Below is Vice President of Program Neal Cuthbert’s foreword from the McKnight-commissioned Small Towns, Big Ideas: Reimagining Southeast Minnesota, an essay by Jay Walljasper that explores innovative examples of economic resilience in Southeast Minnesota that could serve as models for the entire Midwest. Jay Walljasper’s Small Towns, Big Ideas: Reimagining Southeast Minnesota was commissioned by The …
June 2015 Commissioned by McKnight, Jay Walljasper’s latest report looks at the forward-thinking and innovative concepts spurring development and interest in Southeast Minnesota.
May 2015 McKnight’s 2014 “at-a-glance” annual report. Click here to request a hard copy.
Artistry (formerly Bloomington Theatre and Art Center) was founded through the merger of the Bloomington Civic Theatre and Bloomington Art Center in 2009. Drawing on a combined legacy of more than 90 years of artistic excellence, Artistry aims to expand and further strengthen the offerings of its founding organizations in the performing arts, visual arts, …
The Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) is working to ensure that all children in a geographic “Zone” of North Minneapolis graduate from high school ready for college. NAZ takes a two-generation approach, working directly with children and with their parents, supporting parents to stabilize housing and careers and to become leaders in the community who drive …
Wisconsin counties have broad authority to control land uses and protect natural resources, but many defer to state and federal agencies on wetland development decisions. Without active local involvement, decisions affecting wetlands can be inconsistent with community-established goals and priorities. To improve the consideration of wetlands in local land use decision-making, the Wisconsin Wetlands Association …
The Rising Cedar Apartment complex isn’t just a beautiful building — it makes a difference in the lives of those who live with mental illness. Rising Cedar was developed by Project for Pride in Living (PPL) with support from McKnight’s Region & Communities program and in collaboration with Touchstone Mental Health, a nonprofit that works …
Stephanie has been a passionate customer of Prepare + Prosper (P+P) for four years. She first learned about the organization by calling United Way 2-1-1. As a teacher’s assistant and single mom, Stephanie has a lot on her plate and tax time helps her to make it manageable. Free and expert help with taxes and …
While we understand the need for families to have housing stability, we started asking ourselves a pivotal question several years ago: how do we affect change that transforms systems so that children and families can create their own solutions to problems? This led to a greater understanding of housing as a platform for change agents: …
Flying Foot Forum is a vibrant and bold performance company that fuses percussion and percussive dances with many other forms of music, dance, and theater. The group seeks to re-imagine the potential of all forms of percussive dance and percussion and to explore their full range of dramatic and musical possibilities. A recent production of …