The St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation announced Tuesday that its board of directors has selected a new leader for the organization.

After a national search, the board has selected Chanda Smith Baker, who has more than 25 years of executive, leadership and philanthropic experience, to serve as its next president and CEO, the foundation announced.

“I was raised by family and parents who were very much about community,” Smith Baker told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. “Community is what you invest in. You don’t move away from it, you invest in it.”

Smith Baker has held roles including chief impact officer at the Minneapolis Foundation, CEO of Pillsbury United Communities and served on boards for Allina Health, the Joyce Foundation and as a trustee at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota.She also helped launch the Black Collective Foundation MN, the state’s first Black community foundation, and North Market, a full-service community grocery store and wellness center in Minneapolis.

Most recently, she led her own leadership company, called Smith Baker, that offers business solutions like executive coaching, strategic consulting and community engagement initiatives.

Past clients of Smith Baker include Treasure Island Resort and Casino; the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which seeks to end discriminatory jailing and pays pre-trial bail and immigration bonds for those who can’t afford it; and the St. Paul-based Sanneh Foundation, which aims to empower youth through access to education, programming and resources.

Smith Baker said one of the St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s guiding principles especially resonates with her: Community is a compass.

The Foundation

Since its inception in 1940 following the Great Depression, the St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation has given out nearly $2 billion, making it the largest community foundation in the state.

To put it simply, a community foundation gathers funds to invest into organizations in a particular geographic area. The St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation carries this out by partnering with donors, nonprofit organizations and offering grants.

In 2024, the foundation and its partners gave out more than 9,400 grants totaling $210 million to 3,444 organizations. Nonprofits that received funds last year include Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul, the Rondo Center of Diverse Expressions, the Housing Justice Center, and Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging, to name a few.

“A community foundation has the honor to facilitate relationships across geography, across class, across issue areas of importance — all in service to doing good,” Smith Baker said.

The foundation has also been at the forefront of initiatives like GiveMN, a first-of-its-kind website that launched in 2009 that gave Minnesotans a simple way to donate to their favorite causes.

“I love the dynamic nature and agility of community foundations,” she said, as they give “the opportunity to support things that are part of a legacy, but also to invest in new opportunities. I could not be more honored, this feels like a perfect fit.”

‘Quite a legacy’

Eric J. Jolly, the current president of the foundation, announced his retirement earlier this year after a decade at the helm of the organization.

During his tenure, Jolly oversaw the 2020 merger between the St. Paul Foundation and the Minnesota Community Foundation, helped launch the organization’s 2025 strategic plan and reinforced the foundation’s commitment to generosity, equity and investing in community-led solutions.

“Dr. Jolly has created quite a legacy and I am grateful for all he has done and his continued partnership,” Smith Baker said. “I see Dr. Jolly as being a great confidant, a person that will provide historical context to support me as I move into the role.”

Jolly plans to remain in Minnesota once retired and will continue to serve the community through his involvement with organizations including Augsburg College, National Academy of Engineering and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, according to his retirement announcement.

“The Foundation’s vital work will not just continue, it will undoubtedly flourish under Chanda’s leadership,” Jolly said in the release. “I’ve long admired her ability to work in collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders to create enduring solutions and outcomes. Her distinguished career, bridging sectors and geographies, illustrates her embodiment of the Foundation’s central value: Community is our compass.”

Smith Baker is expected to begin her new role Aug. 25.