Meet Our Board of Directors: Joe Donnelly

Meet Our Board of Directors series is an invitation for supporters and friends of Aim Higher Foundation to meet the talented and dedicated individuals who give so much of themselves to the students and families we serve.

Joe Donnelly (right), Aim Higher Foundation Board Member, delivers scholarship support to Ascension Catholic School.

Meet Mr. Joe Donnelly.  Joe has served on Aim Higher Foundation’s Board of Directors since January 2022. Prior to his election as a Director, Joe served on the Board’s Committees, beginning in 2019.  Ricky Austin, Aim Higher Foundation President notes, “Joe’s contributions are evident in all areas – Scholarship, Governance, Finance, and Fundraising – but most of all his heart is at the center of our mission. Joe is ‘all in.’ He has a deep and genuine care for the families we serve.”

Joe retired as Director of Operations for 3M’s Medical Solutions Division Laboratory after 41 years with the company. He is currently writing a non-fiction book. Joe lives in Minneapolis with his wife Becky Thorson. They have three adult children and six young grandchildren spread between Saint Paul and Pamplona, Spain.

Joe has been involved in charitable and community work in the Twin Cities for more than thirty years, serving on various boards and organizations. For fifteen years he led a meal-prep team at Catholic Charities’ Glenwood Residence, serving those with severe alcohol use disorder, and he worked tirelessly to create an ‘undercroft’ at the Basilica, a safe and welcoming environment for people needing social services.

Joe chose to add the Aim Higher Foundation to his repertoire of community causes because he cares deeply about educational opportunities for disadvantaged members of our community. He shares, “I believe all children should have the right to quality education, regardless of their zip code and that parents should have the ability to choose which school is best for their child. Furthermore, I believe all children, especially young children, benefit from being taught morals, values, and spirituality in the classroom. I have been impressed with the teachers and staff I have met at Twin Cities Catholic Schools, and how so many of them view their roles as a calling, as well as a profession.”

Through his lens as a former operations executive, Joe is impressed with the rigorous financial standards and practices of the Aim Higher Foundation. “The organization is very well managed, with clear financial metrics that are closely tracked and consistently met.  The integrity of the team is rock solid, and this is reflected in how well Aim Higher’s budget and finances are controlled. An exemplary amount of each donor dollar goes to directly help families access the schools the parents believe are best for their children.”

The future is bright! 

Joe points out that the growth trajectory for the number of scholarships Aim Higher provides has been extraordinary. There is great positive momentum. In looking to the future, Joe hopes that Aim Higher can help engender a virtuous loop where more students are able to attend Catholic schools, further increasing the vitality of the schools, driving more enrollment and educational excellence. Like many who embrace the mission, Joe sees the Aim Higher Foundation to be the leading school choice organization for K-8 students in the Twin Cities, a recognition that Joe feels should drive even more growth.  He hopes that both the number of students served by the Aim Higher Foundation and the size of the scholarships awarded will increase in coming years, helping more families achieve the educational dreams they have for their children.

When Joe visits the local Catholic schools, he loves to see the immediate impact of the Aim Higher Foundation’s mission – happy children in their uniforms getting excellent rounded, educations. The positive energy in the schools is inspiring to him. “I am proud to be a part of an organization which is making such a positive difference – now and in future —for children, their families, and our community.”