Vaughn Zenko of the O’Fallon Historical Society has been selected to work as a rural ambassador in Baker for the Montana Nonprofit Association (MNA). As a rural ambassador, Vaughn will be working closely with MNA to support nonprofit capacity and resource-creation for community organizations in Southeast Montana.
Ambassador projects include network building to connect leaders and promote community collaboration, designing custom resources and trainings to meet the needs of local nonprofits, and sharing resources from MNA to staff and board members.
There were 37 nonprofits registered in Fallon County in 2023 and they generated $11,731,183 in income. By working as an MNA ambassador, Vaughn will help to make sure these critical community organizations have the support they need to effectively serve their missions.
This is the second year Vaughn has worked as an MNA ambassador to support nonprofits in southeast Montana. Last year, while leading the Southeast Montana Area Revitalization Team (SMART), Vaughn launched a nonprofit happy hour to bring community leaders together regularly – this happy hour resulted in more than $76,000 in grant funding to Baker-nonprofits. Vaughn joined SMART in 2021, revitalizing the area one brilliant idea at a time before moving on to the O’Fallon Historical Museum where he had already worked closely with the previous Curator.
MNA launched the rural ambassador program in spring 2022 with two ambassadors and it has grown to nine communities. MNA has more than 850 members across Montana and works to support nonprofits through training and education, tailored resources, lobbying and advocacy support, member benefits, and connecting leaders to each other and partners in business and government.