Careers Grown with Trust in Ramsey County

Tree Trust has helped create pathways to meaningful careers for fifty years.

This article marks the sixth in a series highlighting Ramsey County Workforce Solutions' partners. These community-based organizations deliver specialized employment and training services on behalf of the county. Their efforts expand access to workforce programs through career exploration, job-readiness training and paid work experiences for individuals facing barriers to employment. They are integral in strengthening the local workforce ecosystem and helping residents move toward stable, long-term employment. 

Trees take time to grow. So do careers.

For 50 years, Tree Trust has helped both take root in the Twin Cities by cultivating urban landscapes and people alike. Its long-running partnership with Ramsey County has helped deliver a skilled and experienced workforce available to support businesses' success.

“Tree Trust helps young people prepare for employment, expand and care for the urban forest, and generate support for our nonprofit programs,” said Michael Huntington, Tree Trust CEO. “Through this work, we hope to create greater access to meaningful careers while building healthier, more resilient communities.”

Tree Trust’s work is centered on three primary areas of focus:

Career Pathways - training and hands-on experience to help young people build sustainable and meaningful careers.

Community Forestry - expanding care for urban forests through community and school-based volunteer plantings, municipal tree distributions and other targeted forestry initiatives.

Tree Trust Landscape Services - a mission-driven social enterprise that helps to financially sustain Tree Trust’s nonprofit programs that create opportunities for green careers.

A Partnership Takes Root

Tree Trust was founded in 1976 in response to a dual crisis of widespread unemployment and urban tree loss due to Dutch Elm disease and oak wilt. Its founders sought to solve both problems at once by putting people to work restoring that which the community had lost. Nearly 50 years later, that founding vision still drives the organization.

Ramsey County began to partner with Tree Trust in the 2000s as a Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) partner. A major milestone came during the economic recovery following the 2008 recession, when federal Recovery Act funding significantly increased investment in youth employment programs. At the time, Tree Trust’s expertise in deploying youth crews throughout the metropolitan area made it a valuable partner to effectively invest that workforce development funding. As a result, hundreds of young people gained meaningful work experience in community improvement projects.

Growing Together

The partnership has grown to include a variety of workforce and community initiatives. More recently, Ramsey County has supported programs such as Branches through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Learn & Earn funding. The county has also committed to supporting both the Branches and SYEP programs through 2028. Tree Trust has carried out numerous forestry and environmental projects within the county, including work associated with the Water Gremlin site, which began in 2019. In addition, its Learning with Trees™ projects have served schools in Ramsey County for many years.

“Throughout its history, the partnership with Ramsey County has provided critical support for our mission by connecting young people and adults to employment opportunities, while strengthening local communities through environmental and conservation work,” said Huntington.

Branching Out to a Career

What does that partnership actually produce? One former trainee’s experience illustrates the possibilities.

Connected to Tree Trust's Branches program through a job coach, Sam discovered he enjoyed working outdoors and operating equipment. The experience led him to earn his commercial driver's license, and he now works as a forestry arborist for the City of Saint Paul, staying connected to the program leaders who helped him get there.

Sam’s story illustrates Tree Trust’s broader approach because his progress was built through practical experience, personal encouragement, community partnership and exposure to a career pathway that matched his interests and strengths.

Shared Outcomes

Tanika Reese, Tree Trust's Director of Career Pathways, credits the partnerships for making that kind of outcome possible.

"The strongest partnerships start with a shared belief that we all have a responsibility to create opportunities for the people and communities we serve. No one organization can do that work alone," she said. “The best outcomes happen when we stop focusing on individual programs and start focusing on shared outcomes.”

That shared approach has helped Tree Trust and Ramsey County build a long-term investment in people, places and opportunities that extend beyond any single program or funding cycle.

Just Getting Started After 50 Years

Looking ahead, some of Tree Trust's plans include expanding access to future-ready careers, planting climate-resilient trees in priority areas and developing innovative ways to improve tree survival and canopy diversity across the Twin Cities.

After years of partnership, Tree Trust and Ramsey County continue to exhibit that investing in people and investing in landscapes are never separate goals. Both take patience. Both take care. And both can keep growing for generations.

Get involved with Tree Trust today.

Contact Ramsey County Workforce Solutions to learn more or read about other critical partners in Ramsey County’s workforce development ecosystem, like Change Inc., Face to Face, Goodwill Easter Seals, Hired and HAP, that help build a stronger, more inclusive Ramsey County.