Tonya Allen is a leader and a change agent with a passion for co-creating an equitable, sustainable world. In 2021, she became president of the McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation that advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive.
In 2024, McKnight granted over $145 million—the highest charitable payout in the Foundation’s history at 7 percent of its endowment—in support of equitable communities, a clean energy economy, global food systems, artists and culture bearers, and innovative neuroscience research. Beyond this increase in grantmaking, Tonya has worked to ensure that McKnight uses every tool in its toolbox as a philanthropic organization to bring about a more just, creative, and abundant future where all people and our planet thrive. In her first year at McKnight, Tonya championed using the Foundation’s investments to advance net zero goals, and elevated McKnight’s voice and leadership to rebuild Twin Cities neighborhoods and small businesses impacted by Covid-19 and the 2020 civil unrest. In 2022, Tonya helped launch the GroundBreak Coalition, an ambitious, multi-sector effort to close wealth gaps in Minneapolis-St. Paul. In 2023, GroundBreak announced nearly $1 billion in commitments towards its goals, which Inside Philanthropy called the “fundraising success story of the year.”
Tus Neeg Sawv Cev Hloov Hloov. Tonya tau coj cov kev pab nyiaj txiag tau zoo, kev lag luam, tsoomfwv, thiab cov kev sib koom tes hauv zej zog uas txhawb kev xav tshiab, sim cov kev kawm tshiab, thiab ua ntej tsoomfwv txoj cai. Thoob plaws hauv nws txoj haujlwm 25 xyoos, nws tau ua tus choj tsim tsa thiab ua tus pab saib xyuas pej xeem. Tonya tau txais kev qhuas rau nws cov txiaj ntsig-kev tsav kev ua haujlwm thiab kev ua haujlwm muaj txiaj ntsig zoo los ntawm cov Keeb kwm ntawm Philanthropy ("Tsib Lub Koom Haum Uas Tsim Nyog Saib Xyuas"), Cov Nyiaj Txiag Network (Nicholas P. Bollman Award), Detroit Xov Xwm (Michiganian ntawm Xyoo), thiab Twin Cities Business ("TCB 100: Cov Neeg Paub Txog Xyoo 2022").
Philanthropic thiab Civic Leader. Tonya yog tus thawj tswj hwm ntawm Thawj Tswj Hwm Pawg Saib Xyuas Kev Ua Lag Luam cuam tshuam thiab ua haujlwm rau ntau lub rooj tsav xwm hauv Minnesota, suav nrog GHR Foundation, Women Presidents Organization Minnesota, thiab Greater MSP. Nws yog tus thawj coj ntawm Pawg Thawj Coj 'Alliance for Boys and Men of Colour. Ua ntej koom nrog McKnight, Tonya tau ua tus thawj tswj hwm thiab CEO ntawm The Skillman Foundation, thiab ua tus thawj coj ntawm Charles Stewart Mott thiab Thompson McCully foundations. Nws yog tus tsim thiab tus kws tsim qauv ntawm Detroit Children's Fund, thiab tus tsim thiab tus thawj coj ntawm Detroit Niam Txiv Network.
Kev Muaj Vaj Huam Sib Luag. Tonya yog tus thawj coj hauv tebchaws ntawm kev ua haujlwm pub dawb, suav nrog, thiab kev coj ncaj ncees. Nws yog ib tug tswv cuab ntawm General Motors 'Inclusion Advisory Board, tus thawj coj ywj pheej ntawm Sun Communities, thiab tus kws pab tswv yim rau ntau lub tuam txhab hais txog kev koom tes nrog. Corp! Phau ntawv Magazine sam xeeb Tonya nrog qhov Ntshaw Kev Ntshaw Ntau Txiaj Ntsig.
Pej Xeem Kev Koom Tes. Tonya txoj kev coj noj coj ua thiab kev tawm tswv yim txuas mus rau tsoomfwv. Nws koom tes zoo thoob plaws cov nom tswv thiab tau ua tiav txoj cai tswjfwm bipartisan. Nws tau ua haujlwm, suav nrog ua tus thawj coj, ntawm ntau pawg neeg saib xyuas kev noj qab haus huv thiab kev sib koom ua ke, ntawm lawv Pawg Neeg Rov Qab Mus Tsev Kawm Ntawv thaum lub sijhawm Covid-19 kis thoob qhov txhia chaw. Nws kuj tau qhia txog Thawj Tswj Hwm Obama's My Brother's Keeper Initiative.
Kev Koom Tes Hauv Zej Zog. Tonya pib nws txoj haujlwm ua haujlwm nrog cov niam txiv, cov thawj coj hauv kev ntseeg, thiab lwm tus neeg nyob hauv ib puag ncig, ib qho tseem ceeb rau nws txoj kev coj ncaj ncees. Nws mob siab rau kev coj cov phooj ywg uas tsis tshua muaj kev sib koom ua ke - nruab nrab hauv zej zog cov suab lus thiab cov tswv yim - thiab kev sib koom tsim cov kev daws teeb meem uas tib neeg thiab ntiaj chaw vam meej.
Xav Ua Tus Thawj Coj. Tonya yog tus kws tshaj lij kev xav rau pej xeem, tus sau, kws tshaj lij, thiab tus kws pab tswv yim. Nws tau ua tus kws tshawb fawb nyob hauv Clinton Tsev Kawm Ntawv Kev Pabcuam Pej Xeem, qhov chaw nws sau ntawv "Kev Hlub Radical: Lub luag haujlwm ntawm Lub Zej Zog Kev Pabcuam Hauv Kev Pabcuam Kev Hloov Pauv, Txhawb Kev Ncaj Ncees, thiab Kev Hloov Pauv” Nws cov kev xav ntawm cov ncauj lus sib txawv raws li kev hloov pauv huab cua, agroecology, thiab cov cuab yeej cuab tam-raws li framing tau tshwm sim hauv Newsweek, Lub toj, Hauv Philanthropy, thiab Keeb kwm ntawm Philanthropy.
Koom Tes Nrog Kev Kawm. Tonya lub siab xav kawm los ntawm lwm tus yog qhov tsis txaus ntseeg. Nws kawm tiav qib Master hauv kev noj qab haus huv thiab kev ua haujlwm hauv zej zog thiab bachelor's in sociology, txhua tus los ntawm University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Tsis tas li ntawd, Tonya tau kawm txog kev ua haujlwm thoob ntiaj teb thiab tsoomfwv raws li German Marshall Fund Transatlantic Fellow thiab hauv Tsev Kawm Harvard Kennedy. Nws tau txais kev sib raug zoo ntawm Aspen Institute, American Enterprise Institute, thiab BMe Community.
