A national network of funders supporting strategic, innovative, and effective solutions to homelessness

Brian Paulson

Senior Program Officer, Pohlad Family Foundation

Funders Together Board Member

 

Image of Elisa Harrigan

Brian joined the Pohlad Family Foundation as senior program officer in 2014. He directs the Foundation’s grantmaking strategies and their effectiveness; strategic partnerships; and community engagement.

Brian has 20 years of experience in the social sector, having served children and families living in poverty through direct practice, developing and managing programs, and grantmaking. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master’s from the University of Minnesota School of Social Work with a concentration on Community Practice.

Brian also serves in a variety of local leadership roles, such as board member (past chair) of Heading Home Minnesota Funders Collaborative; past chair of Workforce Matters; and advisor on workforce development strategies in Minnesota’s Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.


Showing 1 reaction

  • Jack Zhang
    published this page in Board 2024-04-24 12:54:05 -0400

We joined Funders Together because we believe in the power of philanthropy to play a major role in ending homelessness, and we know we have much to learn from funders across the country.

-Christine Marge, Director of Housing and Financial Stability at United Way of Greater Los Angeles

I am thankful for the local partnerships here in the Pacific Northwest that we’ve been able to create and nurture thanks to the work of Funders Together. Having so many of the right players at the table makes our conversations – and all of our efforts – all the richer and more effective.

-David Wertheimer, Deputy Director at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Very often a lack of jobs and money is not the cause of poverty, but the symptom. The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, in a lack of education and training, in a lack of medical care and housing, in a lack of decent communities in which to live and bring up their children.

-President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964 State of the Union Address

Funders Together has given me a platform to engage the other funders in my community. Our local funding community has improved greatly to support housing first models and align of resources towards ending homelessness.

-Leslie Strnisha, Vice President at Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland

Our family foundation convenes local funders and key community stakeholders around strategies to end homelessness in Houston. Funders Together members have been invaluable mentors to us in this effort, traveling to our community to share their expertise and examples of best practices from around the nation.

-Nancy Frees Fountain, Managing Director at The Frees Foundation


Sign in with Facebook, Twitter or email.