Carol Berde, executive vice president of The McKnight Foundation, will step down from the Foundation at the end of this year. She announced her decision in conjunction with the directors' third-quarter board meeting. Berde began work at the Foundation as a freelance consultant in 1979; she plans next year to return to her roots as a consultant for nonprofit organizations, including McKnight.

"Returning to consulting work is the right fit for me at this stage of my career. I will be able to use my skills to concentrate on the work I most enjoy and where I think I can be helpful," said Berde. "As much as things have changed—naturally and necessarily—during my years at McKnight, I've been struck recently by the extent to which things remain the same. McKnight's commitment to Minnesota endures, as well as its strong connection to 'community,' at the most basic level, everywhere the Foundation works. From decade to decade, those values continue to be this organization's hallmark."

Berde joined the Foundation as senior program officer in 1981 and became vice president for program in 1991; she has served as executive vice president of the Foundation since August 1999. She has headed a variety of programs during her 25 years with McKnight, a period during which the Foundation's endowment and grantmaking portfolio increased dramatically. Among her many program responsibilities have been significant involvement in work to support children and families, community development, affordable housing, international collaborative crop research, and women's social and economic empowerment in Africa. She also has developed major programs for the Foundation, including a small loan program for low-income families that is now available nationally in more than 50 communities, and a statewide fund to finance affordable housing.

"Carol is irreplaceable," says Erika L. Binger, board chair. "Since the late 1970s, she has helped foster and embody the long-standing values of the Foundation. McKnight simply would not be the institution it is today without her involvement. Long after her departure, positive echoes of Carol's presence will continue to reverberate throughout our programs and grantee relationships—and within successful individuals and communities from Anoka County to Zimbabwe, Africa."

Among her many program accomplishments, Berde guided much of the Foundation's involvement with welfare reform in Minnesota—an initiative that eventually resulted in the creation of 22 cross-sector partnerships throughout the state, which developed tailored strategies ranging from childcare to transportation, job training, and mentoring. Under Berde's leadership, McKnight addressed welfare-to-work as a community responsibility, not the task of any single sector, and used its financial support to encourage employers, government agencies, nonprofits, religious organizations, civic groups, and individuals to assume collective responsibility. For the groundbreaking work, McKnight received the inaugural Paul Ylvisaker Award for Public Engagement in Philanthropy from the national Council on Foundations in 2002.

Berde will remain with the Foundation throughout the rest of this year, and the Foundation will take some time this fall to thoughtfully consider how best to cover her current responsibilities, says Binger. "For now, we are concentrating on—and celebrating—Carol's many contributions to McKnight and to communities in and beyond Minnesota, as well as the decades of creative grantmaking we are grateful to have shared with her."

In addition to her work at McKnight, Berde currently chairs the board of Ways to Work, the national financial intermediary that operates the Family Loan Program, and serves on the board of Hearth Connection, a supportive housing and managed care pilot program. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION

The McKnight Foundation was founded in 1953 and endowed by William L. and Maude L. McKnight. It has assets of approximately $2 billion and granted nearly $85 million in 2004. Mr. McKnight was one of the early leaders of the 3M Company, although the Foundation is independent of 3M. For more information about the Foundation and its programs, please visit McKnight's website at www.mcknight.org.


Contact
Tim Hanrahan, Communications Director, 612-333-4220