Different Fields, Same Purpose
From nonprofit leadership to farming, Becca Baumbach is guided by the same values.
After an eight-hour day as president and CEO of the Community Foundation in Grand Forks, Becca (Bahnmiller) Baumbach, ’09, ’11, drives 30 miles to her farm near Cummings, N.D.
When she arrives, she trades her work shoes for barn boots and heads back outside.
“I love that I can be a professional, do my job at the Community Foundation, and a half an hour later I’m on my farm, doing my ranch thing,” she said.
Nonprofit leadership and farming might seem like different worlds, but for Becca, they’re built on the same foundation: trust.
“There’s a lot of curiosity from people I meet with at the Community Foundation about the farm,” she said. “I tell them I value this quiet, natural way of living, and people find that really interesting. When I’m in those meetings, I’m authentically myself, open to learning about who people are and what drives them.”
That same authenticity shapes life at The Pasture, the eco-friendly farm she and her husband, Wayne, purchased in 2018. Neither had a farming background, but both were eager to learn.
The couple has restored the property, reintroducing native grasses, wildflowers, fruit trees, and rotational grazing. Their work earned The Pasture designation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat® from the National Wildlife Federation.
Today, the farm reflects years of learning by trial and error.
“Everything with the bees and the goats and the chickens, we’ve had to teach ourselves,” Becca said.
Becca on the farm with her husband, Wayne, and daughters Flora and Juniper.
Same Lesson, Different Classroom
Becca said UND provided the foundation for her professional life. “One of the things I love about UND is that it really encourages involvement,” she said. “I think that enhances the classroom experience, and vice versa.”
As an undergraduate, she served in student government and on the Panhellenic Council, experiences that prepared her for leadership. While earning her graduate degree, she was elected to the Grand Forks School Board.
“Having those conversations on campus prepared me for bigger conversations with older people,” she said.
After UND, Becca worked in nonprofit arts in Grand Forks, higher education in New York, and special education in Minneapolis. Each stop broadened her understanding of philanthropy, fundraising, and the challenges nonprofits face. She also learned how to build relationships with people from different backgrounds.
“Everything I’ve done has been about preparing students, our community, or our grantees to be good citizens and good stewards,” she said. “It’s just a different classroom. Whether we’re teaching stewardship of the land, helping people understand where their food comes from, or strengthening our community, it’s really the same lesson: how to be good stewards of the world around us.”
Each evening, that lesson follows her home. Thirty minutes after leaving the Community Foundation, she’s back at The Pasture, where the values that guide her work also shape the land she calls home.
My career path might look haphazard, but every role prepared me for the next.
Community Fundraiser
Since 1998, the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks & Region has connected donors with local causes, awarding nearly $16 million in grants to nonprofits and community projects. During Becca’s nine years with the Foundation, its assets have grown from $9 million to $28 million.
Becca said she gets a front-row seat to the good happening across the region. “I get to be the cheerleader.”
