4 Bush Foundation grant recipients hail from Twin Cities

Bush Foundation recipients, from left, Trista Harris, Jennifer Almanza, Sarah Bellamy and Kashif Saroya

Trista Harris will travel from her hometown of Burnsville to California's Silicon Valley and the think tanks of Washington, D.C., to discuss the future of philanthropy.

Futurism isn't a new art, but tapping current trends to chart the destiny of the nonprofit industry is, and Harris -- the president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations -- will be at the forefront, thanks in large part to a grant of up to $100,000 from the Bush Foundation.

The St. Paul-based Bush Foundation was established in 1953 by 3M Co. executive Archibald Bush and his wife, Edith. For 50 years, the foundation has awarded sizable grants to residents of Minnesota and the Dakotas who have already enriched their community and aim to take their leadership skills to the next level.

The foundation on Tuesday was to announce 23 recipients of its 2015 Bush Fellows program. Chosen from among 625 applicants, each grant winner will receive up to $100,000 and 24 months to further his or her leadership abilities through formal education or self-guided research. The leadership fellowship is considered one of the most flexible of its kind in the country.

"It's a leadership development program, but we allow the fellows to articulate what they need to increase their leadership capacity and then provide them the resources to make it happen," foundation spokesman Dominick Washington said.

The fellowship does not require recipients to take time off from work, but many do.

"Some people stay on their job," Washington said.

In addition to Harris, three other Bush Fellows hail from the Twin Cities east metro area.

Jennifer Almanza of Inver Grove Heights will use her Bush Fellowship to pursue a doctorate of nursing practice in midwifery. Almanza researched the birthing experience of women living on the Leech Lake Reservation in north-central Minnesota and served as an instructor and charge nurse in the Regions Hospital Birth Center.

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4 Bush Foundation grant recipients hail from Twin Cities