Celebrating 25 Year of Your Charitable Foundation!

As we prepare to host a big anniversary - our 25th Annual Foundation Celebration – I want to talk a bit more about the legacy and ongoing work of our Charitable Foundation. Led by Executive Director Kathleen Lohmar Exel, our Foundation quietly goes about the business of leadership development and the advancement of DEI learning. All of this programming is aimed at investing in tomorrow’s leaders, creating leaders across the region who are all networked professionally to support one another and the Chamber’s work.​

On July 25 from 11 am to 1 pm at Hamline University, we’ll celebrate the Foundation's commitment to nurturing our workforce through initiatives such as the beloved Leadership Saint Paul program, now in its 44th year with over 2,500 alumni, and the  DEI Collaborative, an incredibly impactful cohort program that helps leaders dive deeper and create actionable change. 

A couple weeks ago we announced the HERBIE Award Winners: Bremer’s Erin Dady; the St. Paul Pioneer Press; and this year’s Inclusive Employer Champion, sponsored by Ramsey County, Blaze Credit Union. This is also a fundraiser for the work – register this week to join us!

Today I wanted to talk a bit more about the legacy and ongoing work of our Charitable Foundation.   Led by Executive Director Kathleen Lohmar Exel, our Foundation quietly goes about the business of leadership development and the advancement of DEI learning. All of this aimed at investing in tomorrow’s leaders, creating allies across the region all networked professionally to support one another and the Chamber’s work.

Here's a bit more background about your Chamber Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1976, intended to operate exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. The founding Board sought to commit the Foundation to prepare tomorrow’s employees. More specifically, for: the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding of economics, finance, education ad training, housing, human relations, science and technology, economic planning and development, international relations, and other subjects relating to economic growth and the improvement of employment opportunities.

The Foundation continues to stay true to the above statement through its mission: to make targeted investments to develop and support engaged leaders who enhance a vibrant East Metro business community.

What have we done over 48 years? To be sure, we have done all of it through and on behalf of you, our members:

• More than 2500 Leadership St. Paul graduates since the program’s inception in 1980. Each year, alumni fresh off their LSP experience volunteer their time and talents to plan the program for the next class. The evolution of the program provides the opportunity to use feedback from current classes and utilize that knowledge to transform the program the following program year. While the Leadership Saint Paul program continues to evolve, the core experience remains the same. Connecting leaders, cultivating skills and knowledge, and contributing to the vitality of the Saint Paul/East Metro region. 
• Some special HERBIE award winners in the past… HERBIE Awards inaugural year was 2004. Joan Grzywinski, of Grzywinski Management, was our first Individual HERBIE Award Winner. Frauenshuh, represented by David Frauenshuh, was our first Organizational HERBIE Award Winner.
• Scholarship program started in 2005 with 13 students each receiving $500. In 2007, $40K in scholarships to 40 students. Eventually, the scholarship program was retired, but the Foundation continued to support workforce development & education initiatives such as the City of St. Paul’s Right Track program and eventually the Chamber’s Career Connect event, now happening every fall.
• In 2020, after George Floyd’s murder and the resultant civil unrest: in partnership with the Midway Chamber of Commerce and the St. Paul Downtown Alliance, the Foundation established and administered the We Love St. Paul & We Love Midway Fund that raised and awarded $1.3M to help rebuild the Midway Business District and other damaged Saint Paul businesses. This fund invested in over 80 companies between 2020 and 2024, many of them immigrant and BIPOC-owned.  Of special note: the Fund was seeded with an initial donation of $50,000 from the James J. Hill Center, which was integrally important to having other funders come on board, including Travelers, who have given generous support to the effort. Likewise, over 800 individuals have donated to the effort. This fund and effort truly reflected individuals and businesses taking care of the affected organizations and small businesses. 
• In 2021, we the Foundation agreed to house and lead the DEI Collaborative, professionally facilitated cohort training intended to prepare leaders to lead ever more diverse organizations from a place of personal awareness and understanding.

See you in the trenches,

B