LEAD Project grows up

When the Leadership Emergence and Development Project (LEAD) started in 2006, eight people in their 20s and early 30s wanted to get their generation active in the local philanthropic community.

Three years later, they've thrown a dozen fundraisers, raised $100,000 for Twin Cities organizations, placed 150 young people on nonprofit boards and helped groups such as the Minnesota Zoo and the Science Museum of Minnesota set up their own young professional groups. "Our biggest accomplishment is raising the level of discourse," said president and founding member Matt Hemsley. Now the original crew is ready to move on.

However, they've started a movement worth passing along, so they decided to select a new board and celebrated at a Holiday Ball at the Minneapolis Club on Dec. 5.

With oversized glittering snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, about 300 young professionals in cocktail attire gathered to raise funds for and awareness about the Children's Dental Services, a 90-year-old nonprofit that provides oral health care to children from low-income families statewide.

Prominent figures have been regular guests at LEAD events, including former Vice President Walter Mondale, former Sen. Mark Dayton, Bill George, Marilyn Carlson Nelson and Rep. Jim Ramstad. This time, former Sen. Norm Coleman attended and addressed the crowd. "The Minneapolis Club looks very different, and the average age has dropped considerably," he said, adding that he's impressed by LEAD. "In this community, we're blessed to have a group that's so involved."

Finding a new board to continue the mission was taken very seriously. Members received 70 applications and interviewed 20 people, whom Hemsley believes are up to sustaining the legacy. "They are very accomplished, Type A, huge achievers," he said. "We were founded on the premise of being socially innovative. We've gotten older and, introspectively, we realized there is a whole new generation who we can now tap into."

Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177