Meet the 4 new contributing columnists we’re adding to our refreshed roster

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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A little over a year ago, we launched an experiment in the Opinion department to bring in and elevate an eclectic group of Minnesota voices on our commentary pages.

We asked our inaugural group of 11 contributing columnists to write for us for a year about the issues they are most passionate about. Over the course of this past year, they did just that, crafting more than 100 columns on everything from urban turkeys to cannabis taxes to the 50th anniversary of the Hmong community’s arrival in the U.S.

We’re pleased with the way it’s gone so far, fulfilling our goals of bringing more diversity in terms of demographics, topics and viewpoints to our opinion offerings. We even ended up hiring one of them, Aaron Brown, to a full-time staff position. We’ve also heard from you, our readers, that you’ve found value in hearing from these writers and thinkers.

So we’re excited to keep it going for a second year. We’re adding four new voices to the lineup who will join four others from our original group who are continuing on for another year.

One of our new contributing columnists is a dynamic young writer who is well-versed in TikTok and writes from a Gen Z perspective. Another pitched us — and sold us — on writing a monthly column on menopause, a once-taboo subject that women are now pushing more into the public conversation.

In year two, we’ve made some adjustments. As some of you noticed this past year, some of our contributing columnists did not write very often, which left readers wanting for more.

So we crafted this refreshed roster with the aim of having all our contributing columnists write on a more consistent basis of once or twice a month. But of course, these folks also all have busy day jobs and families and other obligations, so there may be times when you hear from them more or less.

And now, here’s a little more about Strib Voices’ four new contributing columnists:

Garrison is a Twin Cities-based marketing and communications executive who is in the throes of perimenopause. She is a former journalist who covered banking and finance at the St. Paul Pioneer Press during the 2008-09 banking crisis. She is an active member of the community and currently serves on the board of the Minnesota Children’s Museum.

Perry is a historian and author. He’s the associate director for undergraduate studies in history at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus and has written four books. He’s the father of two children, one of whom is autistic and has Down syndrome. He’s written for local and national outlets including CNN and the Washington Post.

Washington is a producer-host for Wisconsin Public Radio and was previously editor-in-chief of the Duluth News Tribune. He is passionate about writing about issues such as transportation, civil rights, history and northeastern Minnesota. His columns have run in dozens of newspapers. His seminal work is his PBS film on the first Freedom Ride: “You don’t have to ride Jim Crow!” He makes his home in both Duluth and St. Paul.

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And then rounding out the lineup are these four contributing columnists returning for a second year: Andy Brehm, who offers a conservative perspective; Ka Vang, who writes about marginalized communities; Maggie Koerth, who focuses on nature in urban areas; and Clemon Dabney, who writes about all things cannabis.

Regular readers of our opinion coverage will likely recognize the bylines of our new contributing columnists. That’s because most of them have become regular guest commentary writers for us in recent months.

I mention this because people often ask me about the process to become a contributing columnist. I always respond that the best way to get on our radar is to start writing and submitting guest commentary to us. That way we can get to know your voice and style as well as the issues most important to you.