Grand Forks, N.D. — Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC) is pleased to announce that Karna Loyland, Senior Vice President and Commercial Banker at Bell Bank in Grand Forks, has joined its board of directors.
At Bell Bank, Loyland delivers innovative financial solutions to businesses throughout the northern Red River Valley. Her professional path has included roles in mergers and acquisitions within the health care sector, as well as 22 years at Alerus—most recently as Chief Deposit Officer—and two years as a consultant to banks and privately held companies.
“Karna is one of those unsung heroes,” said CVIC President/CEO Coiya Tompkins Inman. “Her many years as a financial leader in the Grand Forks community, coupled by her deep understanding of the complicated world of nonprofit finance, makes Karna a natural addition to our amazing board team.”
While her own path has been focused largely on hard numbers, Loyland’s interest in serving families in her community goes back to an internship with a county child protective services organization she had after earning a B.A. in Economics and Russian from St. Olaf College.
“I was there to do analysis and figure out how to bring the services more collaboratively together,” Loyland said. “It was really eye opening to me to work with CPS and see the ins and outs of what a family in need actually needs.”
Loyland’s takeaway: “There’s never enough money,” she said.
Financial support is one of many areas Loyland will focus on as a CVIC board member and she said she looks forward to helping the organization make crucial connections within the business and finance communities.
“The work CVIC is doing actually changes the trajectory of people’s lives. That’s rare. To know you’re helping people in your community and ending generational trauma is incredibly powerful,” Loyland added.
Loyland holds an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, an educational experience that paved the way for her to support causes important to her.
She said her decision to join CVIC’s board stems from witnessing the organization’s long-term transformative impact.
“The way CVIC articulates what they do in terms of ending violence in two generations is amazingly strong,” Loyland said. “CVIC has shown that collaboration with law enforcement and local schools, in addition to providing services to our rural neighbors, is the most effective path to a violence-free future.”
In 2019, Loyland was named one of Prairie Business Magazine’s Top 25 Women in Business. In 2022, she served as interim executive director for the Grand Forks Children’s Museum, helping to launch its organizational infrastructure and guide its building and exhibit planning process.
Originally from Rochester, Minn., Loyland and her husband Mike farm near Thompson, N.D. They have two grown sons.
About CVIC
With a bold, comprehensive and nationally recognized approach, we disrupt cultural norms to end violence in two generations. We deliver vital safety and healing services to adults and children experiencing trauma and educate youth and professionals about how to prevent violence and develop healthy relationships. Because violence is predictable, we know it is preventable and through an alliance of collaborative partners and donors we are creating a safer tomorrow.