Today—and every day—the McKnight Foundation remains focused on our mission to advance a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Our mission and this moment call us to prioritize climate action and racial equity in every aspect of our work, so that our planet is stabilized, and every person achieves their highest aspirations.
We still fully believe that the coming years provide extraordinary opportunities to create a stronger future for people and planet, and we are grateful for the work that our partners have and will continue to do to move us closer to that future every day.
A future where entire neighborhoods and every community benefit from clean energy and transportation, and our investments grow jobs and a resilient economy.
Where people-powered movements spark change that strengthens our democracy.
Where local farming supports families, food security, and our environment.
Where community leaders have the resources to rebuild and revitalize cultural corridors, centering equity, ownership, and sustainability, and creating hubs of opportunity, creativity, and healing.
Where artists and culture bearers construct stages of belonging, joy, and justice.
Where people organize across sectors and lived experiences to shape new narratives and build support for communities where every person can thrive.
For more than 70 years, the McKnight Foundation has had the privilege of collaborating with and learning from incredible partners in Minnesota, across the Midwest, and around the globe. In that time, the Foundation and our partners navigated complex and dynamic moments. Today, we remain ever committed to finding pathways toward our shared, thriving future together with our partners, neighbors, and those called to lead.
We fully recognize that this moment is painful for many, and that the road ahead presents new and difficult challenges. The coming years will require hard work, focus, determination, and care for each other. With progress comes pushbacks and setbacks, and we are committed to keeping our eye on the prize and not stepping back, but stepping forward together with our partners to meet this moment.
If the history of movements in the United States has taught us anything, it’s that the work—arm in arm with our communities—continues beyond any one election cycle. That the work of building and strengthening democracy is not always linear, easy, or clear. It requires constant fortitude and perseverance. We will continue to push forward and push together, which requires us to broaden our tent, listen to each other with genuine curiosity, and build bridges across our differences—the very differences that enrich our social fabric and keep our communities vibrant.
As we move forward together, we must look deeper to see each other as neighbors with common dreams and aspirations for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our country. Despite narratives of entrenched polarization, we must reaffirm an American society where everyone belongs, where we recognize our neighbors’ distinct and unique backgrounds as assets that make us collectively stronger, and where we value our interdependence and our individual liberty. As an organization and changemaker, we will continue to cultivate a world that supports belonging for people from all walks of life working together to make our world a better place.
These words from poet Amanda Gorman resonate for me in this moment:
We lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another, we seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Together, let’s work to build the world that our ancestors dreamt of, and that current and future generations deserve.
About the McKnight Foundation: The 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.
