Home » Challenge II Supporters

Challenge II Supporters

 

Challenge II Lead Partner



 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Let’s give it up for Pentair and its Foundation, this year’s Minnesota Idea Open Challenge II Lead Partner! (Cue the fireworks and applause!)
 
The Idea Open is honored to partner with a community leader like Pentair. We’re like bosom buddies on a mission to advance water awareness in Minnesota. Go, team H2O!
 
What you’ll really dig about Pentair is their passion and commitment to Minnesota - their home state - and penchant for solving big problems, like the water issues that face us. They are a major driver in addressing the world’s – yes, the world’s – water scarcity issues, yet they also keep it local and have a major impact on our everyday lives.
 
You may not be aware that Pentair products are all around you … helping that cup of Joe taste great (water filtration) to the perfect water pressure in your home (pumps). And, with energy-efficient products keeping our cities safe from floods to leading environmental solutions ensuring our businesses manage water better – Pentair is a great steward of water management.
 
You might have heard about their partnership with the Minnesota Twins to create a first-of-its-kind eco-partnership. Pentair enabled the Twins to filter and recycle rainwater that is then used to irrigate the field and wash down the seats. This helps the Twins save more than 2 million gallons of water saved annually and a secure LEED certification – making Target Field the greenest ballpark in America! Check out this animated video to see how it all works: www.pentair.com/Twins/.
 
While Pentair manages projects all over the world, they hang their hat in Minneapolis. With a commitment to raise awareness about water scarcity and conservation efforts within and beyond our Land of 10,000 Lakes – Pentair is excited to hear your ideas!
 
Pentair and the Idea Open hope you join us and other Minnesotans as we learn about the ways in which we affect water every day – and take action to make that impact a positive one.
 

The Idea Open was created by:
  • Ashoka's Changemakers
  • John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
  • Minnesota Community Foundation

Operating Partners

  • The Citizens League
  • Grassroots Solutions
  • Padilla Speer Beardsley

Ashoka's Changemakers. (www.changemakers.com) Changemakers is an initiative of Ashoka, an organization with over three decades of finding, funding, and expanding the work of social entrepreneurs across the globe. It is a global online community of action that connects people to share ideas, inspire and mentor each other, and find and support the best ideas in social innovation. The Changemakers online community builds on this history and expands the Ashoka vision by creating an "Everyone a Changemaker" world through networking, relationship-building, and the sourcing of funding opportunities.

Through its collaborative competitions and open-source process, Changemakers has created one of the world's most robust spaces for launching, refining, and scaling ideas for solving the world's most pressing social problems.

The Citizens League (www.citizensleague.org) builds common ground for the common good. We believe that all Minnesotans should have a role in defining public issues, developing solutions, and influencing future policy recommendations. Based on this belief, we create opportunities for active citizens to work through ideas of what is good for Minnesota.

Grassroots Solutions (www.grassrootssolutions.com) provides consulting services in the areas of organizing, strategy, training, and evaluation. We start with the belief that people matter. In today's networked society, grassroots organizing is central to understanding the way people engage with their world. We focus exclusively on organizing, engaging, and mobilizing people.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (www.knightfoundation.org) promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of the U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation supports ideas and projects that create transformational change.

Minnesota Community Foundation (www.mncommunityfoundation.org) is the statewide community foundation helping to create vibrant communities where all people can find hope and opportunity. As a nonprofit organization created by and for local residents, the foundation helps individuals, organizations and communities fulfill their charitable giving goals and create positive change through philanthropy.

Padilla Speer Beardsley (www.psbpr.com) is an employee-owned, multi-specialty communications firm with headquarters in Minneapolis and an office in New York City. It is a founding partner of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, a consortium of 100 independently owned partner offices in 133 cities on six continents. Clients include BASF, Cub Foods, Ernst & Young, General Mills, HB Fuller, Pentair, Rockwell Automation, Transamerica, UnitedHealthcare and Vital Images.

Click here to download a PDF of the sponsors and partners for Challenge I: Ideas for Addressing Obesity in Minnesota.