I’m writing today to share some really big news. After 12 years serving as TakeAction Minnesota’s founding Executive Director, I’ve decided that it is time for me to take my next step. This fall, I’ll transition out of my role. Our Board of Directors will begin a national search for a new Executive Director shortly – stay tuned for more news about that soon.
I’m tempted to tell you what an honor it’s been to serve the social justice movement in this role. But as you know, I believe we’re about more than duty or mere survival. We’re about joy. Like, actual real joy. It has been my honor and privilege to be a co-creator and steward of this organization. But really, it’s been my absolute, 100%, day-in day-out joy to be part of this work with so many of you. I mean that from my heart. Thank you.
Now it’s time for me to find my next role in our joyful movement. I don’t know what it is yet, and I am excited to figure out what it will be. What I do know is that my commitment to fighting the good fight won’t fade. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to spending a little more time on my skis and camping with my family.
I am confident that TakeAction Minnesota will grow even stronger through this transition because its greatest strength are the people who make this organization what it is. Our staff team is so talented, hardworking, fun, and capable. Our Board of Directors is solid, visionary, and rooted in our mission. Our allies who stand shoulder to shoulder with us are strong. Our members’ commitment to changing who decides and who benefits in our state does not waver. In this big election year, even with this leadership transition, we will not lose sight of the important work that lays ahead. TakeAction Minnesota will help elect our next progressive governor and turn the tide of our politics toward a future of hope and inclusion.
TakeAction Minnesota was created because something was missing from our movement. We needed a strong and dynamic place where people and organizations could connect. We needed a place where people could come together across the state from every race, gender, and economic background to dream bigger and do the practical work of organizing and campaigning. We needed to connect the urgent fights of today to a long-term strategy to make more possible for all of us, no exceptions.
Every day, I see TakeAction Minnesota do this important work in the Twin Cities, Duluth, St. Cloud, and communities across the state. We knock on your door or show up in your inbox. We offer big ideas that inspire concrete ways to make a difference, and opportunities to connect with neighbors and new friends. We support new leaders who want to step up, and new candidates who want to run for office. We convene and lead coalitions to win on issues that matter most and are rooted in shared values. Throughout, one simple idea has remained at our core: no one does it alone. We are our strongest when we work together.
Along the way, we have changed Minnesota – and our country – for the better. Because of our work together, we made the impossible possible when we protected voting rights and said NO to the photo ID amendment. Hundreds of thousands of low-income people now have the health care they need. People looking for work know they won’t be screened out of job applications because they have a criminal background. Tens of thousands of workers don’t have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of themselves or a loved one because we passed paid sick time in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and soon Duluth. We helped close $400 million in corporate tax loopholes and clawed back $100 million more from health insurers. Our Minnesota Future, a new alliance of people’s organizations that I was proud to help bring together, is committed to setting the agenda and changing our politics for the better, and TakeAction Minnesota will be at that table to move us towards a vision of a stronger, more equitable state.
In our society, we’re often told a story about what a ‘leader’ is. ‘Leaders’ stand alone and point the way. For too long, that person has been assumed to be a white, straight man (like me). At TakeAction Minnesota, we know this story is a myth. That’s not how we create change. The work I’m the proudest of has always been done in collaboration with others. All these accomplishments—and many others—are the result of the creativity, risks, grace, and leadership of many people working together. This is what makes TakeAction Minnesota strong and ready to start its next chapter.
Now, I’m not out the door yet and I still need your help. When you see the job posting for TakeAction Minnesota’s next Executive Director in a couple weeks, please read it. Yes, YOU. And if you’re up for the challenge—and joy—of a lifetime, apply or send it to someone who is ready.
With the deepest gratitude for 12 wonderful years (and several more months yet to come),
Dan McGrath
