An independent day school serving grades K-12 | St. Paul, MN

2023 Distinguished Alumni/ae Award

The Distinguished Alumni/ae Award (DAA) at St. Paul Academy and Summit School honors alumni/ae who have made noteworthy contributions to society through professional or civic accomplishments and involvement. You can view the list of previous DAA recipients here.

The Distinguished Alumni/ae Award program began in 1987 to honor alumni/ae whose achievements reflect major contributions to their chosen fields and/or communities. The program is designed to recognize outstanding role models in the hope that the accomplishments of the Distinguished Alumni/ae will encourage current students to develop high aspirations and goals.

In addition, the Distinguished Alumni/ae Award program helps provide the community with a link to the school’s past. By bringing the stories and achievements of past students into the lives of those presently enrolled, the program fosters a sense of tradition, history, and pride in the school.

This year, St. Paul Academy and Summit School is proud to recognize the work of Molly Greenman, M.S.W. '71 and present her with the Distinguished Alumni/ae Award for 2023. Read more about Molly below and we hope you will join us for a reception in her honor on Tuesday, April 25 at 5:30 P.M. in the Huss Center for the Performing Arts on the Randolph Campus.

The 2023 Distinguished Alumni/ae Award Reception in Honor of
Molly Greenman, M.S.W. '71

When: Tuesday, April 25, 2023
5:30 P.M. - Reception
7:00 P.M. - Program

Where: Huss Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul Academy and Summit School, Randolph Campus
1712 Randolph Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105

Cost: $15, Heavy hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

Register Today

Molly Greenman, M.S.W. '71

Molly Greenman is a career social worker, a holistic leader, and a creator of change. She has dedicated her professional life to changing systems and policies which keep people from being successful.

Greenman was raised in a family that was actively involved in the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s. She graduated from St. Paul Academy and Summit School in 1971, a member of the second graduating class following the 1969 merger, and graduated San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Psychology in 1976. While in San Francisco, she met her husband, Michael Kehoe; the couple moved to Minneapolis in 1978, and raised their two children, Benjamin and Rebecca, in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood.

Greenman’s career began in San Francisco at a residential program for children with autism and at a center for victims of sexual assault and incest. These early experiences inspired interests in social work and organizational development--interests which culminated in a Masters in Social Work from the University of Minnesota in 1981. After earning her MSW, Greenman became Executive Director of Alexandra House, a Twin Cities based organization dedicated to ending domestic violence. She joined Family & Children’s Service, now The Family Partnership, in 1986, and became its CEO in 2004. 

Under Greenman’s leadership, The Family Partnership deepened its work with marginalized communities and with families impacted by generational inequity and trauma using a holistic approach that works with entire families. As the organization’s leader, Greenman focused The Family Partnership’s work on brain science by developing the Executive Functioning Across Generations™ curriculum--a recipient of the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits’ Mission Award for Innovation. National pilots of the curriculum are underway through a collaboration with partners including the Harvard Center on the Developing Child Frontiers of Innovation. She has worked with Minnesota legislators and 70+ statewide partners to enact Minnesota’s Safe Harbor Law for Sexually Exploited Youth, and has helped to increase the number of clinical social workers from BIPOC communities while providing increased services to new immigrants, refugees, and the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. 

In 2011, The Family Partnership merged with Minneapolis-based nonprofit Reuben Lindh Family Services, which expanded the organization's reach to early childhood and parenting development. The program now includes two multicultural preschools: one in North Minneapolis serving the African-American community; and the Four Directions early learning center serving the American Indian community.

A firm believer in partnerships, Greenman is a leader in local and national social sector networks. She has served on boards of the Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities (MACC), Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and the Social Current (formerly known as the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities). In 2007, she co-founded the MACC CommonWealth, an innovative model of shared administrative services that now serves over 50 partner community-based organizations in Minnesota. She has recently joined the board of directors of Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, the oldest African-American community organization in Minnesota. Greenman continues to be active in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood and is a leader in the efforts to rebuild Lake Street following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. 

St. Paul Academy and Summit School is proud to recognize the work of Molly Greenman and present her with the Distinguished Alumni/ae Award for 2023.