By Me’Lea Connelly, Director of the Association of Black Economic Power and Patrick Troska, Executive Director of the Foundation How many of you can relate to this experience? It was…
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In January, our Foundation lead a workshop at the Minnesota Council of Foundation’s annual conference. The session was entitled “From Empathy to Strategy: Co-Designing Grantmaking with Community.” It was our…
by Patrick J. Troska, Executive Director It’s not entirely clear to me who coined that phrase. A Google search was inconclusive, although Stephen Covey wrote a book entitled “The Speed…
by Elizabeth Coco and Patrick Troska Months ago we engaged a local consulting group to lead us in a Human Centered Design process. This required us to commit to listen…
By Patrick Troska, Executive Director Strategic planning is often not a linear process. You believe you’re headed down one path, and then new information or a line of inquiry unexpectedly…
By Patrick Troska, Executive Director When people ask me how my 3-month sabbatical was, the answer is more complicated than the one I usually give. Time doesn’t generally allow for…
BY PATRICK TROSKA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Twenty-one years ago, representatives of the Foundation and the Minnesota Private College Council (MPPC) got together to explore ways the Foundation’s previous 30+ years of…
Dear Colleagues and Stakeholders, After 15 years with the Foundation, four and a half as Executive Director, Patrick Troska will embark on a 12-week sabbatical beginning June 25, 2015. He…
BY Patrick Troska, Executive Director and Joel Luedtke, Senior Program Officer In our last blog, “2014 Year in Review Part 1: Taking Feedback Seriously,” we shared what we learned when…
WRITTEN BY PATRICK J. TROSKA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The end of a calendar year marks a natural opportunity to pause and reflect on the past year. If you’re like me, you…
