Karl Erickson

Founder & Executive Director

Karl Erickson currently serves as the Program Manager of Woodworking at Elpis Enterprises (Since September of 2022) in that role, he helps mentor homeless impacted or at-risk young adults around woodworking and Youth Programs to build skills/resumes for their next career endeavor. He also overseas and manages 180 annual birdfeeder, birdhouse or other wood project workshops for over 8,000+ youth each year all over the Twin Cities. He also is currently fundraising/coordinating/managing the Land of 10,000 Diverse 4th Grade Birdwatchers Project (a tuition free program for classrooms where students learn about the positive effects birds have on our food chains, Bird ID by sound and appearance as well as basic tool use to help Elementary students build birdfeeders to take home with a bag of seed.) Since November of 2022, that program has served over 9,000 students from over 120 Elementary school visits (as of January 2025). From that project he found out teachers were interested in helping their students get a free 1-hour ice fishing field trip. He wrote a grant to the MN DNR's "No Child Left Inside" grant fund to put together 30 days of ice angling with the attempt to get 10,000 students that opportunity as part of the 10,000 Ice Anglers Project. He is fundraising for and plans to collaborate with Baztec Fishing and Outdoors, Ardent Outdoor Group and Future Anglers of Minnesota, Saint Paul Police Activities League nonprofits to run this series of events. He also plans to use the 10,000 Ice Anglers project to help build trust in the communities with various police and fire departments and the students they serve. 

Prior to joining Elpis, he taught physical education for 6 years at Higher Ground Academy. While teaching he executed a grant with the Adam Thielen Foundation to fully equip his P.E. department with new equipment. He also wrote and executed a MN DNR grant to help get over 1,000 of student's ice fishing on Como Lake with the help of Ardent Outdoor Group and the Saint Paul Police Activities League. He partnered with Free Bikes 4 Kids to help over 120 of his students get a free bike and helmet. He also partnered with Tickets for Kids charity to get over 400 of his student's opportunities to go pro sporting events or other entertainment venues.

Prior to teaching, served 7 years in the MN Army National Guard and deployed twice to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He believes that collaboration and shared vision can produce massive change for others. He also believes that getting EVERY student a chance to create an unforgettable memory as part of a school day is essential to helping the next generation find positive outcomes to build confidence from, with those newfound confidences, they can take on the next challenging thing with ease and sense of calm.