Adrienne Diercks is the Founder and Executive Director of Project Success, a youth-development organization that motivates and inspires young people to dream about the future, helps them take steps to get there and gives them the tools they need to achieve their goals. Her passion to help young people achieve their dreams led her to begin Project Success in 1994 with 200 students at Minneapolis North High School and the support of the Guthrie Theater. Today, she has worked with the incredible Project Success team to grow the program to work with more than 17,000 6th-12th grade students and their families in the Minneapolis and Mankato Area public school districts.
Adrienne was named a 2008 Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal “Woman to Watch” and has been honored with the Minneapolis Award for her outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the City of Minneapolis. Adrienne was honored with Ann Bancroft Foundation’s “Dream Maker” Award for Achievement and Leadership and as a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts River Valleys in 2017. In 2019, Adrienne received the WEM Foundation’s Outstanding Educator Award for Excellence in Education, honoring her many years of leadership and dedication to inspire a spirit of learning in students. Adrienne was selected as a Minneapolis Southwest High School Distinguished Alumni in 2025 in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the Minneapolis community through the work of Project Success.
In addition to her role at Project Success, Adrienne is an active member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable (MWER), serving on the board from 2015-2022 and as President for three years from 2018-2020. She is a graduate of the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute and former member of the Women Presidents Organization (WPO).
Prior to her work with Project Success, Adrienne founded Possibilities, Inc., a non-profit whose mission was to inspire kids to dream about their lives. In that role, she traveled throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin conducting inspirational workshops. Adrienne has a B.A. in English from Whittier College and is a proud graduate of Minneapolis Public Schools.