Donald Mark Ritchie is a former Minnesota Secretary of State (2007 - 2015). He co-chairs the Minnesota USA Expo Bid Committee, serves as the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Minnesota and is the President of Global Minnesota. He served as the President of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (1986 - 2006), a non-profit organization working with businesses, churches, farm organizations, and civic groups to foster long-term sustainability for Minnesota's rural communities. He is the founder of the League of Rural Voters and in 1994, co-founded the Global Environment & Trade Study. In 2004, Donald Mark Ritchie led the National Voice, a national coalition of non-partisan organizations which included 400 organizations such as churches, businesses, and community organizations from across the country. The National Voice later formed the present Minnesota Participation Project