McKnight Foundation

🌟 We are excited to announce two new colleagues who are joining the McKnight team! 🌟 Please join us in welcoming our new colleagues, senior program officers Julia Eagles and Emily Mattheisen! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/giF-iauD   “We could not be more excited to welcome Emily Mattheisen to the Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems team as our new senior program officer. Emily's years of experience helping local farming communities and organizations translate their ideas and practices into strategies and action—and bring their expertise to international food policy debates that affect their lives and livelihoods—will be invaluable to McKnight's efforts to cultivate resilient food systems globally by bridging farmer-centered agroecological research, action, and influence,” said Jane Maland Cady, Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems director.  Ben Passer, our Midwest Climate & Energy program director, shared: “I am thrilled to welcome Julia Eagles to the Midwest Climate & Energy team at this pivotal moment for the region and for our program. Julia has a demonstrated track record of bridging across stakeholders to develop solutions and a commitment to ensuring that all communities benefit. Her strategic vision, ability to embrace complexity, and passion for advancing work at the highest expression of McKnight's mission will serve us and our partners well as we continue taking bold and urgent action to dramatically reduce harmful environmental impacts and move the Midwest toward an economy powered by clean energy where everyone benefits.” Join us in congratulating Julia and Emily on these new roles and welcoming them to the McKnight team! Read more here:  https://lnkd.in/giF-iauD

“Now is not the time to cower, but to step up and step together across sectors, geographies, and divides in support of the communities we serve and the future we know is possible.” https://lnkd.in/gupg7RKN At this challenging moment, the McKnight Foundation remains resolute in our mission to advance a more just, creative, and abundant future where all people and our planet thrive. We are guided by the conviction that 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁.  Despite recent events, actions, and executive orders, we remain steadfast in advancing climate solutions and racial equity across every part of our work, and committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values of our Foundation. We seek to use every tool available to help build communities in Minnesota and across the Midwest where every person belongs and has what they need to contribute meaningfully to our nation's success. While remaining focused on our mission and core programmatic goals, we are also responding to this moment in several ways. This includes dedicating resources and fostering collaboration to support organizations that are assisting communities being directly targeted in this moment to help remove unfair barriers being experienced by these groups as a result, including organizations supporting immigrants, refugees, Black people, Trans and nonbinary people, and others. We are also working to mitigate funding gaps from recent federal actions and helping organizations navigate increasing complexity in their work. Additionally, we are bolstering institutional priorities by supporting organizations working to strengthen and protect democratic participation and counter authoritarianism, uphold and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, overcome polarization, and bridge divides. 🔗 Read more on how we’re staying focused on our mission to meet the moment: https://lnkd.in/gupg7RKN

The GroundBreak Coalition is seeking a visionary inaugural Executive Director to provide executive and strategic leadership. This role involves close collaboration with the Coalition’s Executive Council, staff, and stakeholders to align organizational goals, priorities, and values to advance a more equitable and prosperous region for all Minnesotans. 📢 Apply now to join GroundBreak Coalition in this transformative work: https://lnkd.in/gRP8bJgj #GroundBreakMSP #GroundBreakCoalition #ExecutiveLeadership #Hiring #ExecutiveDirector

Recently, McKnight President Tonya Allen shared her thoughts with our staff as we recognize and honor Black History Month at the Foundation and throughout the United States of America: “As we celebrate Black History Month, I have been reflecting on the fact that the power of this month does not live in any official order or decree. It lives in the Black leaders and communities who have carried its spirit forward for nearly a century, even before it was formally recognized in 1976. Since the early 20th century, leaders in the Black community worked to document, celebrate, and honor the contributions of Black Americans to the soul, vitality, and success of our nation. Dr. Carter G. Woodson was one such leader. Over the course of his life, Dr. Woodson carried this work forward by establishing the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 and the creation of Negro History Week in 1926, which paved the way for Black History Month. Black History Month is a moment to celebrate the contributions of Black Americans in our nation’s history and a reminder to persist because those who came before us showed us what is possible against the greatest of odds through their remarkable achievements and advancements. Black History Month lives in the legacy and impact of Dr. Woodson. It also lives in countless other leaders whose brilliance, persistence, creativity, ingenuity, strength, determination, talent, and grit have made every aspect of our nation and every facet of our society stronger. It lives not just in our history, but in our presence today through the Black leaders, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, teachers, mothers, fathers, and neighbors whose contributions, big and small, make our nation truly great. It lives in you, and it lives in me. And so, we uphold our freedom and duty to carry forward the celebration in ourselves and in our communities, as was done for many years and decades before Black History Month existed. McKnight is proud to celebrate Black excellence every day of the year in recognition of our incredible employees and board members, grantee and community partners, neighbors, and others we work with who inspire and motivate us to keep moving toward the future we know is possible for Black Americans and all Americans.” Want to learn more about #BlackHistoryMonth? Check out the resources linked in the comments, and share your own as well!

