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The McKnight Foundation makes grants in support of children
and families, the arts, the environment, region and communities,
and select international and scientific research efforts.
For more than 50 years, its primary geographic focus has been
the state of Minnesota. In 2005, to articulate more fully
the breadth and depth of the Foundation's philanthropic work,
McKnight's board adopted a restatement of its longstanding
organizational mission:
The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based private philanthropic
organization, seeks to improve the quality of life for present
and future generations. Through grantmaking, coalition-building,
and encouragement of strategic policy reform, we use our resources
to attend, unite, and empower those we serve.
The Foundation was established in Minneapolis in 1953 by William
L. McKnight and his wife, Maude L. McKnight. One of the early
leaders of 3M, William L. McKnight rose from assistant bookkeeper
to president and CEO in a career that spanned 59 years, from
1907 to 1966. The McKnight Foundation, however, is an independent
private philanthropic organization; it is not affiliated with
the 3M Company.
In its first two decades, McKnight granted about $2.3 million.
In 1974, shortly after his wife's death, William L. McKnight
asked their only child, Virginia McKnight Binger, to lead
the Foundation. Working with Russell Ewald as executive director,
Mrs. Binger established the formal grantmaking program and
community-based approach that remain the Foundation's legacy
today. Since 2004, the board of directors has been chaired
by Erika L. Binger, great-granddaughter of the founders.
Over the past 53 years, McKnight has granted about $1.4 billion,
primarily in Minnesota. Today, The McKnight Foundation has
assets of about $2 billion and it granted approximately $90
million in 2005. Please visit http://www.mcknight.org
for more information about the Foundation and its programs.
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