Paul Bachleitner

Hear My Name

he/him/his

Communications Director

Joined Northwest Area Foundation: April 2014

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“The need to bridge difference and to create belonging and inclusion is one of the primary needs of our time, and some of our biggest tools to do so are the narratives we create through the stories we tell and how we demonstrate both when we engage with each other.” — Paul

Paul has been the Foundation’s communications director since he joined the organization. His role includes the need to constantly build bridges, whether between one person and another or between one way of understanding to another. Good storytelling and relationship building is at the heart of his vision for making change.

He pursues this vision by providing cross-departmental leadership at the executive level, launching and leading coordinated communications campaigns, and leading purpose-driven strategy in messaging and across digital platforms.

Paul is a leader and collaboration partner who’s helped advance change for 25 years in various leadership roles with nonprofits and in philanthropy—at local, regional, and national levels. This includes his work prior to joining the Foundation as a member of the D5 Coalition’s leadership team and the first-ever director of the Joint Affinity Groups (now CHANGE Philanthropy), a coalition of national grantmaking professionals who integrate diversity, inclusion, and justice into philanthropic practice.

He’s currently a member of the Minnesota Council of Foundations’ Membership and DEI committees. Three transformational, yearlong fellowships within philanthropy helped shape his approach toward change: the Council on Foundations (COF) Career Pathways program, the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) Connecting Leaders Fellowship, and the COF Bridging Differences Leadership Cohort.

Paul is a cum laude graduate from Harvard University and also has a nonprofit leadership and management leadership credential from Harvard University’s Kennedy School Executive Education.

As an active creative writer, Paul has had his work short- and long-listed in national competitions. His writing has appeared in publications for the 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) and the Loft Literary Center.

Above all, Paul is proudest of his roles as a devoted husband and as a father to his 12-year-old son.