FAIRMONT– Jen Kahler, executive director of Kinship of Martin County, has been named a recipient of 4 Under 40. The program, in its second year, recognizes up-and-coming leaders in Martin County.

While not originally from the area, Kahler now has deep roots in Fairmont.

She is originally from Albert Lea and after graduating high school, went off to college at Concordia Moorehead. There she started out as a biology major.

“I rapidly figured out that that wasn’t my thing. I had always been involved in different ministry things with my church and Youth for Christ and I started getting the idea in my head that I might like to be a youth director or something similar to that,” Kahler said.

She realized she would likely go into youth ministry but she needed a four year degree so Kahler started studying studio art as she had always been interested in art. Later she added religion into her studies. She graduated in 2006.

“I had a job secured at Grace Lutheran in Fairmont,” Kahler said.

While she hadn’t been familiar with the town, Kahler liked that it was close to home and the job was one that she wanted. She started as youth and family ministry director. She would hold that position until 2012.

Kahler admitted that she didn’t have glowing first impressions of Fairmont, as she came right after a snow storm. But she soon started meeting people and getting involved and those experiences helped change her viewpoint.

“I got pretty connected with the other people who were doing ministry in Fairmont. They helped me get to know other people and give me a group of friends,” Kahler said.

She said it was also convenient to be working at a church in a new town because she felt like she already had a built in community there.

“I was a young 20-something coming to a town for the first time and I got taken under the wing by a lot of people. I never really felt completely disconnected,” Kahler said.

Of course, Kahler also met her husband, Logan, here and that led her to meet more people and learn of more opportunities. They began dating in 2008 and married in 2012.

“Getting connected to my husband connected me to a lot because his mom is involved in a lot,” she said of her mother-in-law, Char Kahler.

“I started playing tennis with the group Char organizes, kayaking with the group Char organizes, played volleyball for a while. There was a lot of active things most of the time,” Kahler said.

Since coming to Fairmont, she was also introduced to one of her biggest passions.

“I didn’t start running until a few years after I moved here,” Kahler said.

She’s now an avid runner, taking part in triathlons both locally and regionally. In 2014 she also started volunteering with Fairmont High School’s cross-country team.

Professionally, after Kahler left her position at Grace Lutheran Church, she began working at Elmore Academy for a brief time. Then she started working as a youth director at the Fairmont Evangelical Covenant Church in the summer of 2012 until 2018.

It was connections that helped lead her to Kinship. Char was the former director of Kinship and while she was in that position, she occasionally asked Jen to help out so she became familiar with the mentoring organization. Later when Anna Garbers was director, Kahler became familiar with her, too.

“When I decided I was leaving ministry and looking for another job, Kinship was in the process of hiring a new director so I sought that out,” she said.

Kahler started as a director in 2018 and now she’s been executive director for almost two years. In this position she’s found some commonalities with youth ministry work.

“I love that I still get to work with kids but it’s definitely different. As a youth minister I was working directly with kids… now, despite the fact that I still work with kids, I don’t work as directly with them. The focus gets split between the mentors and the mentees,” Kahler said.

She said the work she does still influences kids which she enjoys. She’s also fortunate to bring mentoring opportunities to people in the community.

“I was so fortunate to have so many people who looked out for me, both growing up in Albert Lea and in Fairmont. I’ve been fortunate to have so many natural mentors so the fact that I can bring that to people in Kinship who might not have it naturally is huge,” Kahler said.

Aside from being busy with her work with Kinship, Kahler is very involved in the community. She said before she had kids, Hezekiah, 6, and Ezra, who is almost 3, she volunteered with a lot more groups. Now it’s a bit more selective, but she certainly helps out and shows up when she can. She’s also taken initiative of starting some events of her own.

In Dec. 2021, Kahler organized a 12 Ks of Christmas fun run in Fairmont. She said she’s always liked to do runs but wanted to provide more locally.

She and her husband play music in the Wednesday evening services at Grace Lutheran Church and she’s also very involved in CrossFit in Fairmont.

A piece of advice Kahler has for others in the community is to get involved as she said getting involved when she moved here is what made all the difference for her and provided her with the opportunities she has now.

She said those who feel like there’s not enough here maybe haven’t formed the right connections or met the person who likes the same things they do.

“Get involved in as many different parts of the community as you can,” she said.

Kahler said she thinks it’s easy for people to look at their hometown and say there’s nothing there. But she wants to help people feel the way she does about the community.

“There is value here, there are connections here and so many positive things about Fairmont I hope people can see the same way I do,” Kahler said.

She said that’s not to say that the community isn’t without struggle or that there isn’t things that require effort, but she thinks it’s a place that has value.

“I’m happy to raise my kids here,” she said.

Of being selected as a recipient of 4 Under 40, Kahler said, “finding out was such a nice surprise, but finding out who the other people were, people I consider to be important people who bring so much to the community, and being named among them for me was the coolest part.”

She said some pressure also comes with being a recipient because she wants to live up to it and keep working toward being someone who brings something to the community.

Kahler and the other three recipients, Linsey Preuss, Hubble Werre and Stephanie Busiahn will be recognized at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Fairmont. Tickets are on sale now at twinvalleybsa.org/4under40.