“Kathy leaves a profound impact on the McKnight Foundation, sharing her strategic insights and connections, as well as her grounded and sage advice.”
– TONYA ALLEN, PRESIDENT
McKnight Foundation is honoring our longtime community board member, veteran communications strategist, and civic leader Kathy Tunheim, who has made invaluable contributions to McKnight and its mission-driven work. Kathy, who joined the McKnight board in 2016 and will complete her tenure by the end of this year, helped the foundation navigate moments of challenge, change, and opportunity.
“Kathy leaves a profound impact on the McKnight Foundation, sharing her strategic insights and connections, as well as her grounded and sage advice,” said McKnight president Tonya Allen. “Through her board leadership and her passion for taking care of Minnesotans and people well beyond our borders, Kathy’s contributions will be felt for decades to come.”
Kathy possesses a mastery of communications and storytelling—accumulated over her decades of experience founding and leading Tunheim, a Minnesota-based strategic communications firm.
“It is rare that you get to work with someone who is at the pinnacle of their profession, and Kathy Tunheim is just that—a consummate communications leader who demonstrates the best of our practice and harnesses her skills to make our world a better place,” said Jacques Hebert, McKnight’s communications director. “It has been an incredible honor to have had the opportunity to learn from Kathy over these last several years, and I am grateful that her contributions to McKnight and our mission will extend well beyond her service on McKnight’s board.”
“Kathy always has her finger on the pulse of what Minnesota communities are experiencing,” said Ted Staryk, McKnight Foundation board chair. “She has generously provided her insights and counsel to McKnight’s board and staff over the last nine years, sharpening our mission impact during a critical period for the issues we’re working to address.”
The green revolution—which Minnesota helped drive—was about feeding the world, and the work now is about helping the world feed itself, sustainably. McKnight will continue to be an important contributor to those efforts.– KATHY TUNHEIM
“Kathy played such an important role as board liaison. She tapped into her professional experience, asked important questions about food systems, and was always a good thought partner,” shared Jane Maland Cady, program director of McKnight’s Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems. “Kathy was also instrumental in expanding the global influence of McKnight’s work on the ground in places like Peru—and in collaboration with other funders working to transform food systems.”
“It has been an honor to be part of McKnight’s work to create a world where people and planet can thrive,” Kathy Tunheim shared. “In particular, I enjoyed working closely with our Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems team. McKnight has been a really important participant in work to transform global food systems for 30 years, and looked to for our leadership. The green revolution—which Minnesota helped drive—was about feeding the world, and the work now is about helping the world feed itself, sustainably. McKnight will continue to be an important contributor to those efforts.”
About Kathy Tunheim: Kathy Tunheim is co-founder and CEO of Tunheim, a Twin Cities strategic communications firm. She maintains an active role in many of the agency’s client relationships, and is a well-known crisis communications counselor to senior executives. She is past president of IPREX, one of the world’s largest networks of independent communications firms, which Tunheim joined in 2007. Prior to co-founding the agency, Kathy gained experiences in both the corporate world and the political arena that profoundly shaped her approach to creating value as an agency counselor. She served as vice president for public relations and internal communications at Honeywell. Earlier in her career, she handled media relations and speechwriting for Wendell R. Anderson — for both his time as governor of the State of Minnesota and during his tenure in the U.S. Senate. Collectively these experiences cause her to be particularly intrigued by the challenges of helping clients navigate the intersections of business, public policy and the media. In 2011, she accepted a part-time appointment as senior advisor to Minnesota’s governor, serving two years focused on igniting job creation across the state.
About the McKnight Foundation: McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in the Midwest; building an equitable and inclusive Minnesota; and supporting the arts and culture in Minnesota, neuroscience, and global food systems.
