5 Under 40: Cassie Miles wants to provide community for MN families with children's museum

ST. CLOUD — In July 2020, as millions of people were adjusting to working from home, 5 Under 40 winner Cassie Miles was going into the office for the first time in eight years.

It was part of her new role as executive director of the Great River Children's Museum.

Before the museum, Miles was on the path to becoming an entrepreneur. With a background in finance, she found herself working remotely as an analyst for New York-based hedge funds.

When the opportunity to work for the children’s museum came up, Miles was working from home and raising her son Desmond.

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“I decided I was ready to move into something that was much more fulfilling to me with some purpose for my local economy,” Miles said. “I just wanted to be a part of the community that was serving me."

The Great River Children's Museum is a decade-plus effort to provide space for the children of Central Minnesota to learn in an environment that's engaging and fun. The museum will contain eight core exhibits for children and their families to explore while learning about topics like weather, water habitats and the outdoors.

“We need to experience arts and culture and share stories and hobbies and crafts and bring people together in spaces they wouldn't otherwise put themselves in, especially in the work-from-home world,” Miles said. “I believe wholeheartedly in arts and cultural hubs.”

“What I really appreciate about Cassie is her dedication to learning through play,” said Clare Richards, CEO of Impacks, who nominated Miles for 5 Under 40.

“When we talk about creating a thriving community and creating opportunity for children to grow, it can't just be food, clothing and shelter. You have to provide a holistic experience where they can learn and grow, and in order to do that, I think you have to offer these opportunities to grow through play.

"Cassie just has such a unique perspective on how to bring that to life beyond just, ‘Oh, this would be a cool idea,’ or ‘We should just try this.’ She really has the capacity to bring large-scale visions to life and that is, I think, a really unique talent.”

Miles said she wants the museum to be a "third space" for families, where children as young as newborns can experience connection and learning that develops stronger neural pathways in their developing minds.

“We can't keep kids in the house like we adults like to do with ourselves,” Miles said. “We love working from home, but kids need a multitude of experiences in order to develop coping mechanisms and understand their sense of self-worth.”

Part of Miles’ drive to create the children's museum comes from Desmond.

“He inspires me daily,” Miles said. “He's precocious, he's very intellectual, hugely curious about things, and I would love for all kids to have a space where they feel that way. (Where) they feel comfortable just exploring and asking all those questions.

“He’s five now, he was not yet two when I started this job, so I'm trying to work as fast as I can for him and all the other kids. They grow up so fast.”

— Contact local editor Tess Ware at tware@stcloudtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: 5 Under 40: Great River Children's Museum director Cassie Miles