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MISSISSIPPI PARK CONNECTION

EIN 87-0786530 SAINT PAUL, MN

Revenue 2024
$1,781,239
Expenses 2024
$1,342,957

Program services were 78.1% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
C32
Classification
1200
Street
111 KELLOGG BLVD E STE 105

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

The mission of the Mississippi Park Connection (MPC) is to strengthen the enduring connection between people and the Mississippi River by enriching the life of the river and the lives of all who experience the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (The National Park). MPC is a 501(c)(3) organization. Mississippi River Paddle Share, LLC, is wholly owned by MPC. MPC engages private citizens, public and private foundations, and industry sources to support the activities of the National Park Service and its partners to enhance the National Park and Mississippi River by: Raising funds to support the National Park's programs. Increasing awareness of the National Park and the Mississippi River. Providing community connection, expertise, and inspiration for the National Park.

Activities or mission (Part I)

Mississippi Park Connection strengthens the enduring connection between people and the Mississippi River by enriching the life of the river and the lives of all who experience our National Park, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

  • Community Programs and Engagement:MPC's community programs and engagement nurture deep relationships with communities and co-created programs to develop affinities between people and the Mississippi River. MPC collaborates with the National Park Service to coordinate and promote community engagement events year-round, providing accessible and positive experiences at the park for the public. In FY2025, Mississippi Park Connection expanded its community programming and engagement to connect with broader and more diverse audiences in meaningful river-based experiences. The organization advanced several new and existing initiatives, including planning for Float Fest 2025, a large-scale, river-centered celebration designed to reshape public perception of the Mississippi River and encourage recreational use. Additional programs such as Winter Day of Play and the Wild and Scenic Film Festival fostered seasonal engagement and community connection. MPC also prioritized community-based programming, including a Juneteenth paddle and partnerships, ensuring programming reflected and served historically underrepresented communities.

    Expenses $324,750

  • Environmental Stewardship:MPC's environmental stewardship programs connect people to the river through conscientious, hands-on stewardship activities that protect and restore the Mississippi River's cherished natural and cultural resources. MPC expands the National Park's capacity to conduct environmental restoration and field work that benefit the river and seeks out best stewardship practices of the ecological resources within the park.MPC's environmental stewardship efforts in FY2025 focused on habitat restoration, climate resilience, and volunteer engagement across the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. The Mississippi River Conservation Corps, including a youth cohort, contributed significantly to land management and restoration activities in partnership with the National Park Service and other stakeholders. The organization planted over 1,000 climate-adapted and culturally significant trees and continued advancing the Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change project, including completing a multi-year summary report and sharing findings with a national audience. Additional progress included onboarding an AmeriCorps member to support forestry and restoration work and expanding volunteer-led stewardship events.

    Expenses $321,868 · Revenue $35,218

  • Paddle Share:Paddle Share is a self-serve kayak sharing system in the Twin Cities metro area that provides opportunities for users to rent a kayak and paddle to a destination downriver. Through operating partnerships with agencies and organizations throughout the National Park Service corridor, Paddle Share connects people directly to the river through outdoor recreation. In FY2025, Paddle Share remained a cornerstone program for increasing equitable access to the Mississippi River. MPC focused on system improvements, partner engagement, and operational enhancements, including convening partners for an end-of-season evaluation and preparing infrastructure for future growth. The program continued to evolve through new partnerships to develop culturally responsive, skill-based paddling instruction that integrates water safety. These efforts aim to reduce barriers to participation and expand access among underrepresented communities. MPC also continued to invest in operational capacity and strategic planning to strengthen Paddle Share's long-term sustainability and impact.

