Client Spotlight: Partnership Development
The team at Michael Anderson Consulting would like to congratulate The Food Group and Hunger Solutions Minnesota on their recent partnership. These two powerhouses for food access and systems change officially joined forces in March 2024.
Our team was delighted to facilitate this partnership development process. One particular highlight was supporting the Joint Committee in creating a vision to integrate the two groups’ direct services and policy advocacy work—and then aligning the staffing structure to achieve this vision.
“The Michael Anderson Consulting team made sure that our vision for the partnership was front and center in all conversations, whether it was in a Joint Committee negotiating session, an all staff change preparedness session, or in finalizing every last detail as the critical liaison with our legal counsel.”-Sophia Lenarz-Coy, Executive Director, The Food Group Committee members understood that for this partnership to achieve its greatest potential, it would be vitally important to connect direct services staff and program participants with its public policy agenda and advocacy efforts. Designing the org chart was a key to making this happen. We prioritized retaining existing team members and leveraging their deep experience, which included creating a new leadership position for Director of Policy and Community Engagement.
Already, in the 2024 state legislative session, all TFG programs are engaging more directly with the policy team and advocacy activities than ever before.
“We were grateful that Michael Anderson Consulting helped us plan the transition so that all our programming could continue uninterrupted. It’s very exciting that we’re in a stronger position now to deepen the connection between our programs and our advocacy role, so that policy is always informed by what’s happening on the ground and in people’s lives.”-Sophia Lenarz-Coy, Executive Director, The Food Group The Food Group has been dedicated to equitable food access for almost 50 years. Its food bank program provides quality and culturally connected foods to more than 180 community partners each year to relieve hunger. It also champions affordable food through a mobile program serving the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota that sells groceries at reasonable prices. And it supports just food systems by providing land and resources for local farmers to learn sustainable practices, grow organic foods, and build strong businesses.
Hunger Solutions Minnesota serves as a tireless advocate, working with the state and the federal government, to identify and advance long-term solutions to hunger. It also operates a range of direct programs. It supports the local emergency food system by helping more than 250 member food shelves to distribute food and funds. It also administers the Market Bucks program that gives SNAP customers greater access to fresh fruit and vegetables sold at farmers markets, and runs the Minnesota Food Helpline connecting residents with food resources.
Click the button below to donate or learn more about The Food Group and Hunger Solutions.
"While the eight-month exploration process at times felt like a lift, we have been amazed during our first two months of integration that no surprises have come up. The team’s thorough approach to partnership negotiation uncovered pain points well in advance, giving us more than enough time to anticipate and solve them."-Sophia Lenarz-Coy, Executive Director, The Food Group
