Name 

Jackson Traas 

District 

Minnesota-Dakotas 

Year in School / Grade 

Senior 

University 

University of Minnesota – Twin Cities 

Major(s) 

Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering 

Minor(s) 

Chemistry; Sustainability Studies; Business Management 

In 3-5 sentences, tell us about yourself 

I will be graduating this fall after four and a half exciting years at the University of Minnesota. I hope to someday work in the energy sector, promoting and finding renewable energy solutions. I have been a part of the University of Minnesota Energy Club since I was a freshman. Outside of school and clubs, I love to play soccer and board games with friends, write and have recently picked up rock climbing. If I could, I would spend as much time as possible in national parks. My favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.  

What are you most looking forward to about your year as governor? 

I’m most looking forward to creating deeper connections and a greater sense of fellowship across the Minnesota-Dakotas District. Over the past few years, I’ve made many friendships with people from across our district, and I hope to use those to facilitate interclub events.  

Favorite CKI memory 

I’d have to say an event called “Bridging” from my freshman year. One could say it was my “watershed” Circle K moment. All the clubs from across the Kiwanis family gather to build and then donate dressers to a furniture bank called Bridging, which then donates the furniture to families who have recently found a home or experienced a natural catastrophe. More than 80 people building 80 plus dressers in a 3–hour period is exciting and allowed members from all the clubs to get to well-acquainted with handful people from other clubs.  

Favorite service project 

Bridging, hands down. But to humor whoever is reading this, I’ll provide a second — Mankato Holiday Lights. The Mankato Kiwanis Club puts on a holiday light show every year that consists of millions of lights, and at our Circle K fall event each year, we spend the Saturday morning helping. It may only be October but the project is well underway. We’ve helped string lights or repaint some of the Disney princess scenes. This past year, we got a group together to go and see it, which was a very exciting time as well.