Meet the park's new Community Volunteer Ambassadors June cohort!
Two people stand side by side embrace each other with one arm as they raise their other arm to the air in front of a bridge on the Mississippi River.
The Community Volunteer Ambassador (CVA) June Cohort is designed to engage Black, Indigenous and Youth of Color in the National Park Service. CVAs are placed at National Park Service sites nationwide helping organize, lead and participate in community and volunteer activities and events. This position will help increase diversity of the CVA program and the National Park Service by ensuring sites, supervisors, and mentors are prepared and supported in cultivating inclusive environments for the CVAs. Additionally, through this position members will be supported in their personal and professional goals. You can learn more details and how to apply for next year on our website!
John sits on a rock in front of green trees with sunglasses on and smiles at the camera.
John Jamison II (He/They)
Hiya! I am one of the CVA’s that’ll be working with the National Park Service at the Mississippi River national park. I am a Philosophy student at Minneapolis College, and I was born in St. Louis Park, MN and raised in North Minneapolis. My determination to serve the environment and all life we share this beautiful space with is rooted in love, compassion, empathy, and expression.
I have been a performer here in the Twin Cities for more than 10 years. I have had great opportunities performing on stages like Children’s Theatre Company, Ordway, Theatre Latte Da, Penumbra, Dakota Jazz Club, Guthrie Theater, Artistry, History Theater, and plenty more. My mission is to fiercely lead by example and align my actions with my values while merging my artistic and philosophical background to raise awareness and connect with marginalized communities. My hope is to embody the representation I longed for and be a voice of truth that helps reshape federal environmental movements that values the life of all within our ecosystem, equally, and treats our interdependent relationship as a cyclical and reciprocal form of artistic expression that emphasizes cultural and biological diversity. “The transformation of silence and language into action.” – Audre Lorde
Quentin stands in front of of trees in the midst of fog as he holds a camera and smiles.
Quentin Ikuta (He/Him)
I am one of the two Community Volunteer Ambassadors (CVAs) of the June cohort, working with the National Park Service at the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. I am passionate about environmental/agricultural economics, social justice, sustainable systems, species identification, prairie restoration and management, clean rivers, geospatial analysis, and ecological biodiversity. I hold a B.S. in Applied Economics with a concentration in Sustainability from the University of Minnesota.
I grew up in a culturally diverse environment, attending elementary school in, and hanging around, the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul. In this environment, as a young Japanese American, I felt that my identity was accepted and celebrated. My community and group of friends encouraged sharing of culture, embracing our differences and learning from one another’s experiences. Although culturally and ethnically diverse, the Rondo neighborhood lacked ecological biodiversity despite existing within easy access to the mighty Mississippi River. At age 12, I moved to the St. Croix River valley. There, I discovered the power of freshwater systems and the world of ecological biodiversity. The St. Croix River’s vivacious valley impressed in me an inevitable truth, a paradoxical truth about my existence. When I moved from the city to the country, I was forced to trade cultural diversity for ecological biodiversity. Each environment in which I was raised, despite its flaws, has taught me about the various sides of diversity, whether it be in the anthroposphere or the biosphere. This diversity paradox underpins my life mission: to create opportunities and serve as a role model at the intersection of culture and ecology through conservation and volunteer work. I imagine a world where cultural diversity and ecological biodiversity coexist.