"Take 5" is a series in which we pose five questions to a Blue Cross leader and learn more about who they are, what they do, and how they help our members live their healthiest lives.

This edition of “Take 5” features Carolyn Link, President of the Blue Cross Foundation.

1. What is the focus of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation?

Our mission is to build strong community partnerships to advance racial and health equity. We do that by partnering with non-profits across the state of Minnesota on three upstream drivers of health:

• • Increasing access to equitable care and coverage
  • Increasing access to and quality of early childhood care and education
  • Increasing social connections and reducing social isolation

2. How do you measure overall impact of the Foundation’s support?

We assess impact at three levels, asking and reporting on key questions of interest to our community partners and stakeholders.

First, we want to make sure we are being equitable and effective. We regularly ask our grantees and applicants for feedback so we can improve our application and selection processes and engage more effectively with our partners. A couple of tools we use are an anonymous grantee survey and applicant surveys. We also talk one on one with applicants after each funding opportunity – that’s a great chance to give and receive feedback.

We also want to understand the progress our grantees are making, what they are learning, and how we can better support them to serve their communities. We have formal reporting as well as routine conversations with our grantee partners.

Finally, we monitor community-level indicators. For example, what percentage of Minnesotans are uninsured? Where do they live and what are their characteristics? This data helps us and our partners focus efforts to bring people into health insurance coverage.

We recently released our 2023 Foundation Impact Report which is one of the ways we share with stakeholders about the grantees we support.

3. Why were you drawn to this type of nonprofit work?

My dad was a doctor, and my mom was a nurse, and I admire them both greatly. I followed in their footsteps for my first career in nursing. My favorite nursing job was working with children who were recovering from traumatic brain injuries. That work taught me a lot about the resilience of families and the critical importance of nursing and medical care. I also learned the importance of prevention. That led me to graduate school for public health.

The work I do at the Foundation is a culmination of those experiences, blending a deep appreciation for the individual experience of illness and care, with a focus on community level prevention. I am grateful that I get to support nonprofits across Minnesota who are doing amazing work to support families and create change within their communities.

4. What is something people may not know about the Foundation?

The Foundation provides funding to nonprofits throughout the state, but writing the check is only the beginning. We aim to build true partnerships with our grantees and together, to serve the people of Minnesota. The Foundation team believes that our grantee partners are the center of our universe. We work hard every single day to demonstrate that.

5. What excites you most about the future?

Every single day we are bringing to life our strategic plan, centered on building healthy generations. I’m really excited about continuing to advance racial and health equity with this plan as our roadmap for the next two years.

I also get really excited about grant review. That is when we get to learn directly from nonprofits about their ideas, community engagement, and plans for advancing racial and health equity.  The Foundation has supported hundreds of nonprofits and the communities they serve for nearly 40 years. It is a true privilege to work alongside them.