MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund are excited to announce the 3rd annual Brunch for Better event, held on October 5th, 2025, at 11:00 am at the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant. This is a festive brunch event dedicated to celebrating this year’s accomplishments and spotlighting the community champions safeguarding Minnesota’s water for generations to come.
Set against the smooth ambiance of the iconic Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, attendees will enjoy a delightful buffet brunch, fun photo booth, silent auction and social cash bar, all culminating in a heartfelt awards ceremony. There will be live performances by Irie Sol, a dynamic fusion band blending reggae, dancehall, ska, and dub with hip hop, funk, soul, rock, and jazz, as well as em.rhea, a Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter whose ethereal vocals and pop sensibility captivate with sincerity and rhythm.
“I hope Brunch for Better can be a bright spot after a genuinely sad year,” Avonna Starck, State Director of Clean Water Action said. “We are honoring Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman with the David Zwick Impact award and holding space for us to celebrate and reflect. While much was done during the legislative session, we’re also feeling a profound loss,” she added.
Award Recipients include Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman posthumously receiving the David Zwick Impact Award to remember and honor a career of long-term, systemic environmental change in the spirit of Clean Water Action’s founder, David Zwick.
Leanna Goose is receiving the Amara Strande Advocacy Award in recognition of fearless advocacy and dedication to advancing PFAS legislation and community empowerment. Leanna Goose said, “I am so grateful to Clean Water Action for this recognition of our work within the Rise and Repair Alliance. The work our alliance is doing is critical in this moment and it couldn't happen without all the support from organizations and citizens across the state. The Amara Strande advocacy award is one I am truly honored to accept. I am grateful to be able to continue to build on the work Amara Strande accomplished in working towards stronger protections for our water. I look forward to the future and working together to protect all that we love here in Minnesota for our children and the generations that come after them.”
Representative Matt Norris and Senator Aric Putnam are being honored with Legislator of the Year awards for outstanding legislative leadership advancing clean water protections. Representative Matt Norris, winner of the Legislator of the Year award for the State House said, “Both my parents dedicated their careers to protecting Minnesota’s natural resources, so environmental stewardship was instilled in me from an early age. It’s an honor to carry on their legacy by working in the Minnesota House to pass legislation that will safeguard our water for the next generation.”
Eoin Small is receiving the Environmental Justice award to honor his passionate and equitable advocacy addressing systemic environmental injustices.
Senator Heather Gustafson, Senator Jennifer McEwen, Representative Peter Fischer, Natalie Watters, Christian Krohn, Representative Athena Hollins, Representative Brion Curran, Representative Kristi Pursell, Representative Andrew Myers, Senator Julia Coleman, Aaron Klemz, Senator Judy Seeberger, and Senator Rob Kupec are being recognized as Clean Water Ambassadors.
All proceeds from Brunch for Better 2025 will directly support Clean Water's initiatives to protect families from toxic chemicals, empower environmental justice communities, reduce plastic pollution, and ensure a clean, healthy water future for all Minnesotans.
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Clean Water Action is a national 501(c)(4) environmental organization with nearly one million members nationwide. Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. Learn more at cleanwater.org.
