Blandin Foundation Receives Ubuntu Leadership Award
Minnesota Council on Foundations honor recognizes sustained, organization-wide commitment to creating space for community voices in shaping rural community futures
Key points
- The Minnesota Council on Foundations selected Blandin Foundation as one of three organizational recipients of its 2026 Ubuntu Leadership Award.
- Now in its second year, the award honors leaders and organizations that embody the African philosophy of ubuntu, meaning “I am because we are.”
- The recognition reflects Blandin Foundation’s sustained commitment to working with rural communities, combining community knowledge with philanthropic resources and creating space for many voices to shape what comes next.
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — The Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) has recognized Blandin Foundation with a 2026 Ubuntu Leadership Award, honoring the Foundation’s sustained, organization-wide work to advance equity, belonging, diversity and inclusion in philanthropy and rural communities.
Blandin Foundation was one of three organizational honorees and six recipients overall. The award was presented July 24 during the inaugural Ubuntu Leadership Summit in Duluth. This is only the second year MCF has presented the award.
The award takes its name from the African philosophy of ubuntu, often expressed as “I am because we are.” It recognizes a way of leading rooted in community, connection and shared humanity. These principles align closely Blandin Foundation’s belief that meaningful rural work is done with rural people and places, not to them or for them. “Ubuntu, to us, is a rural way of thriving, where relationships are the roots that hold us steady as seasons change,” said Tuleah Palmer, president and CEO of Blandin Foundation. “Belonging in a rural place is not a statement but a practice, one that has to keep expanding to hold all of who we are and who we’re becoming. It is shaped by persistence, humility and the courage to face hard truths and grow through them. ‘I am because we are.’ We do not endure alone.”
Palmer continued: “It lives in how we invest in one another, how we listen, how we share power, and how we make space for many voices to shape what comes next, returning to one another, again and again, as the work evolves.”
Community knowledge at the center
The recognition comes as Blandin Foundation continues refining its strategic approach, grounded in the central belief that rural people are not objects of philanthropy butagents in their own places. The Foundation’s role is to bring community knowledge together with philanthropic tools intentionally, and continue learning as conditions change.
That approach begins with the change a community is working to create, rather than with a predetermined program or solution. Blandin Foundation uses grantmaking, leadership development, convening, policy work and investment capital to strengthen the relationships, local institutions and systems that help rural communities shape decisions, resources and their own futures.
For Blandin Foundation, equity and belonging are a core aspect of rural community development, reflected in who participates, whose experiences shape decisions and whether communities have the relationships, capacity and resources to create durable change. “We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, tending the fire they lit. Not just to keep it alive, but to strengthen its light so those who come next can gather, lead and carry it forward,” Palmer said.
More information about the 2026 Ubuntu Leadership Award and honorees is available from the Minnesota Council on Foundations.
Blandin Foundation staff and trustees gather with the Minnesota Council on Foundation’s 2026 Ubuntu Leadership Award. The award recognizes the Foundation’s sustained organizational commitment to advancing equity, belonging, diversity and inclusion. Photo courtesy of Blandin Foundation.