Jane Leonard

Jane Leonard is a nationally known community development leader who works with and across diverse sectors, disciplines, and geographies to help people and places thrive, rural and urban together. She is the recently retired president of Growth & Justice and was Minnesota’s first broadband infrastructure grants administrator, completing a circle she began a generation ago on the multi-sector Access Minnesota team that brought the first Internet connections to Minnesota counties. In between, Jane led various rural and community leadership development efforts including those at Minnesota Rural Partners and the Bush Foundation. She is a board member for Lead for Minnesota, ServeMinnesota, the MN American Community Survey, and chairs the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation board. Jane is also a 4th-generation steward of their family’s farm in Central Minnesota with her siblings and cousins. You can read more about her life’s work and service as a collaboration catalyst at https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeeleonard.