WFM Leadership Celebration

Program

More details to come.

Event Schedule

Networking Reception: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Program & Lunch: 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Mingling: 1:30 – 2 p.m.

Venue Map

More details to come.

Menu

More details to come.

Accessibility

• There are several handicap parking spaces in the garage and wheelchairs are available.
• The Westminster space is fully ADA accessible, with wheelchair accessible spaces, entrances, and restrooms.
• Live captioning will be available during the event.
• Attendees will have access to both a nursing parent room and a prayer/wellness room. Please see Westminster or WFM staff for more information on how to locate these spaces.
• Gender neutral restrooms are available on the same level as Westminster Hall.
• For those requiring large print programs, we’ll have hard copies available in addition to the ability to read the program on a mobile device using a link to this event landing page.

Parking & Transportation

• Parking: Free parking is available for all event guests in Westminster’s underground parking facility. The entrance to the parking structure is between Nicollet Mall and Marquette Avenue on Alice Rainville Place: enter “95-99 Alice Rainville Pl, Minneapolis, MN 55403” into your GPS. Once you’re in the garage, enter the event venue through the set of glass doors; look for signage welcoming you to the event. You can either take the stairs or the elevator up to Westminster Hall.
• Overflow Parking: If we’re at capacity, there’s a chance the Westminster Ramp will fill up before the start of our event. Please arrive early to secure a guaranteed free parking spot at Westminster. If the ramp is full, and you’re looking for overflow parking, we recommend the 11th and Marquette Parking Ramp, which is located at 1111 S Marquette Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403 (.1 mile from Westminster Hall and a 3-minute walk). Please see the City of Minneapolis’ parking website for more information and parking rates at https://www.mplsparking.com/parking-rates.
• Biking: The parking facility also offers space to store bicycles.
• Drop Off: If you’d like to get dropped off, there is a drop-off area off Marquette Avenue on the east side of the building. 
• Public Transportation: The closest bus stops are 19334 and 17986. You can plan your trip using the Metro Transit website.

We are honoring our 2026 Mary Lee Dayton Catalyst for Change Awardees, Sandra L. Vargas and Ellen O’Neill. More information to come.

Lulete Mola

Lulete Mola has been organizing communities to advance racial and gender justice since the age of 15. A social change strategist with a proven track record of building impactful initiatives and organizations, Lulete serves as the president and co-founder of the Black Collective Foundation MN. She has led the Collective in distributing more than $3.3 million through community-led grantmaking, producing nationally recognized research, and launching MN LEAD, Minnesota’s first initiative to proactively defend race-conscious programs and policies. Lulete’s work has been published in national media outlets, and she has received national recognition for her leadership. She is a 2020 Aspen Institute SOAR Fellow, a 2022 Facing Race Award recipient, a 2023 Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Women in Business honoree, and a member of the 2025 Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School. 

Lulete’s bold vision has shaped and created key programs at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFM). For example, Lulete is credited with the concept and development of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) Innovators’ program. Lulete joined WFM as an intern in 2013, becoming a Dr. Reatha Clark King Fellow in 2014. Later, she returned to WFM and held roles leading WFM’s Community Impact and Strategy & Innovation teams from 2017-2021. Lulete first pitched the Innovators’ program while interviewing to become WFM’s Director of Community Impact. After her interview, Lulete took the idea from concept to a program that funds the vision, entrepreneurial spirit, and leadership of young women and gender-expansive people in Minnesota. Since its inception in 2018, the Innovators program has funded the dreams of more than 116 young people through 148 grants totaling $377,000. Eight women’s foundations across the country now replicate the Innovators’ program, demonstrating the resonance and success of Lulete’s concept. Lulete co-founded the Black Collective Foundation during her tenure at WFM. The Collective is Minnesota’s first Black community foundation and a leader in the worldwide movement for Black-led change.

Julie Corty

Julie Corty is a storyteller, philanthropist, and longtime feminist. She has always had a deep curiosity about others’ lives, taking up both journalism and psychology as a result. In the late 1970s, Julie became an editor for two publications: Twin Cities Woman and the Minnesota Women’s Yearbook. She found meaning in sharing the accomplishments of women who faced huge barriers to success at the time. 

Julie has meaningfully supported the Women‘s Foundation of Minnesota for over 30 years. She has generously volunteered her journalism talents to help strengthen the Foundation’s communications and new initiatives. For example, Julie wrote grantee stories for WFM’s print newsletter, Equality Update, and contributed to initial documents for the Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) program. In addition to writing and editing support, Julie made a gift to support the launch of the YWI program, believing strongly in the power of movements led by and for young people. After attending a YWI listening session with WFM, Julie reported feeling in awe of participants’ ideas for advancing economic justice and seeing future leaders at work. 

In 2012, WFM was invited by the African Women’s Development Fund to meet with women driving social and economic change in Africa, a trip Julie described as a life-changing experience. The experience inspired Julie to help create the Madada Fund at WFM in 2016 to resource and support international women’s foundations in a global sisterhood of giving and progress for change. Julie has also contributed to WFM through board service and as a transformational supporter with a giving record spanning three decades. Julie’s consistency, optimism, and unwavering commitment to systems change have made a lasting impact on the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. 

More details to come.

Thank you to our incredible sponsors whose generous support makes tonight’s celebration possible. Their contributions allow us to share the meaningful stories you’ll hear this evening and showcase how our Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) continues to impact women, girls, and gender-expansive people across Minnesota. We are grateful for their partnership in advancing our mission.

Changemaker Sponsor

Advocate Sponsor

More details to come.

More details to come.