March 8, 2022

The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation announced today that Anil Hurkadli will join the organization on March 14, 2022, as senior vice president of Community Impact.

Anil previously has served as a graduate lecturer on management and leadership at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He has also been an independent consultant and coach for social sector and higher education clients, advising on organizational strategy, culture, stakeholder engagement and fundraising. At the Foundation, Anil will serve as a member of the executive leadership team and as chief strategist for grantmaking and community impact. He will also manage relationships with the organization’s two client foundations: F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation.

“Anil’s far-reaching career achievements will contribute to advancing the Foundation’s work of investing in important community-led solutions,” said Eric J. Jolly, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Foundation. “Impressively, Anil created initiatives that increased the racial diversity of the state’s teacher workforce, connected young people to post-secondary career opportunities in program partnership with local leaders and the Aspen Institute, and designed philanthropic responses to Covid-19 that granted $2 million to local Black, Indigenous and people of color small businesses and nonprofits. We enthusiastically welcome Anil to the Foundation.”

Anil is a former Minneapolis Public Schools district leader and former executive director for Teach For America's Twin Cities’ region. As learning and strategy officer for the Thrivent Foundation, he designed and implemented its first strategic plan to invest in progressive community partnerships.

“My life's work is to ensure people have the resources they need to thrive. The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation proves daily that philanthropy plays a vital role in achieving greater equity and justice alongside communities across our state,” said Anil. “I admire the Foundation team’s capacity to listen deeply. In this age of trauma, they use their power to heal and inspire optimism. I’m humbled to contribute to the Foundation’s efforts during this critical time.”

A recent graduate of the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program, Anil was also selected as a member of the 2020 Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School. He earned a master’s of business administration from the University of Minnesota Curtis L. Carlson School of Management and a bachelor’s of science from Northwestern University.

Anil has served on the boards of World Savvy, The Coalition of Asian American Leaders, East Side Funders Group, the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, and Achieve Minneapolis. His writing has appeared in MinnPost, Education Week, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Star Tribune and the Boston Globe Magazine.