Margie Jo Eun Joo Andreason

Hear My Name

she/her/hers

Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion Director

Joined Northwest Area Foundation: July 2011

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“If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” — Toni Morrison

Margie, a first-generation immigrant, arrived in the US as a toddler from Korea. She has over 15 years of experience working in philanthropy and nonprofits and leading grassroots community-organizing efforts. Her experiences fuel her conviction that a small group of people can make a difference and that there is power in standing up for your values.

At the Foundation, Margie manages justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) efforts, weaving JEDI into NWAF’s practices, policies, and culture. She interacts with all levels of the Foundation: leading and managing a steering committee of staff members, engaging the board, and working closely with the senior leadership team to ensure organizational alignment and top-level support. In addition, she is committed to contributing learnings, tools, and resources externally and she regularly champions JEDI efforts in the field.

Previously, she worked on the National Gender and Equity Campaign for Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), which aimed to build organizational capacity for social justice in Asian-led nonprofits in Minnesota and California. In addition, she’s served on a number of volunteer boards and committees in the Twin Cities: the Coalition of Asian American Leaders, AAPIP’s Minnesota chapter, Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, Pan-Asian Voices for Equity (PAVE-MN), Community Action Against Racism, Headwaters Foundation for Justice, and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota.

She has a bachelor’s in social work and political science from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and a master’s in public affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Given her deep passion for adoptee justice, Margie is active in the transracial adoptee community and she volunteers for Network of Politicized Adoptees, a group she helped found in 2011. You will also see her taking photos of food, Yelp-ing about said food, and spending as much time as possible outside in nature with her family and their exceptionally adorable dog, Sammy.