Friends of the MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC Library

After Minneapolis residents overwhelmingly approved a $140 million referendum, The Friends were charged with leading a $16.7 million capital campaign to complete funding for a new central library. It was a thrilling moment, but despite a 125-year history, the library system had no history of fundraising, and although there was widespread appreciation of the library, the donor community mostly saw it as an antiquated institution. Leading The Friends was my first job as a nonprofit executive.

One asset the library did have was an extraordinary leader in Kit Hadley. Together we worked to reposition the library as an essential asset in workforce development, education, technology access, and the integration of immigrant communities, while transforming The Friends’ board, staff and organization into one that could lead a significant campaign. With an amazing team, we succeeded on both fronts. 

As the campaign concluded, at Kit’s request I staffed a public task force that helped clear the way for the merger of the city and county library systems – an idea that had been repeatedly raised and rejected over the past 50 years, and which stabilized public funding for the library system.  

Artspace

When I joined Artspace, a nonprofit developer for the arts, we faced an unexpected challenge. Although CEO Kelley Lindquist and team had developed several dozen projects and earned a significant reputation for their specialized know-how and technical expertise, Artspace seemed to be losing ground, as measured by philanthropic support, to newer, generally less accomplished organizations. We were valued as “practitioners” but not “thought-leaders,” and were often seen as a regional organization rather than a national one. 

I was the lead staff person on an internal board task force, chaired by Susan Kenney Stevens, designed to study the environment, our position within it, and recommend a series of changes. Through that work we recommitted to demonstrating leadership and more actively promoting our distinct expertise in the rapidly expanding field of creative placemaking. 

Over the next five years, Artspace raised more than $20 million from two foundations alone, and we advanced a series of iconic projects -- in New York, New Orleans, Honolulu, the Pine Ridge Reservation and elsewhere -- that have become national models for arts-centered development that strengthens rather than displaces cultural communities.

PRI & PRX

In 2015 Public Radio International (PRI) launched a capital campaign to help it transition its decades-long expertise in radio production to the digital age, but it was struggling to gain traction beyond its board and a few long-term institutional partners. I joined PRI a little over a year into the effort and helped the CEO and board evolve the campaign to better align with a critical theme of the Trump-era: the role of public media in a divided America. By fall of 2018, we had exceeded our campaign goal 18-months ahead of schedule. 

The successful campaign also positioned PRI for a historic merger with PRX, one of the largest podcast publishers in the world and a leading force of innovation in public media. As we collectively adopted the name PRX, I partnered with Kerri Hoffman, the new CEO, and the board to clarify the emerging organization’s mission and vision and translate those ideals into strategic priorities, while re-designing the development program to align with PRX’s team and ambitions.

The Trinity Park Conservancy 

For more than 100 years, the levees containing the Trinity River have divided Dallas in two, with predictable social, racial and economic consequences. The Trinity Park Conservancy (TPC) was created to re-imagine the river: how could it be transformed into a source of connection, public health and equitable development? The TPC’s first project is Harold Simmons Park, a 210-acre green space in the heart of the city.

Having worked previously with two TPC board leaders on the Public Radio International campaign, I was brought onto the project early to advance its campaign planning and communications work while the TPC was still building out its development staff, and I then helped on-board the TPC’s first Chief Advancement Officer. I continue to support the $200 million campaign but am increasingly focused on a parallel effort: working with the CEO and board to raise a significant investment fund that can be used to shape an equitable development vision in neighborhoods adjacent to the park that are likely to experience significant economic impact. 

The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts

When I joined the Shubert Theater, its capital campaign was languishing and its core constituency -- a network of local dance organizations -- was increasingly skeptical of the project’s feasibility and value. 

Though intense immersion with this cohort, our board of directors, and both program and architectural specialists, I led a team that identified, built consensus for, and ultimately executed a series of changes that included: 1) re-designing the theater to better align with the capacity of our partner organizations; 2) launching a new marketing campaign, “Because Everyone Dances,” which was more inclusive than prior, ballet-centric efforts; 3) initiating new programs, including an annual hip-hop festival and a distance learning program connecting teaching artists with classrooms across Minnesota and around the world; and 4) re-branding as “the Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts,” in honor of Sage and John Cowles. 

As these changes were made, the project’s capital fundraising also resumed, ultimately exceeding its $46 million goal in the height of the Great Recession, and we created Minnesota’s first dedicated home for dance.