Do you know an artist or culture bearer with an enduring and exceptional career in Minnesota? The McKnight Foundation invites nominations for its 28th Distinguished Artist Award. Nominations for the $100,000 award are due April 16, 2025. The annual McKnight Distinguished Artist Award recognizes artists and culture bearers who have made a lifelong commitment to artistic and cultural practices that are locally, regionally, and/or nationally significant. These artists and culture bearers have chosen to ground their lives and careers in Minnesota, thereby making our state a more culturally rich place. First and foremost, they have produced creatively incisive art reflecting their particular and extraordinary point of view. McKnight Distinguished Artists have also inspired other artists and culture bearers, earned acclaim from audiences, patrons, critics, and other arts professionals, and some have founded and strengthened arts organizations. https://lnkd.in/gHvwAvNT

Over $700 billion in funding for infrastructure and climate projects have been announced as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, creating incredible opportunities to grow our nation's clean economy and jobs in every corner of the country and the Midwest while reducing energy costs and protecting our air and water. 👷🏾♀️☀️👨🏼🏭⚡🧑🏿🌾🚗 What projects promise benefits for your community? Dig into the map from Grist to explore awarded funding near you, from solar for businesses, farms, and schools to electric school buses and transit, from industrial clean hydrogen hubs to innovative geothermal districts, and from electric vehicle (EV) charging corridors to manufacturing for batteries, EVs, solar panels, heat pumps, and more: ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gjHTZ6cB #climatesolutions #cleanenergyeconomy

Congratulations to the 2025 McKnight Composer Fellowship and Visiting Residency Awardees! 🤩 And a special thanks to American Composers Forum. The Composer Fellowships awardees are Kashimana Ahua, Ross Hutchens, Shruthi Rajasekar, and Christopher Rochester. The McKnight Visiting Composer Residency awardees are J. Clay Gonzalez and TJ Cole. These awards celebrate the vitality of Minnesota’s musical landscape, with the selected artists blending and transcending genre through composition, songwriting, modular synth improvisations, cross-cultural collaborations, and communal art-making. https://lnkd.in/g6vx3y_a

🔖 Bookmark this resource: The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits is maintaining an up-to-date information hub with valuable tools, resources, and tangible steps nonprofits can take to help navigate uncertainty. https://lnkd.in/g-E646Da

🗞 It's #McKnews time again! In our latest edition, senior program officer Sarah Hernandez reflects on powerful organizers building a Worker Justice Ecosystem in Minnesota, Vibrant & Equitable Communities program director Muneer Karcher-Ramos paints the team's big, bold vision for an equitable future, Press Forward Minnesota announces their inaugural grantees, and more. Don't forget to subscribe 😉

Meet Naima Dhore, a 2024 Virginia McKnight Binger Heart of Community Honoree. Naima is the first Somali female farmer in the country to own farmland and the first Somali female certified organic farmer. She is passionate about improving local food systems and increasing accessibility to culturally diverse foods. Her farm in Isanti County plays a pivotal role in addressing food scarcity in rural communities. Her commitment to creating a more sustainable and inclusive food system spans both rural and urban farming and encourages diverse communities to learn from one another. Her peers say she is a pivotal force in driving legislative efforts to raise awareness about the challenges faced by small, emerging farmers in Minnesota. They also note that she is a fierce advocate for engaging teens in food justice work and a champion of farming practices that heal the earth. https://lnkd.in/ga78JiGg Minnesota Council on Foundations, Initiative Foundation