Minnesota Public Radio holds inaugural College Emerging Voices showcase
Feb 12, 2026
Teams from universities across Minnesota pitched their big ideas for local media
ST. PAUL, Minn., Feb. 12, 2026 – Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), in partnership with the Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group, held its inaugural College Emerging Voices showcase on Tuesday, awarding $7,000 in prize money to students from around the state.
The College Emerging Voices program is a statewide competition in which teams from Minnesota colleges and universities vied to create the next big idea to improve their community by engaging young people in local media.
As part of the program, MPR hosted six interactive workshops with students. Using a human-centered design approach, students both identified opportunities in public media and designed prototypes of their solutions. Over 80 students participated in those design workshops, and six teams were chosen to present at the final showcase. MPR staff and community leaders served as mentors for the six finalist teams.
“College Emerging Voices is much more than a focus group or listening session. We are asking these young people to work with us to create the future of public media,” said Barry Gisser, Chief Financial Officer at American Public Media Group and leader of the program. “At a time when our industry is in transition, audience centric innovation is the key to redefining how we serve local communities. I could not be happier with our year one test and am excited to make College Emerging Voices bigger and better in year two.”
At the final showcase on Tuesday afternoon at the Kling Public Media Center, six teams from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of St. Thomas, St. Olaf College, the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, and University of Northwestern presented their ideas to a judging panel of leaders from MPR News, The Current, YourClassical, the Glen Nelson Center and the MPR | APM board of trustees.
The winning team, from St. Olaf College in Northfield, presented the Local Listening Hour, a recurring, in-person gathering where community members would engage with local news together, cultivating connection and community. The Local Listening Hour team was made up of students Will Christensen, Lizzie Elsenpeter, Sevag Koussa Ogli and Paavo Rundman.
“MPR means a lot to us as students at a small liberal arts school in Minnesota! This program has helped us be seen and feel like we can make an impact in our community. Especially as students, it was amazing to know that our voices are being heard and used to make a difference,” said a representative from the Local Listening Hour team. “It’s why our idea, the Local Listening Hour, focuses on community – in a time where it’s easy to feel isolated and powerless, opportunities for meaningful community engagement need to be preserved and protected, and that’s one of our hopes for what Local Listening Hour will bring to people around Minnesota.”
The team from St. Thomas took second place, earning $2,000 and students College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University claimed third place, earning $1,000. The team from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities earned the audience choice award, which was voted on live in the room.
The winning team has the opportunity to come to the Kling Public Media Center to prototype their idea with staff at MPR. Stay tuned for more from College Emerging Voices in the future.
Runner up teams:
University of St. Thomas (second place):
Smriti Datta
Bryce Johnson
Ashton Lemme
College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University (third place):
Da’sha Gray
Bailey Link
Maxwell McCoy
University of Minnesota Twin Cities (audience choice):
Maude Lorr
Sabriin Mohamed
University of Northwestern:
Hannah Bauer
Jessica Peterman
Rachel Wilcox
St. Olaf:
Maya Betti
Madi Dinneen
Kenzie Nguyen
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About Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Public Radio® (MPR®) operates a 45-station radio network serving almost all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states for more than 50 years. MPR reaches nearly 900,000 weekly listeners. MPR and its three regional services—MPR News, YourClassical MPR and The Current®—produce programming for radio, digital and live audiences. Programs produced by MPR’s national programming division, American Public Media® (APM), reaches over 15 million listeners across 1,000 public radio stations each week. APM is one of the largest producers and distributors of public radio programming in the world. For more information on MPR, visit mpr.org.
Source: Data are copyright Nielsen Audio, PSA and PPM data, P12+, Mon- Sun 6a-12m, Fall ‘24 + Spring ‘25.
About Glen Nelson Center
Launched in 2018, Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group identifies, elevates, and invests in groundbreaking media ventures led by a diverse group of visionary founders. Connecting startup founders and teams with APMG staff, advisors, and board members informs strategic planning, supports long-term revenue and audience goals and strengthens the APMG innovation culture. Glen Nelson Center programs include The Horizon Fund, which invests in early-stage ventures that have the potential to sustain and grow media and journalism in the coming decade, and The Next Challenge, an annual competition that awards grants to innovative startups reinventing media & journalism. In 2023, Glen Nelson Center joined a coalition of 22 funders across the United States to launch Press Forward, a groundbreaking national initiative aimed at revitalizing and empowering local journalism. For more information on Glen Nelson Center, visit GlenNelson.org