Shawntera Hardy, Vivek Agrawal Elected to MPR Board of Trustees

Apr 4, 2019

ST. PAUL, Minn., April 4, 2019 — Minnesota Public Radio has elected two new members to its Board of Trustees. Shawntera M. Hardy, cofounder and Strategy Lead at Civic Eagle, and Vivek Agrawal, senior partner with McKinsey & Company, were recently appointed to the board.

“We are excited to welcome two individuals who’ve demonstrated real leadership in our communities and their respective fields,” said Jon McTaggart, president and CEO of MPR. “These impressive leaders bring new perspectives, strategic acumen, proven experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, and a passion for public service using media. Shawntera and Vivek are true fans of MPR and will be terrific additions to the MPR Board.”

Hardy has over 15 years of combined experience in government and community relations, urban planning and workforce and economic development. Prior to her role at Civic Eagle, a tech company that has developed productivity and collaboration software which allows advocacy teams to easily research and analyze state and federal legislation, Hardy served as the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Before that, she was Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith.

In addition to her entrepreneurial leadership at Civic Eagle, Hardy is the founder of PolicyGrounds Consulting, a strategy firm working at the intersection of public policy and placemaking. She also is the co-founder of Fearless Commerce, a publication and platform focused on elevating black women business owners. Hardy has worked in leadership positions at several other organizations including Fresh Energy, HealthPartners' hospital division, the City of Saint Paul, and the Ohio House of Representatives.

Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Hardy holds a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Affairs from The Ohio State University, and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo – School of Architecture and Planning.

Agrawal’s work at McKinsey & Company focuses on strategy, operations and organizational issues across a wide range of financial institutions in North America and Asia, with deep expertise in insurance and wealth management. He has also served as head of McKinsey’s insurance practice for the Asia-Pacific region, head of life insurance practice for North America, and managing partner for the firm’s Minneapolis office.

Agrawal has authored numerous research articles on innovation and performance in financial services, the most recent being The Life Journey, a series of perspectives on what winners are doing to separate themselves in life insurance markets in the United States, Japan, Korea, China, India and southeast Asia.

Agrawal has served several public sector clients and led research initiatives, one of which was a fellowship of the McKinsey Global Institute. There, he co-authored studies on productivity growth of the United States economy and the impact of foreign direct investments.

Agrawal attended the Indian Institute of Technology for his bachelor’s degree and earned his master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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About Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Public Radio® operates a 46-station radio network serving nearly all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states for more than 50 years. Reaching more than 1 million listeners each week, MPR and its three regional services—MPR News, Classical MPR and The Current®—produce programming for radio, digital and live audiences. Programs produced by MPR’s national programming division, American Public Media®, reach 20 million listeners via approximately 1,000 radio stations nationwide each week. APM is one of the largest producers and distributors of public radio programming in the world, and produces award-winning podcasts spanning the best in investigative journalism, food, business and entertainment. For more information on MPR, visit minnesotapublicradio.org

Source: Data are copyright Nielsen Audio. Data are estimates only.