The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation today announced that Linda Garrett-Johnson has joined the Foundation as the new Program Officer on the Community Impact team.

Linda will be responsible for managing the housing and youth development portfolios on behalf of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation. She will be instrumental in supporting and promoting the interests of our nonprofit partners and contributing to the grantmaking work conducted through the Foundation.

“We are excited to have Linda join our team,” said Tiffany Kong, director of community impact, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. "Linda brings years of expertise in grantmaking, change management, process improvement and community engagement. Community impact is at the core of her heart, and we are looking forward to all she will bring into this role.”

She joins the Foundation most recently from The Word Applied, Inc., where she served as a principal consultant and was responsible for providing the tools, informational resources and facilitation to help local and state governments, along with organizations and businesses, put into practice strategies to engage authentically with those they serve. Linda’s background also includes the creation of Community Engagement Ambassadors – Dakota County.

Linda holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational development from Metropolitan State University and is a certified six sigma Black Belt (business process improvement).

“I consider myself to be a Community Engagement Ambassador, and I am excited to bring my passion and expertise in the area of authentic community engagement to the Foundation,” said Linda.

In her free time, Linda enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and her dog, Foxy.