Giving: InspireMSP Benefits from Transformational Grant

Due in great part to our life experiences and education, many of us can easily imagine what a career as a set designer at the Guthrie Theater entails or what the job of a sound manager at First Avenue is. But many teens in the Twin Cities don’t get exposed to what’s beyond their neighborhood, which can limit their awareness of potential careers, particularly in creative industries.

In 2021, Dan Ryan set out to change that. He left his career in advertising and launched InspireMSP, a nonprofit that connects metro area students in grades 6 – 12 with creative industry career opportunities. Through partnerships Dan has forged with local creative organizations, teens, many of whom are from underserved communities, visit different venues and businesses. During these visits, they take tours, see creative professionals performing their jobs, ask questions and, often, immerse themselves in the creative experience at hand.

We were introduced to InspireMSP in 2023 and quickly started hosting field trips. We’ve now hosted six, which has given our Minneapolis associates a wonderful opportunity to interact with students, introduce them to careers in construction and design and show them the art of their trade.

Last year, the Minneapolis office was chosen to select a nonprofit to receive the 2024 Gerry Rauenhorst Building Community Award. Associates chose InspireMSP to receive the award, an Opus Foundation grant of $1,000 for each year since Gerry Rauenhorst founded the business that would become Opus.

“We received $71,000!” exclaimed Dan. “For an organization like InspireMSP, that amount of funding is transformative.”

According to Dan, the nonprofit has grown exponentially since it was founded, initially serving 293 kids to now serving 800. That kind of growth requires hiring a team of full-time and part-time employees and interns to help make InspireMSP’s programming repeatable, sustainable, scalable and measurable. With staff to carry out its core offering, Dan is now able to focus more of his time and attention on the organization’s future growth and related needs as well as on Career Day.

Career Day is a once-a-year event at the Target Center organized by Dan that includes keynote speakers and breakout sessions in which students are exposed to various creative careers over the course of one day. Participating creative industry organizations have included a TV station, an advertising agency, a hip hop artist, a screen printer and a fashion boutique whose founder was on Project Runway.

Dan piloted Career Day in 2023 with 215 students. In 2024, the event drew more than 700 students. In 2025, Dan plans to expand the event to two days, one day for middle schoolers and one day for high schoolers, and extend it to 1,800 students.

“Our partnership with Opus is what nonprofits dream of. They’re engaged with us from a programmatic level, a volunteer level and a financial level,” said Dan. “To me, that demonstrates they truly believe in the work we’re doing, in the power of opening these students’ eyes and minds to the huge world of creative careers, and, in many cases, changing the trajectory of these young people’s lives.”