MACS 2025 Year in Review
2025 was a pivotal year for MACS, as we continued to partner with national leaders and state-based organizations to protect, improve, and promote the ACS and 2030 Census. Through our education and engagement work, we shared best practices to advance accurate, consistent, and timely data for all communities to thrive. We also began planning and organizing for the 2030 Census and marked several important milestones in our organizational development. Read on to learn more!
2030 CENSUS INITIATIVES
In early 2025, the Minnesota Council on Foundations convened Minnesota’s 2030 Census planning group, which included MACS, the Minnesota State Demographic Center, and Voices for Racial Justice. This group, which will soon expand to include other partners, is working to set the foundation for the 2030 Census mobilization effort in Minnesota.
Additionally, over the course of 2025, MACS launched targeted initiatives focused on three communities that had significant undercounts in the 2020 Census – Rural/Greater Minnesota, Indigenous Communities, and young children – and we hired consultants to lead or assist with each initiative.
Rural/Greater MN. In early 2025, MACS engaged Jaci David of Verweven Strategies to pilot our Rural/Greater MN Initiative. Jaci conducted outreach to leaders of 2020 Complete Count Committees in several rural and Greater Minnesota communities, as well as organizations involved in the 2020 Rural/Greater MN Hub for the Minnesota Census Mobilization Partnership. Based on this work, MACS is now cultivating leadership and organizational structures to support the 2030 Census mobilization in rural/greater Minnesota.
Indigenous Communities. In June 2025, MACS contracted with Alisha (Gehlert) Everwind of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians to launch our Indigenous Communities Initiative. Alisha, a leader in Indigenous economic development and planning, worked on the 2020 Census effort at Red Lake Nation and contributed to The 2020 Census at Red Lake Nation case study from the Native Governance Center. Alisha has identified potential approaches to engagement with and within Minnesota's Indigenous community related to the 2030 Census, and her work will continue in 2026.
Young Children. This past summer, MACS convened an Undercount of Young Children/Count All Kids MN Steering Committee, which currently includes Nancy Jost, Denise Mayotte, Alexandra Fitzsimmons, Laura LaCroix Dahllune, Jane Leonard (MACS Chair), Bob Tracy (MACS Vice-Chair). MACS contracted with JoellaMosley, a member of the Prenatal to Three coalition, to assist with the early work on this initiative. We also connected with several Minnesota organizations working in the early childhood space, including: Children's Defense Fund, Start Early Funders Coalition, Prenatal to Three Coalition, ECE - Early Care and Education, and Voices & Choices for Minnesota's Children.
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EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT
Newsletter. Throughout 2025, MACS published our monthly e-newsletter to share data resources, provide updates on important ACS/Census issues, and promote opportunities to engage. We currently have over 500 active subscribers. Our open rate is consistently over 50%, and many of our readers forward the newsletter to others in their communities.
Congressional Office Meetings. In March, MACS staff and board members met with each of Minnesota’s 10 congressional offices, joined by the Minnesota state demographer, our partners at The Census Project, and stakeholders from across the state. In 2025, MACS promoted sign-on letter opportunities from national partners and organized sign-on letters for Minnesota stakeholders in support of extending the ACS and the 2026 Census Test.
National Webinar. On November 10, MACS and The Census Project co-hosted BLACKOUT: Communities Without Vital Data, a national webinar addressing the potential negative impacts of Section 605 of the House CJS Appropriations bill. Section 605 could potentially devastate Census and ACS data quality by making the surveys voluntary and limiting outreach to respondents. This work was aided by the MACS Census Data Committee throughout 2025.
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In January, MACS received our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and became a fully independent organization (MACS had previously been a fiscal sponsee of Propel Nonprofits). In February, Kaolee Yang, a CPA and the founder of SmartGrowth CFO, joined our Board of Directors and assumed the role of Treasurer. We also formed a Finance Committee to support the organization's fundraising and fiscal management. In October, MACS adopted a formal Statement of Principals. In November, Executive Director Joan Naymark and Associate Director Michael Jon Olson became Co-Directors.
We are grateful to our volunteers, committee members and leaders, Board, partners, funders, and readers. To share your thoughts and questions, and find ways to plug into this vital work, send an email to: michaeljon@macscensus.org.
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