!

An Autobiographical Narrative from the Lake Wobegon Prairie by Jill Allison j.allison.mn@gmail.com August 16, 2012

The following narrative is intended to identify the assumptions that form the context for my work and life to this point. By undertaking a thoughtful reflection of the underlying familial, societal and career influences which have impacted my development to date, I am beginning to detach my self newly as a student and observer of life -- in contrast to my fixed identity, this inherently biased perceiver with a worldview shaped from the aggregation of my life experience, culture and environment. In order to open my mind to new domains of knowledge, I will seek first to map out the perceptual landscape which informs my current understanding. Family of Origin Prior generations of my family emigrated from Europe to Carver County, Minnesota, in the late 1800s. My fathers relation came from Sweden; my mothers family, from West Prussia, Germany. The Johannsons (Johnsons) settled in the vibrant Swedish community of West Union, west of Carver and bordering the Minnesota River to the south. The German Burandts on my mothers side landed in Scandia on Lake Waconia. They came seeking economic opportunity, freedom from religious and political oppression. Some central themes which can be derived from my collective family history include: a pioneering spirit, an embedded Protestant work ethic, a pervasive economic and faith-based sense of community, and deep ties to the land -- including a farming lifestyle, role as stewards of nature, and reliance on agricultural markets. Values inherent in my work life include a spirit of innovation, self-reliance and entrepreneurship. I will explore the impact of these influences in more detail and discuss how they have played out in my family. Finally, I will look to integrate how these and other influential aspects have played a role in shaping my life and work, as well as reflect on their implications for the future.

Pioneering Spirit. The immigrants on both sides of my family cleared land and created farms out of the Big Woods, as Carver County was formerly known. According to the history of the Union Settlement, they endured much hardship in their quest for economic opportunity and religious freedom. In early West Union records, this pioneering spirit was attributed to community founders. They are described as sturdy settlers who were ready to meet difficulties and pay the cost in preparing the wilderness for homes. In researching this era, I believe some valid parallels can be drawn from my forebears and the characters in Vilhelm Mobergs The Emigrants series. Based in part on the journals of Andrew Peterson, an early Swedish emigrant to the Scandia community. One family story has my fathers great-grandfather, Sven, surprised one morning to find an Indian trapped in a large cistern or well hole on his land. On my mothers side of the family, according to another story, my great-great grandfather Burandt defended his property on Lake Waconia -- well, his fish actually -- from a poacher (non-Indian) who was caught on his land. Apparently he took it upon himself to throw a rock at the fish poacher, which inadvertently resulted in the mans death. While not apologetic or politically correct in todays culture, I could imagine assuming a certain distrust of the Other and protective attitude towards ones own behind these family stories.

Ties to the land.

My brothers, sister and I grew up in the same farm house as my father had

before us. He farmed on the the same land as his father did before him. I see in my family a great respect for this land and also a sense of stewardship of nature. One example of this is in relationship to trees. My grandfather planted numerous trees on adjacent properties to their

homestead. I remember at the time of my sisters death in 1988, my parents and I took a long walk on these lands as they were looking for a new place to build a home for themselves. Both my parents and my uncle live on these adjacent properties, where they continue the tradition of planting trees, extensive gardening and maintaining the forests.

Farming ecosystem of survival, family and community way of life.

In my history, there is

an undercurrent of survival strategy and view of the farm as an ecosystem which connects families and the greater community. While my Grandfather Johnsons passion was actually sports (he was a star baseball and football athlete), the depressed economy in the early 1930s prevented him from leaving the farm to pursue a coaching career. Similarly, my father went to technical college, but returned to farming to earn a living and support his new family. Economic hardships in the 1970s caused a great deal of stress, in part due to financial risks my uncle took on, borrowing against the farm property. In one sense, the legacy of the farm was vital for economic survival, and also led to severe financial pressures when I was growing up. This background of economic uncertainty and scarcity is an underlying conversation which impacts my life narrative.

Protestant work ethic. In thinking about my connections to the West Union community, I see strong influences of a fundamental principle, described by Max Weber as the Protestant ethic. According to Weber, this is characterized by hard work, thrift, temperance and self-reliance and, moreover, these are tokens of divine grace as well as self-justifying virtues. Rohrmann attributes Webers motivation in the writing as an attempt to understand his own passion for

work. Indeed, I see this work ethic resonating within both my familys ethos and as a factor in my own career -- both as a driving motivation, and, at times, a force I have resisted. Related to this ethos is a near Calvinist sense of duty and personal responsibility. Rohrmann elaborates on Webers The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in the quote thus, the accumulation of wealth, together with a limited enjoyment of it, became a Christian duty. In my mind, this pretty neatly sums up my father, in some sense. It is worth examining the degree to which I hold this as a core value. Definitely, the spirit of capitalism holds true. Rohrmann also references free market capitalism and its relation to the philosophy of Ayn Rands objectivism. Rands writings have been of significant influence in shaping my ideals and reflect a shared interest with my father.

