Fritz, Evan

EVAN FRITZ (BS ’16 kinesiology) is a Rising Star. In fact, he was one of the first Rising Stars, an Iowa State University Extension and Outreach internship program that began in 2014 to help Iowans better understand their local food system and the benefits of consuming locally grown food. Currently, Fritz is marketing coordinator for Winnebago Coop Telecom Service in Lake Mills, Iowa.

He is a native of the Worth County town of Northwood, a community that Fritz said was rural enough that “tractors frequented the city streets as much as modern vehicles did.”  Like many rural youth, he was active in extension’s 4-H Youth Development program, delving into numerous topics over nine years. He received a C.J. Gauger 4-H Scholarship that brought him to Iowa State, where he continued 4-H at the collegiate level. In 2013 he received the Iowa 4-H Speaker of the Year award and in 2016 he was chosen to be the Lead Facilitator for the National 4-H Conference. 

Education and service to others are two values he learned from his 4-H involvement.

“Iowa State and all of the experiences that it has to offer taught me how to forever be a servant leader, always searching for more and better information to help more people,” Fritz said. “I’ve made it a point to never say no to an opportunity, and to incorporate ‘what can I do to help?’ into all my conversations.”

That approach also helped him to very quickly become involved in several northern Iowa communities. He sits on both the Lake Mills and Forest City Chamber of Commerce boards, is a member of the Winnebago County Extension Council, and is President and Director of the Lake Mills Family Center. He also helps at extension events, volunteers for his ISU FarmHouse fraternity, and is hoping to develop a young professionals group.

Fritz credits many local and state 4-H extension staff, fraternity brothers, and his parents for the success he found at Iowa State. “The most important people of all, Keith and Laura Fritz, have had a tremendous impact on how I navigated my years at Iowa State,” he said. “I can say with certainty that they directly affected my trajectory when exploring career options.”

He said he always will remember Iowa State as the “place where I met most of my friends and created more memories than I will have days.” It’s also where he proposed to his wife, Carlie Christianson, who received her degree in English Education, with a minor in Women’s Studies in December 2017 from ISU.

Fritz enjoys training for triathlons and looks forwarding to participating with his fraternity in the annual “CyMan” Triathlon.

As of March 2020, Fritz is a Customer Relationship Management Analyst at MBT Bank.

Interim Vice President of ISU Extension and Outreach, John Lawrence: Evan Fritz, a 2016 Iowa State University graduate, Rising Star intern and former 4-H’er, represents how ISU Extension and Outreach builds skills in young people throughout the state.