The Minneapolis Loppet Foundation announced today, November 8th, that it has hired a new Director. Meghan Cosgrove will take the reins of the organization beginning November 18th. She takes over from Claire Wilson who resigned from the Director’s position in September for family reasons. Wilson had been at the helm of the Loppet Foundation for four years.
Cosgrove’s most recent leadership post was as Executive Director at YMCA of the North for Camp Menogyn, where she spent seven years overseeing operations for teen wilderness adventures in some extremely remote areas, including Isle Royale and the Canadian Arctic. Camp Menogyn is located on the edge of the Boundary Waters area about 45 minutes from Grand Marais, Minnesota.
Cosgrove also has a background in fundraising having spent time as a major gift officer, and during her time as a YMCA Director worked with her Board of Directors to raise from $250,000-$1,000,000 annually. No doubt the Loppet Foundation will hope to put her fundraising skills to work to help sustain the organization. Cosgrove also worked as the Executive Director of YMCA camp Warren, near Eveleth Minnesota, for almost 9 years, which saw over 1,200 participants at the camp a year. When asked about choosing to move to the Foundation, Cosgrove told FasterSkier that, “I have always admired the mission of the Loppet Foundation and this was a great point in my life to put down roots in the Twin Cities.”
Prior to landing in Minnesota, Cosgrove worked in Maine as a faculty member at the Hyde School located in Bath, where among other duties she was the assistant coach for the varsity cross-country ski team.
This last spring Cosgrove was recognized for her 25 years of leadership within the YMCA. She is a Bowdoin College graduate with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and Spanish, and has a Master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in Education.
Cosgrove expressed her excitement at being named the new Director and gratitude to Wilson’s prior stewardship. When asked about the goals and challenges facing the Foundation she replied, “I see the Loppet as a leader in advancing equity in the outdoors. Continuing to offer high quality programs for people of all ages and continuing to remove barriers to participation in those programs will be my top priorities. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges for the Loppet. Last winter certainly highlighted that. We offer a diverse offering of programs, in all four seasons, and will continue to evolve those as we adapt to climate challenges.”
The Loppet Foundation was the principal organization responsible for the hugely successful World Cup weekend held last winter at Wirth Park in Minneapolis. It was a high profile event putting the mostly volunteer organization at the center of the Nordic ski world for a weekend.
Though the World Cup is what most skiers outside of Minneapolis know the Loppet Foundation for, running the World Cup weekend was really a detour from the Foundation’s primary duties. But as it turned out, the Foundation was the perfect organization to bring together a world class event with community involvement to present a one of a kind World Cup experience.
The Foundation is a nonprofit and its primary charge is connecting people to the outdoors through experiences that grow community. It funnels 25,000 participants a year through its programs. For a mostly volunteer entity, the World Cup was an ambitious undertaking which pushed the capacity of the organization. But in the end, it delivered a memorable and unique product. It was a heavy lift for the organization, but could it happen again? “I’m sure this is something we will thoughtfully consider. There is definitely an appetite to host another World Cup here in the Twin Cities because the Loppet staff and volunteers did an incredible job welcoming the world to Wirth last winter. But we will need to carefully examine the financial demands and the person power necessary to do that again.”
