Why I Serve: Mark Miller

Working in Grand Forks as a Certified Public Accountant for most of my career allowed me the opportunity to really get to know the community and the excellent people who live and work here. I arrived on the scene at Brady Martz in 1991 - six years prior to the flood of 1997. The devastation of that flood and the impact on the community of Grand Forks was phenomenal. The office of Brady Martz and Associates was one of the businesses impacted not only by the flood but the devastating fire that followed. The physical presence of the business was lost… it seemed to me as a young professional that everything was lost! In the hours after the fire, I wasn’t sure I would even have a job. However, I did not yet understand the power of community – both the Greater Grand Forks community and the community of Brady Martz professionals.

As I watched Greater Grand Forks and our office re-build from the flood and fire, I marveled at the enduring spirit of the people in this region. With help from around the nation, including benefactors like Joan Kroc, and guided by outstanding leadership during that time, I watched the Greater Grand Forks community re-emerge stronger and better than before! Brady Martz re-located to one of the buildings that was erected shortly after the devastation passed. 

The Community Foundation itself was started in the aftermath of the flood. It was determined by community leaders that…“we felt that in the case of this gift (flood-related gifts) or future gifts, there ought to be a way to transform the giving impulse into philanthropic endowment.”

Through the re-build process I felt like I had a front and center seat to watch the process of “community” in action. One definition of community in Merriam-Webster is “an interacting population of various kinds of individuals…in a common location”. My lived experiences in the Greater Grand Forks community have deepened my convictions about the importance of a strong community. 
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Serving as a Community Foundation board member has allowed me to “give back” to a community which has provided deep and meaningful opportunities throughout my professional career. After watching the benefits of community during and after the Flood of 1997, I have a deeper appreciation and understanding of what a Community Foundation can do for a community. I am honored to serve on the Foundation board and to help advance the positive impact for our Greater Grand Forks community.

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