Students help Sanneh Foundation drive local impact

By Rose Semenov

The Sanneh Foundation, a longtime St. Paul nonprofit, partnered with Minnesota Carlson’s Leadership Lab to examine ways to advance its mission to empower youth and improve community wellbeing.

Former U.S. Men’s National Team soccer player and future Hall of Famer Tony Sanneh founded the nonprofit, which offers programming, such as after-school care, youth sports camps, nutritional services and more. To continue scaling these efforts, the foundation turned to the next generation of business leaders for fresh, data-driven perspectives.

The Leadership Lab is an application-based elective program that accepts Carlson undergraduate leaders into a dedicated cohort. In the courses, students collaborate on real-world problems while honing their leadership and teamwork skills. To support their immersive work, students who complete the lab receive a scholarship funded through generous financial support.

Measuring impact

This past semester, two student teams took on the Sanneh Foundation as a client, each focusing on a different aspect of the nonprofit’s operations.

Levi Enlow, a junior Finance and Accounting double-major, and his team completed an analysis to help communicate the Sanneh Foundation’s economic and social impact. For an organization that provides such wide-ranging services, quantifying value is a significant challenge.

Following research, the team developed metrics, such as a donation impact tool for Sanneh’s website, to help put the foundation’s impact into perspective for institutional donors and other stakeholders.

“Knowing that what I did this semester and the work I put in with my team will impact the community in a broader way is really impactful for me and just an enjoyable experience,” says Enlow.

Joanna Tzenis, the Sanneh Foundation vice president of programs, says the students’ work will help the nonprofit better resonate with its audience.

“We really need to ground our asks and our investment from others with some real evidence of what works and why it matters,” says Tzenis. “The students followed through on that challenge, and we plan to use and advance the work and achieve our mission.”

Empowering youth

Clara Hasselgren, a sophomore Finance major, and her team examined ways to elevate Sanneh’s G1 program. Previously known as Girls First, this sports program was designed with girls in mind to foster leadership skills. After a period of transition, the program needed a strategic uplift. 

The Carlson students investigated solutions for transportation barriers that affect G1 participation and developed new content for the foundation’s website to give the program more visibility. Connecting face-to-face with G1 coaches and athletes to complete research, Hasselgren says, made the project and their work feel personal.

“There was a lot of accountability involved because with other projects, you might be doing it with a hypothetical situation, but this was like, ‘OK, I have a real client, and this is going to make a real impact if I put in the effort,’” says Hasselgren.

Tzenis says Sanneh staff members plan to incorporate the students’ work into the G1 re-launch.

Earning experience

For the students, the Leadership Lab provided an opportunity to face the ambiguity that often comes with a real-world consulting project.

“It's not normal classwork,” says Enlow. “I'm not reading out of a book and then applying it and doing math homework. I'm problem-solving with my team and getting tangible experience out of it.”

For Hasselgren, it was about building camaraderie among her team to work together.

“My takeaway is really learning how to collaborate with a team and the connection that it takes to really be successful in a team,” says Hasselgren. “I would say in the future, I'm going to really dedicate getting to know my team and spending time with them early in the project to set us up. Then you know how people work, and that's really important.”