Innovation, Entrepreneurialism and Self-reliance. These are all assumptions I would attribute to my life narrative, beginning with the innovative and creative spirit exemplified in my family members character traits and aspirations. My father left farming to market a line of environmentally progressive farm equipment in minimum tillage and no-till methods. A move which reflected my themes of stewardship of natural resources, championing new technology innovations and entrepreneurial self-reliance. He went on to patent numerous inventions in this field as well as build a successful business as a leader in this emerging industry. In my own career, I have fostered significant early stage technology innovations and entrepreneurial ventures. I went back to graduate school to specialize in entrepreneurial management at Wharton as they had one of the highest ranked programs in this field, and later developed my own consulting practice in early stage market development and technology innovation.

Community and Servant Leadership. Throughout the West Union archives, there are numerous examples of my family members in positions of community and church leadership. I also remember my grandfather as Carver County Commissioner, and my dads extensive involvement in state and local politics while I was growing up. Rohrmann ascribes the goal of a Christian life is to treat others as Jesus enjoined his disciples, with charity, mercy, justice, and most important, love. I believe that my family take these to heart, especially evident as I see my parents living their values in the volunteer work they do in their communities and as well in service to those in need in disaster relief efforts. Mentors and Role Models Influences My generation was blessed with the ideal that as women we could grow up to achieve anything we wanted in life, indeed, having it all was viewed as the epitome of success (how that ideal transpired be in real life is another story.) For me, education was the key to personal development. When I was in kindergarten, my Mom was my teacher and my Grandmother was the Principal, education took on a special importance. Mom went on to teach her whole life, was Chairman of the School Board and now serves on the Carver County Library Board. My Grandmother went on to a teaching college in an era where that was pretty rare, and began her teaching career at a rural district school house. She was proud to have her own car as a single woman, and was in no hurry to get married. I went to Gustavus Adolphus College, where I developed an interest in international economics, with the guidance from a influential professor. The day following my college graduation, I left for graduate school in Arizona, where I focused on international marketing and cross-

cultural communications. This background led to my first career position with an elite security consulting firm on the East Coast, where I worked with a great team engaged in counterterrorism and embassy security projects around the world. It was exciting and challenging work. The CEO from this company, John Siedlarz, proved a great leadership model for my career development, and I had the privilege to work with him on several extraordinary projects and companies on and off over a span of some fifteen years. From this work experience, I discovered a shared sense of purpose and passion for development of emerging technologies, public service and entrepreneurial contribution. After 9/11, John created a non-profit organization and foundation, the National Biometric Security Project, which was organized around an unprecedented mission and went on to achieve groundbreaking programs at a critical juncture. In my career, Ive developed my version of a pioneering spirit through championing an array of innovative developments in some challenging industry environments, such as fire fighting, computer intrusion detection, biometric identification and national security programs. Ive bridged cultures, working as the connector between Fortune 500 companies and development teams from Northern Ireland, Israel and California. Geographically, Ive lived and worked on both coasts numerous times before returning to my familial roots in Minnesota. I currently serve as a Director of an energy investment firm, mentor teams in the Clean Tech Open business incubator program and am currently looking to create a consulting practice to develop more spiritual approaches in business transactions. The work of Tom Zender is a current influence for me. There is a new chapter in my narrative now in the doctoral program of educational leadership, and I am excited to be embarking on this journey at St. Thomas. I am open to exploring the realm of personal transformation the work of this program offers.

References Moberg, V. (1949). Introduction to The Emigrant Novels. In R. McNight preface, The Emigrants (pp. ix-xxii). St. Paul, MN: Borealis Books. Rohrmann, C. (1999). Protestant Denominations. A World of Ideas (pp. 318-319). New York, NY: Ballantine Books. Rohrmann, C. (1999).Weber, Max. A World of Ideas (pp. 426-427). New York, NY: Ballantine Books. Rohrmann, C. (1999). Libertarianism. A World of Ideas (pp. 232-233). New York, NY: Ballantine Books. West Union Lutheran Church Centennial Anniversary Album (1958) Carver, MN: Author. Zender, T. (2010). God Goes to Work. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.