups like ours.

Get Involved

This is where you come in.

We are seeking 3 or 4 volunteers who are interested in helping to define the new organizational structure by joining a focus group. Volunteers who join will provide insight on the new volunteer leadership/advisory structure for our Garden Education Volunteer Program. Participation will include 2-3 meetings between May and July. Volunteers who are interested should have a strong knowledge of the current structure of the Ramsey County Garden Education Volunteer Program and/or similar organizations.

If you have interest in this opportunity, please let Darren (dlochner@umn.edu) know by Wednesday, May 20th.

Thank you!

Darren Lochner

RGEV Prrogram Coordinator