Nadege Souvenir is the Chief Operating Officer for the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, Minnesota’s largest community foundation and one of the top 20 in the nation, with $1.7 billion in assets. Nadege Souvenir is responsible for the refinement, design and integration of cross-team systems and processes. She oversees grants administration, facilities, human resources, operations, learning and evaluation, partnerships, and board governance. In 2016, she launched East Metro Pulse, a community perception survey of life in Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties. East Metro Pulse has served as a valuable resource for the Foundation, community leaders, public officials, and nonprofit organizations.

In addition to her operational leadership, Nadege leads the Facing Race Awards, supports Art in This Present Moment and focuses on racial narrative change efforts. She co-hosts the Foundation’s podcast, I So Appreciate You! She also facilitates Countering Hate, an annual convening of philanthropic leaders from across Minnesota for reflective conversation about hate, white supremacy and philanthropy’s responsibility to step into its power to combat these societal ills. She speaks and writes on topics around equity in the workplace and leadership. 

Nadege’s other philanthropic leadership includes serving as a Blandin Foundation trustee, a member of the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s Advisory Board and the Catchafire Executive partner Council. Nadege also serves as a member of Wilder Research’s governance committee, an advisory council member for Here is MPLS and is a member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable. In 2023, Nadege was recognized by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal as a “Women in Business” honoree and by Twin Cities Business as a Notable BIPOC Executive a “Black Leader to Know.”

Nadege was a litigator whose practice included complex commercial litigation, trademark disputes, employment law, and FINRA arbitration. She practiced at Dorsey & Whitney LLP and Maslon LLP. She received the Up & Coming Attorney award, which recognizes lawyers in their 10 years of practice who have already distinguished themselves from Minnesota Lawyer. She twice received Minnesota Super Lawyers “Rising Star” which recognizes the top up and coming attorneys.

Prior to her work in the philanthropic and legal sectors, Nadege was an arts administrator. As the Foundation and Government Grants Officer, she managed the full scope of foundation and government fundraising for The Children’s Theatre Company, the nation’s largest and most acclaimed theatre for young people. She also served as the local lead coordinator for the Twin Cities in the Performing Arts Research Coalition (PARC). PARC was a partnership of five national performing arts service organization and 10 selected cities to improve data collection methods for performing arts organizations.

Nadege maintains her ties to the performing arts through her community leadership. She was the first Black woman (and person of color) to Chair the Minnesota Opera Board of Directors. In 2023, she was one of the 6 recipients of the National Opera Trustee Recognition Award, which honors outstanding trustees of North American opera companies for their exemplary leadership and service. She is a member of OPERA America board, serving as co-chair of the Trustee Council. She was the founding board chair of Trademark Theater. She has also served on boards/committees for the Arts Partnership, Guthrie Theater, and Walker Art Center.