Hello everyone.

When I think about 2024, the word that comes to my mind is coherence, which I define as the logical and consistent alignment among independent entities towards a shared goal.

Coherence in relationships with donors, nonprofit leaders and change agents like you is what has led to the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation's ability to contribute to tangible differences for our communities in 2024.

By working together, we've established new partnerships, launched new grant opportunities, invested in community-led solutions, and set a clear path for 2025 and beyond.

I'd like to take just a few minutes to give you examples of what all this means. This last year, we joined forces with both the Taylor Family Farms Foundation and the Bush Foundation to provide greater support to communities and organizations throughout Minnesota.

The Taylor Family Farms Foundation supports rural communities in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. A grant to Winona Health in support of Winona's growing senior population is among the grants recommended by our Foundation through this partnership.

Through the Bush Prize: Minnesota, we honored Green Card Voices, Minnesota Education Equity Partnership, and Mni Sota Fund, all organizations that have a track record of successful community problem solving.

This year, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation also had an opportunity to impact organizations across the state thanks to animal lovers, Steve Nordberg and Betsy McDonald.

In their will, the couple established the Nordberg McDonald Fund, and because of their generous gift, we will direct grants of up to $1 million each year across Minnesota to organizations focused on animal welfare.

All of this progress is in addition to our yearly grant making, and we are grateful for the opportunity to deepen our impact across the state.

This year, we gathered with fundholders at several Giving+Together events where we learned from organizations working to provide access to childcare and economic development, organizations working to advance democracy and civic engagement, and others working on food insecurity in our community.

Learning and giving together with our donor community naturally deepens a coherence that leads to meaningful and lasting change.

I am grateful for all who choose to partner with us to invest in community-led solutions, and I want to thank those nonprofit organizations across the state of Minnesota who tirelessly create the conditions where all people and communities can thrive.

This year, we've also made progress that, as present, may be less visible, but as potentially the most impactful across the Foundation our team takes to heart the value that community is our compass.

And over the last 12 months, we've spent hundreds of hours in conversation with numerous community members, our board and the boards of our partners at F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation to inform the future of several critical initiatives.

One of these initiatives is a redesign of what was the Building Community Capacity grantmaking program. By working with the community council and our boards, we have identified several important changes to our process, which we will roll out over the course of the next two years.

Another community-informed initiative is the development of two new investment funds, which we've designed in close collaboration with both nonprofit and investment leaders.

These funds will expand the way the Foundation, our donors and investment partners can support statewide businesses and nonprofits through market and below-market rate loans, increasing the way we leverage our capital to address systemic issues and respond to exciting opportunities.

I mentioned our partnership with the Bush Foundation earlier. We worked closely with community members to design an additional grant making program Within this partnership, it is called the Minnesota Community IDEAS Grant Program, a new statewide grant opportunity that opens in 2025.

Community conversations have also led us to a new strategic plan, which beginning in 2025 will set an exciting and ambitious path for the next five years. I look forward to sharing more about how one-on-one conversations, community convenings, board discussions, and community councils have set fertile ground for what is to come in our strategic plan and all of these efforts.

For now, I want to leave you with a parting thought. Coherence is about the way we work together to achieve a shared goal, and I thank you for the faith you put in our ability to continue this tradition to an even stronger, more vibrant Minnesota in the next five years.