Powerful Purpose
Mission
Core Values
AGING WITH DIGNITY
We value the inherent worth of older people and how their insights and experiences contribute to Minnesota’s social fabric and vitality
EQUITY AT THE CENTER
We value efforts that center equity, ensuring all people have an equal right to be full participants in all spheres of life as we age
STRENGTH IN SOLIDARITY
We value collective power, built on authentic relationships, trust, transparency, and a willingness to mobilize together to amplify impact
SPIRIT OF POSSIBILITY
We value the continuous pursuit of wisdom through listening, learning, and broadening our thinking, while embracing possibility as a driving force for change
Organizing Strategies
STRONG RELATIONSHIPS
We build trusted connections that bring forward and center the full diversity of voices aging across our state.
POWERFUL CONVENINGS
We cultivate understanding, forge consensus, co-design solutions, and learn together.
SYSTEMS CHANGE
We mobilize collective expertise and networks to develop and advance transformational aging policy and initiatives.
Our Story
2004
In an effort to elevate the advocacy voice of home and community-based services, leadership from the Minnesota Senior Federation, Volunteers of America MN and the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging invited large non-profits primarily based in the twin cities as well as statewide organizations to the table.
2005
We started working on our first mission, to "coalesce the resources and power of consumer, advocacy, social and health service organizations, to advocate boldly and achieve positive systems change for older adults and their families in Minnesota." We also began working on the Blueprint to Rebalance Long-Term Care.
2006
While digging in to the Long Term Care Invesment Study, we embarked on a Living the Questions project to increase awareness of aging across several sectors, including higher education, faith-based organizations, the business community, workforce organizations, foundations, civic engagement organizations and others.
2007-2009
During these early years, our members engaged in a number of community engagement efforts, such as Listening to Leaders sessions, shared legislative advocacy for the Community Care Act (2007-2008) and helped to successfully pass Communities for a Lifetime (2009).
Throughout our first decade, our strong member leadership built trusted working relationships and gained the respect of policymakers. To build on our early effectiveness, we strategically started growing our ranks in the late 2000's to include additional healthcare leaders and the strong associations in our state.
2013
Moving our shared work to a new level, Mary Lenard was selected as our first Executive Director. Having served as Director of Aging Programs at the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Association MN-ND Chapter, she went on to be Co-Founder of the Giving Voice Initiative.
2015
Under Mary's leadership, we finalized Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and received our 501(c)(3) designation before Rajean Moone was selected as our second Executive Director. A respected leader in the aging sector, he served five years and is currently our Delegate representing the University of Minnesota.
We also embraced a revised mission, to "create communities and systems that support aging with dignity and a spirit of well-being in Minnesota" and adopted core strategies focused on systems integration, health equity, caregivers and workforce, communities for a lifetime, and organizational strength.
2016
We launched a five-year Emerging Leaders in Aging Network project and selected Alana Wright as our Director of Equity and Operations. She served more than five years before transitioning to a Delegate role, as Executive Director of the Minnesota Gerontological Society.
2017
Entering a new phase of planning and development, we also formalized policies and procedures, positioning for growth and diversification. We updated our Bylaws to their current state, grew to 25 members, and worked on the MN 2030 project.
2018
Growing our membership to 30, we began operationalizing our equity work and thanks to philanthropic support from the St. Paul & Minnesota, Mardag, and Bigelow foundations, we began to elevate missing voices by establishing the Aging Together Minnesota project and the Minnesota Diverse Elders Coalition.
2019
We welcomed the Finish Strong Funders Network in Aging to affiliate under our banner and continued to diversify our ranks by welcoming four organizations bringing perspectives from LGBTQ, Vietnamese, Latine, and African American communities along with census mobilization efforts focused on older Minnesotans.
At our 2019 Summit in St. Paul, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed Executive Order 19-38
establishing the
Age-Friendly Minnesota Council.
2020
Adam Suomala was selected as the third Executive Director just as the pandemic reshaped our work and community engagement, pivoting to advocate in new ways, focused on vaccination efforts, the Blue Ribbon Commission and a Virtual Summit for Improving Health Equity for Minnesota's Older Adults.
2021
In an effort to create a shared agenda for aging in Minnesota, we convened the AGEnda project, alongside the Minnesota Board on Aging and Age-Friendly Minnesota Council. We focused on equity programming, such as Foundations for Change: Evaluating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Home and Community Based Services and Thriving Diverse Elders: Effective Communiation Strategies.
2022
Chao Yang was selected as our Director of Equity and Engagement to enhance our work creating diverse, equitable and inclusive communities in which to age. We offered From Microaggressions to Inclusion, a Leaders in Aging IDI Cohort, and worked with the Department of Human Services on Closing the Gaps in the 2022 Needs Assessment. We also conducted our first Combating Ageism training and Diversity Matrix.
2023
We launched Aging 101 for lawmakers and legislative staff, trained leaders through Age-Friendly Advocacy and Media Strategies and Storytelling for Change sessions, and endorsed a record 13 legislative solutions - all of which saw material passage in the 2023 Legislative Session. We offered A Pragmatic Approach for Building Strong Community Partnerships on community engagement and Catalyst Conversations series.
2024
Kate Seng was selected to serve as Co-Convener of the
Finish Strong Funders Network in Aging. We also partnered to bring forward Reframe Aging Minnesota, a state focus to the national long-term social change endeavor. Celebrating our 20th year, our
2024 Summit convened under a theme of EMPOWER and included the release of
Minnesota's Multisector Blueprint for Aging.
2025
Building on our 20 year history, we adopted a new strategic framework, including a revised mission of
"Uniting leaders to advance equitable opportunities for all Minnesotans as we age" as well as refreshed
values and
strategies. In addition,
four new member organizations were welcomed into the organization.
With Appreciation
Along the way in our shared journey the work of our Delegates and staff have been helped by several state leaders, volunteers, contractors and interns - each of whom has offered generously their gifts and contributions to advancing our work. We offer special recognition to:
