Kittson, Mahnomen, Marshall, Pennington, Norman, Polk, Red Lake and Roseau counties
Welcome to The Northwest Minnesota Council of Collaboratives
Site updated: February 2026
About Us
Our members
The NW Minnesota Council of Collaboratives is a coalition of public and private organizations working together to strengthen the lives of children and families residing in Kittson, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake and Roseau counties.
Our members include 24 school districts, special education districts, and public health, social services, mental health, law enforcement, primary care, corrections and community action organizations representing 90,323 people across 9,104 square miles (roughly the same size as the State of Vermont).
How we got started
The formation of the Northwest Minnesota Council of Collaboratives, in 2000, resulted from the understanding that no one entity, agency or community standing alone can realistically face the challenges of meeting the variety of needs of people who call our region home. There came a shared vision of people-serving organizations and school districts working together, across programs, services and providers, to coordinate care, increase access and improve outcomes for children and their families.
Being comprised of two frontier and six rural counties, we recognize that life is very different from the more populated suburban and urban communities. We realize that we have an opportunity to explore opportunities and implement strategies that are more suited to life in sparsely populated places while increasing access to services and decreasing the travel time families have to make between providers.
We also realize the great potential we have to learn from each other and to be part of an active learning community and share our lessons learned with others. We love to share, we love to collaborate and we love partnering with other adventurers across the nation.
Based on the collaborative movement in Minnesota of the 1990s, individual county collaboratives began working across boundaries, eventually establishing the 8-county region in which we work. Our service area covers more than 9,000 square miles.
What makes us unique? The Northwest Minnesota Council of Collaboratives is based on a unique partnership. We are not an organization; we are a group of decision-makers who identify needs, seek opportunities to address those needs and take risks and adventures together in creating an environment that helps individuals and families flourish.
We value the opportunities that enduring partnerships, a common vision and proactive approaches to addressing the needs of children and families brings to us as providers and to those with whom we are honored to serve.
What we do
The primary goal of the NW MN Council of Collaboratives is to improve the lives of children and families in our eight-county area. We do this by coordinating human and financial resources to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of services offered to the residents of our region. We also work with local, state, federal and private agencies to meet the growing needs of our population of 93,000+ people.
We do this work to help empower children and families with choices and lifestyles that are healthy, happy and fulfilled.
By partnering collectively on multiple projects, we are able to help fund, implement and evaluate needed programs and services. We also analyze data and trends to determine specific areas of focus.
Some of the initiatives launched through our partnership include:
- School safety initiatives
- Physical education and nutrition
- Children's mental health services for ages 0-21 and their families
- Emergency Response and Crisis Management training and techniques
- Electronic health records management and care coordination
- Resource website (normancountyresources.org)
- ...and more
Details
Member Directory
Contact information for each of the Council of Collaboratives members is included here.
Governance Board Meeting Minutes
Find out what the Governance Board has discussed at its regular monthly meetings by checking out the meeting minutes here.
Resources/Links/Articles
This section provides a list of resources, links and articles on a variety of health and human resource related topics. From public health, social services, education, mental health, corrections, law enforcement, primary care and community action you'll find selected content included here.
Feedback we've received from partners and stakeholders
We are always interested to know what people have to say about us. We are always honored when the NW MN Council of Collaboratives is recognized for the work we do. A selection of testimonials and awards is listed here. If you have something you want to share with us, feel free to comment below. We love hearing from you!