Someone looks at their community and thinks: I could do something.
A neighbor needs food. A family needs support. A challenge feels too big to solve. Then, someone imagines what could be different.
That’s where possibility starts.
The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s Power of Possible storytelling effort celebrates people, organizations, and communities across Minnesota turning possibility into action.
We’re asking a simple question: What’s your Power of Possible?
For former attorney Diane Krueger and bestselling Minnesota author William Kent Krueger, possibility begins with hope. Diane has long been passionate about environmental issues, while her relationship with the Foundation has broadened her view of where giving can make a difference.
“There are possibilities. There are alternatives, and there are people out there and organizations out there that see those alternatives and possibilities and work for them.” — Diane Krueger
That belief also shapes how the Kruegers give. Through the Foundation, they’ve supported causes ranging from environmental issues to housing and rapid-response efforts, and discovered opportunities they might never have found on their own. As Kent says, “Do we give enough? We always ask ourselves that.”
At the heart of the Power of Possible are people who see what could be different, and work to make it happen.
For Michelle Bellanca, CEO and co-founder of Claros Technologies, that meant pursuing something experts told her couldn’t be done. Claros developed technology to permanently destroy PFAS—often called “forever chemicals”— in water. When others said the technology wouldn’t work, Bellanca and her team kept going. The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation became one of Claros’ earliest investors, providing not only funding but credibility that helped bring others to the table.
“People will walk through fire and do the impossible for a community that believes in them.” — Michelle Bellanca
Today, Bellanca says PFAS contamination is solvable—and Claros is proving it.
These stories may look different, but they share something important: people who see what could be and act on it.
For Emilia González Avalos of Unidos MN, one of the Foundation’s nonprofit partners, possibility is collective: “The power of possible is the power of people.”
For Mary K. Boyd, a fundholder at the Foundation, it’s about what we can accomplish together: “Together we can work and make things happen.”
And for Elsa Vega Pérez, founder of El Fondo Boricua, a donor advised fund at the Foundation, possibility is practical: “I don’t think I have ever seen something that did not have a means to be corrected.”
At the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, we’ve seen how generosity can help move those possibilities forward—through a gift, a connection or bringing the right people together.
The Power of Possible is an invitation to see what could be different and act.
What possibility do you see in your community?
We want to hear your story.
What’s your Power of Possible?
Tell us at spmcf.org/POP.
