Meet Dan

A blue dragonfly illustration.

I was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin and moved back to the area in 2006 to attend Winona State University. When I graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2009, I intended to take a year off to do service work while I applied to medical school.

A graduation picture of Dan Wilson standing beside a friend. They're smiling and wearing graduation caps and gowns.
An aged photo of Dan Wilson's young father wearing a blue sweater and holding a baby in his arms.
A sepia picture of Dan Wilson on the Winona State University (WSU) campus.

Starting in 2009 I started working at Bethany House, which at the time was the only emergency housing in Winona County. This experience transformed my life, inspiring me to work on solving the hardest problems in order to help Winona. One year quickly turned into six.

Dan Wilson in Bethany House standing in the kitchen serving food. There are many people around him working.
Dan and Rachel standing together smiling in an auditorium. A large screen in the background reads "Frozen River Film Festival". They are also wearing lanyards with Frozen River Film Festival badges around their necks.

In 2011, we learned about oil and gas companies that were approaching Winona County farmers to purchase bluffs and bulldoze them for the sand inside. Quite literally, trucking away our bluffs for the profit of foreign companies, while driving up land prices for farmers. While working on a local farm and running the Bethany House, me and six neighbors started showing up to take a stand against this destructive industry. This quickly turned into a movement that garnered national attention and ultimately led to the banning of frac sand mining in Winona County for oil and gas purposes.

A group of happy friends sitting indoors. They're on a couch, smiling at the camera. One man has a dog in his lap. The woman in the middle has a baby in her lap. Rachel and Dan are posed together with them.
Winona community members standing arm and arm in solidarity together, facing a large blue truck.

In 2013, my wife and I learned about the thousands of migrants dying on the U.S/Mexico border. We biked to Tucson and spent 18 months providing life-saving humanitarian aid in the desert. During this time we also provided housing for Central American refugees who were fleeing cartel violence. 

Dan Wilson wearing a bright green shirt, biking shorts, and a helmet. He's on a bike with an Arizona landscape behind him.
Dan loading bags into the back of a sedan.
Dan Wilson wearing jeans, long sleeve shirt, and a baseball cap. He's smiling in a green pasture with his cows behind him.
Dan Wilson wearing a baseball cap, plaid shirt, and work shorts. He's standing in pig pens with a bucket and working.

We moved back to Winona hoping to find a way to farm in a way to care for the land while also caring for ourselves. Since 2017, I have been farming rotationally grazed cattle in southern Winona County. I have kept the farm part-time by choice — not because farming isn't important to me, but because Winona is.

Dan and Rachel walking on a forest trail holding hands with one of their children. The other is riding on Dan's back. Everyone is facing away from the camera. Dan is looking over his shoulder, smiling.

Between raising two kids with my beautiful wife Rachel, and working off the farm, I have always found ways to show up for this community. That has meant volunteering with Wilson Fire and Rescue, working on housing policy through Hope for Homes and Engage Winona, serving on the Economic Development Authority, and sitting on boards focused on energy, criminal justice, rural health, and running for office. When you love a place, showing up isn't a sacrifice — it's just what you do.

Dan Wilson wearing a collared shirt and tie, speaking in an animated fashion with Winona County residents.

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