After four years spent overseeing large increases in donations and the founding of programs to attack social and racial inequities in Upper Midwest LGBT communities, Greg Grinley has announced he is stepping down as the Executive Director of the PhilanthroFund Foundation, better known as PFund. The Twin Cities-based PFund is a primary source of grants for LGBT non-profits in the region, particularly in Minnesota, and also gives out more than a dozen scholarships every year to LGBT high school, college, and graduate-level students throughout the state who, PFund says, have shown themselves to be strong LGBTQA leaders in their communities.

In an email to PFund supporters, Grinley said he is leaving to seek out “new adventures…I’m not sure what I’ll do – perhaps further education, fellowships, LGBT seniors work or return to the arts world. I’m filled with optimism.”

While Grinley says he’s proud of dramatically raising donations to PFund and increasing the organization’s budget, possibly the longest-lasting impact will be felt from helping to fund several start-up non-profits, including the Trans Youth Support Network, Shades of Yellow, and the Hospitality Initiative of Servant Hearts, and from PFund’s “Racial Equity Initiative Leadership Program,” designed to create professional development opportunities specifically aimed at LGBT leaders of color working in community organizing and in non-profits.

Alphonso Wenker, the Programs Manager at PFund, told TheColu.mn in an email that PFund considered the two-year-old Leadership Program a success, although there’s still improvements to be done, he said.

“…[W]e would have liked to do a better job of placing the leaders into positions in the community. When folks go through trainings and leadership development it’s often difficult to quantify the success, [but] one way of measuring that is when leaders assume new or expanded roles.”