Representing Dick and Diane Hanson’s family legacy and a partnership with 3M, the Foundation will award four scholarships to emerging leaders in Woodbury.

Woodbury, MN, August 15, 2014– In May, the Woodbury Community Foundation announced at its 10th Anniversary Gala, a 3-year, $3 million dollar Legacy Campaign to raise funds in support of Woodury’s future needs. To launch the campaign, the Horizon Fund for Innovation and Entrepreneurship was created with a $25,000 contribution by Dick and Diane Hanson and a $25,000 cash grant from Dick’s career employer, 3M. The fundamental purpose of the fund will be to position the Foundation as a pioneer leader in cross-sector collaboration, servant leadership development, resource leveraging, and measuring impact at the grass-roots level.

Dick Hanson, WCF Board Member and funder of the Horizon Fund says “Innovation is essential to performance improvement. But innovation without entrepreneurial spirit has no value. In the private sector, the best inventions and ideas are nothing without a customer who wants to buy them. Within any organization, private, public, or nonprofit, any new idea requires entrepreneurship to make a positive impact.”

At the core, the Horizon Fund is intended to inspire leaders in the Woodbury community to transform the leadership of their organizations by employing innovative, collaborative, and cutting edge strategies that are counter to the ‘business as usual’ mantra employed by many organizations.

On September 15th and 16th, the Foundation will be sending four leaders, currently working in the Woodbury community, to the Social Innovation Lab’s Leading Innovation Deep Dive Workshop. The workshop will focus on training techniques using approaches to collective innovation that are Collaborative, Experimental, and committed to Transformative Results. Participants will engage in powerful learning and strategizing about innovation and the impact on their work for their organization and will leave the training with tools to assess and spark innovation that leads to impact.

Applications will be accepted from leaders of community organizations, business and government in Woodbury who want to bring change to their organizations and face challenges within a new framework. Scholarship recipients will be asked to maintain a relationship with the Foundation and share how they implemented what they learned within their organization, and the resulting impact on how services are being delivered.

More information and the online scholarship application will be available on the Foundation’s website, www.woodburyfoundation.org, on August 22nd. Applications will be accepted until September 5th. Recipients will be notified by email or phone on September 8th.

The Woodbury Community Foundation helps local organizations fulfill their missions better by providing life-changing opportunities for residents. We build smart collaborations, provide key research to guide intervention, and create networks of donors and volunteers to support the needs of Woodbury residents long term. We are working toward “Well-being for all…for Woodbury.”

To apply for this scholarship, CLICK HERE.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Dick Hanson at 651-788-6586 or email at wcf@woodburyfoundation.org.