Joan Berntson remembers the exact afternoon everything clicked.
Just days into her new role at the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, on a sunlit afternoon, Joan recalls feeling a sudden reflective shift, an aha moment! The weight of standard office duties gave way to something far deeper, and in an instant, a career move transformed into a lifelong commitment to her community, and a realization that every experience in her past had been preparing her to serve right here—showing up for her neighbors and serving the place she calls home.
Joan Berntson, Community Revitalization Program Officer, NMF
A wave of gratitude washed over her.
“I work at the Northwest Minnesota Foundation,” Joan thought out, her heart swelling.
It was a dream nearly three decades in the making—one that began not in an executive office, but at a kitchen table on the other side of the counter, where a young mother took a courageous leap into the unknown.
Trial, error, and the courage to leap
In 1997, Joan launched her business, Back 2 Basics 4 Kids. As a mother with young children, she wanted a path that allowed her to be present for her preschool-aged kids while navigating the exciting adventure of entrepreneurship. Her family relied on that income to pay their mortgage, maintain insurance, and keep food on the table.
In those early days, the odds were stacked against her. Resources were scarce, and Joan didn’t even have access to the internet. Her business education came entirely from trial, error, and library books borrowed from the public library. She had a bold vision: create and print a specialized product catalog to send to child care business owners across Minnesota. But she needed working capital to print it, and she had no idea where to turn for small business loans or formal training.
Then came the spark. After attending a Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF) – sponsored QuickBooks class in Bemidji, Joan reached out to the foundation.
Through NMF, Joan secured a modest microloan—between $5,000 and $10,000—to print and mail her very first catalog. But what truly transformed her path was the human connection. When the prospect of writing a formal business plan felt daunting and terrifying, her advisor, Diane Morey, former Senior Program Officer at Northwest Minnesota Foundation, offered a simple, life-changing philosophy: “Answer one question at a time.”
“My fears dissipated as each answer flowed,” Joan remembers. “The work with Diane helped me gain confidence as a small business owner and grew my skills in staying the course.”
Joan still vividly remembers Diane coming to her home for site visits, walking through the working space, listening with deep respect to her goals, and offering a steadying sense of calm and belief.
Believing in human potential
According to Joan, NMF’s support didn’t stop at the loan. Through the NMF’s Technical Assistance, Joan accessed game-changing growth opportunities that were previously far out of reach for a modest family budget—including a transformative three-day public speaking seminar in Colorado.
That single training ignited her confidence. With new tools, Joan began designing and leading two-hour workshops for child care providers at regional conferences across Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Each speaking engagement deepened her connection with audiences and expanded her business reach. Her husband often quips that Joan “has never seen a microphone she didn’t want to talk into.”
Those public speaking skills unlocked major career doors, leading her into non-profit fundraising and eventually to First Children’s Finance, a key NMF partner, where she spent eight years empowering other child care providers across the region.
Joan Berntson (left) and Tabi Steinmetz, Community Revitalization Program Manager at Northwest Minnesota Foundation, reconnect at the inaugural Minnesota CDFI Coalition Conference on Sept. 19, 2025, at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. At the time, Joan worked with First Children’s Finance.
Turning empathy into action
When the job posting for Community Revitalization Program Officer at NMF appeared on her screen, working directly with the Northwest Minnesota Community Impact Corporation, Joan felt as though the role had been crafted specifically for her journey.
Now sitting on the other side of the desk, Joan brings something invaluable to her work: lived experience. She doesn’t just read about barriers to capital or poverty—she knows what it feels like to navigate them.
When she meets emerging entrepreneurs today, she sees their hesitation, their fire, and their untapped potential. She guides them through complex processes with the same gentle, step-by-step reassurance that former NMF staff Diane Morey once showed her, helping underrepresented and low-income business owners build economic stability and generational wealth.
Joan Berntson and her husband Ron
As the Northwest Minnesota Foundation marks 40 years of being rooted in community, and connecting neighbors with opportunities across the Northwest Minnesota region, Joan’s story stands as a living testament to what happens when local dreamers are backed with the resources and belief they need to thrive. The loans Joan benefitted from, allowed a mother to raise her children while building a career, inspired hundreds of child care providers across the Midwest, and ultimately brought a passionate leader back home to guide the next generation of dreamers.
“Having lived in poverty and experienced the barriers emerging entrepreneurs face, empathy isn’t something I have to imagine—it’s something I lived,” Joan reflects.
“The work that NMF has done over these 40 years may not always have immediate, quantifiable results on day one, but over time, that groundwork for change provides a lifetime of impact. The investment in my life and business took years to show its full results to the outside world, but for my family, it was completely life-changing. Now, knowing I now have the chance to pay that gift forward and offer that same support to others is an indescribable experience.”
A Note from the writer
I have to tell you—sitting down with Joan was so emotional and reflective.
When we first started chatting, she was her usual grounded, modest self. But the second we hit the realization that her journey had come full, 360-degree circle, her eyes completely lit up. You could almost see the lightbulbs going off as 30 years of dots connected in real time! That spark in her eye wasn’t just nostalgia; it was the realization that every bump in the road, every late night filling out catalog orders, and every microloan application had built a bridge for someone else to cross.
Joan is the kind of person who “has never met a microphone she didn’t like” (her husband’s words, not mine), but beneath that natural warmth, wit, and gift for gab is a heart overflowing with genuine empathy. She didn’t just survive the steep learning curve of entrepreneurship—she fell in love with helping others climb it, too.
Getting to capture her story felt less like writing a profile and more like holding up a mirror to show her just how extraordinary her journey has been. Trust me, if you ever get the chance to grab a coffee with Joan, do it—her energy is infectious, and her story is living proof that when you plant a small seed in Northwest Minnesota, it grows into something incredible.
