Michigan Municipal League Convention 2023 Program

Josh Stoltz

Executive Director, Grow Benzie

Josh Stoltz is the executive director for Grow Benzie, a non-profit Rural Prosperity Incubator and community center located in Northwest Lower Michigan. Grow Benzie provides support services for nonprofits and community initiatives such as grant writing, communications, and fiscal sponsorship while also offering a community space that includes co-working office space, an event center, commercial kitchen, and incubator farm. After spending 10 years managing his own group of marketing and

sales companies throughout Arizona and Florida, he moved back to work in the nonprofit sector in the community that raised him. Josh was the recipient of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange program, spending time in Mozambique studying food systems; and was also awarded the Changemaker Fellowship by Rotary Charities of Traverse City where he studied System Change in England and Russia with Forum for the Future. Sakura Takano Chief Executive Officer, Rotary Charities of Traverse City

Sakura Takano is the chief executive officer of Rotary Charities of Traverse City, a place-based foundation in Northwest Lower Michigan. Previously, she worked with the foundation as director of community assets and impact investing. Prior to her work at Rotary Charities, she led the housing and workforce development programs at Goodwill Northern Michigan for seven years, securing strong local

partnerships to leverage new state and federal funding for rural initiatives. She laid her groundwork for leveraging financial tools to support community change at JPMorgan in the investment banking and capital markets divisions. Sakura holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in finance and economics from Boston College, and an MBA in social enterprise from Columbia Business School. Board memberships include IFF, a large regional CDFI headquartered in Chicago; Venture North Funding and Development, a regional small business CDFI based in Traverse City; and Munson Healthcare, northern Michigan’s regional healthcare system. She also served on the Grand Traverse County American Rescue Plan Funding Advisory Board.

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