The Cheyenne River Youth Project® announced today that Molly Vetter has joined its full-time staff as the new social enterprises manager. Vetter, a native of Eagle Butte, South Dakota, has returned to her hometown to join the CRYP team.
As social enterprises manager, Vetter will be responsible for the nonprofit youth project’s farm-to-table Keya (Turtle) Cafe, the Keya Gift Shop, and the seasonal Leading Lady Farmers Market. She will manage a critical two-year grant from the Northwest Area Foundation dedicated to supporting the development of social enterprises that generate income while advancing the social good. The grant supports “Growing the Next Generation Lakota Workforce,” a core CRYP initiative that incorporates its innovative and highly acclaimed teen internship program.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Molly to our staff,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “She’s will be spearheading the production of a business plan, a marketing plan, operational processes and procedures, and an orientation handbook for each of our three social enterprises. We anticipate this will result in significant growth over the next few years.
“We also plan to graduate 44 teens from our Sustainable Agriculture Internship Program and 44 teens from our Social Enterprises Internship Program during the two-year grant period,” she continued. “Eighty-eight Cheyenne River teens will gain valuable job and life skills, enabling them to pursue their dreams for college, vocational school, employment or even entrepreneurship after high school.
“At CRYP, social enterprises aren’t just about revenue. They’re about healing and empowering our young people, building healthy and whole adults, and effecting lasting change in our community through the next generation.”
Vetter has 16 years’ experience working with nonprofit human-service agencies. A 2000 graduate of Cheyenne-Eagle Butte High School, she holds an associate’s degree in nursing from Presentation College, and she’s currently completing her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. She also is the current board secretary for Hub Area Habitat for Humanity.
Vetter said she is very much looking forward to her work with CRYP.
“This position allows me to do what I love within a community I love,” she commented. “It also gives me the opportunity to continue learning and growing in my career, alongside amazing mentors. It’s challenging, exciting and refreshing… really, it’s cutting-edge work. I see so much potential here.”
The daughter of Lori and Arden Petersen of Eagle Butte, Vetter has a 16-year-old son, Bradley Claymore. Her interests include volunteering, motivational speaking, writing and cleaning. She begins work with the Cheyenne River Youth Project on Monday, August 29.
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The Cheyenne River Youth Project, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.