Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation, is a leader and a change agent with a passion for co-creating an equitable, sustainable world. In 2021, she became president of the McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation that advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive.

The Foundation grants approximately $100 million annually in support of equitable communities, a clean energy economy, global food systems, artists and culture bearers, and innovative neuroscience research. In 2022, Tonya helped launch the GroundBreak Coalition, an ambitious, multi-sector effort to close wealth gaps in Minneapolis-St. Paul. In 2023, GroundBreak announced nearly $1 billion in early commitments towards its goals, which Inside Philanthropy called the “fundraising success story of the year.”

Tonya is a philanthropic, civic, and thought leader, leveraging her position to create significant, systemic change. She is the co-chair of the President’s Council on Impact Investing and serves on corporate and nonprofit boards, including Sun Communities, the GHR Foundation, Women Presidents Organization Minnesota, and Greater MSP.