Oct. 10 marked the launch of a new Minnesota Senior Federation. We’re new in the sense that we have moved from eight separate entities to a single, centralized association with a new set of bylaws and a new board of directors. 

This shift follows some 34 years of separation into regional entities and a good deal of assessment and planning. Ultimately, a combination of financial deficits, declining memberships, lack of foundation and corporate support and program inconsistencies led to the change - a change that promises to breathe new vitality, growth and deserved successes as we move forward into the future.

The planning process began more than five years ago when MnSF began to explore the merits of restructuring into a more effective and efficient body capable of attracting new and younger members while sustaining current membership.  Work has continued and intensified over the past 12 months. A group of members and staff leaders joined forces to map a single organizational structure that preserves the grassroots quality, the statewide footprint and acceptable governance and fiscal responsibility. This initiative concluded in a unanimous vote of the regions to dissolve their organizational corporate nonprofit entities in favor of a state-wide organization.