    Expenses $175,375 · Revenue $47,526

  • Youth Education:MPC supports the National Park's outdoor education and recreation programs for students throughout the community. MPC's outdoor and online youth education programs provide a fresh, hands-on approach to the ways learning can be integrated with the outdoors, empowering students to become avid learners, and enabling them to begin building a lifelong relationship with the river. Youth education remained a core component of MPC's mission in FY2025, with continued investment in programs that connect students to the Mississippi River through experiential learning. Programs such as Big River Journey saw strong participation, with over 1,300 students engaged in hands-on environmental education experiences. MPC also supported access to these programs through transportation scholarships and stipends for River Educators, helping reduce barriers for schools and communities. Staff participation in national learning networks and exposure to best practices such as visiting new education facilities and engaging in professional development further strengthened program quality and innovation. These efforts ensured that youth education programming remained impactful, accessible, and aligned with both environmental and community outcomes.

    Expenses $110,603 · Grants $9,000

  • River Learning Center:Serving as the future National Park Service programming headquarters, the Mississippi River Learning Center (RLC) will be a one-of-a-kind space for environmental and cultural learning and a recreational gateway to the Mississippi River, welcoming Saint Paul residents as well as visitors from across the region, nation, and the world to experience the land, water, and culture of the Mississippi River. MPC is assisting with fundraising, awareness, and public programming at the future site of the Mississippi River Learning Center. In FY2025, MPC completed a comprehensive feasibility study assessing campaign readiness, donor potential, and organizational capacity, while also progressing design development in collaboration with project partners. MPC hosted and participated in community engagement opportunities to gather public input and build awareness of the project, while also organizing community events at the site.

    Expenses $108,591

  • National Park Service:In fiscal year 2025, the Organization continued to strengthen its role as the official philanthropic partner of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area by directly supporting critical National Park Service programmatic and operational needs through Friends Funds. These flexible funds are designated by the board of directors to help address funding gaps and constraints during a period of federal uncertainty, enabling continued progress on key park initiatives. The Organization established and managed these funds to support program delivery, natural resource management, interpretation, volunteer engagement, and special park projects. Friends Funds helped offset park operational limitations related to purchasing and staffing restrictions, ensuring continuity of public programming and restoration efforts throughout the park corridor. Friends Funds also allow the park to meet local programmatic needs not currently funded at the federal level, expanding the park's capacity to connect more people to the Mississippi River.

    Expenses $7,721

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • Ramesh Sairam

    Chair

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Cathy Jordan

    Vice Chair

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Courtney Anderson

    Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Peter Ebnet

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Andy Rodriguez

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Mangala Acharya

    Former Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Barry Clegg

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Rebecca Haddad

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Sam Holsen

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Lisa Keitel

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Isadora Blanche

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Anna Sullivan

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Amanda Wigen

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Ellen Reed

    Executive Director

    Total calculated
    $138,385
    From this org
    $130,000
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $8,385
    Hours/week
    40

  • Anna Waugh

    Assistant Director

    Total calculated
    $111,722
    From this org
    $106,459
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $5,263
    Hours/week
    40

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $1,781,239
    Expenses
    $1,342,957
    Contributions
    $1,506,573
    Grants paid
    $9,000
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $1,544,405
    Expenses
    $1,513,484
    Contributions
    $1,338,130
    Grants paid
    $10,000
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $1,323,520
    Expenses
    $1,353,177
    Contributions
    $1,165,730
    Grants paid
    $32,765

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $985,197
    Expenses
    $1,159,821
    Assets (EOY)
    $3,749,419

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,537,707
    Expenses
    $1,302,561
    Assets (EOY)
    $4,255,268

  • 2018 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,128,984
    Expenses
    $998,758
    Assets (EOY)
    $4,140,179

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,078,882
    Expenses
    $1,070,151
    Assets (EOY)
    $4,211,602

  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $931,036
    Expenses
    $609,071
    Assets (EOY)
    $4,012,767

  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $716,960
    Expenses
    $829,740
    Assets (EOY)
    $3,391,372

  • 2013 · 990

    Revenue
    $378,215
    Expenses
    $445,409
    Assets (EOY)
    $3,766,582

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Taxable family

From Schedule R Parts I, III and IV: entities that legally are the filer, and taxable partnerships, corporations and trusts it is related to. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money.

Disregarded entities on its 2024 return

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 26 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.