Meet Noah Gagner

What brought you or led you to TerraLuna? How did you get here?

I have always found it worthwhile to understand how my personal and professional experiences inform one another. As someone who is biracial and adopted, I grew up curious about the multiple narratives that informed and gave life to my identity. The result was a professional pursuit to make sense of how mine and others lives are informed, shaped, and changed by the larger narratives and our responses to them that allow us to live meaningful and worthwhile lives. In practice this meant pursuing a career in……

During graduate school I was forwarded an email from my clinical supervisor regarding an evaluation RPF centered on American Indians children and families navigating the child welfare system in Minnesota. As a clinical intern studying to be a psychologist, I remember being intrigued that someone thought to collaborate in such a way - a way that sought to include diverse voices and input in addressing complex problems.  In further conversations, I would later learn that this way of working, thinking, and being was a common thread within the co-founders of TerraLuna. This moment was a bit serendipitous as I always saw myself as a therapist or and educator. The thought of being an evaluator never crossed my mind.

Why has it become your evaluation/facilitation home? Why did you commit, stay, choose to become a member? What about why we choose to work this way?

A big part of finding a home is about shared values and mission. I chose to become a member because we all shared similar values and missions but brought unique ways of carrying and holding on to these ideas and ways of being. Our collective pursuit of justice, social and racial equity, and transformation of systems continues to make me proud to be a member.