Jaden Hansen

Jaden has been fundraising in the Twin Cities since 2005. Originally a classical archaeologist, he found his way to non-profits through the museum field. He was the executive director of the Hennepin History Museum, before shifting into development roles at Minnesota Opera and then Theater Latte Da. He has a rich background of board service to local non-profits in addition to participating nationally with the American Alliance of Museums where he was a co-author of the LGBTQ Welcoming Guidelines, a standard of excellence document for American museums. He founded Museum of Minneapolis—now sunset—which created access to tools for historic preservation and storytelling for communities historically excluded from representation in history museums.

Jaden comes to Project Success from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, where he was a major gift officer and interim director of development. Jaden’s passion for fundraising comes from a love of connecting people to their power to make a difference and propel strong mission-oriented organizations forward. He finds meaning in his career through focusing on, and advocating for, initiatives and organizations that work to address systemic inequities through reimagining what inclusive practices look like.

Jaden holds a degree from the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology and Ancient Greek. He has a teenage daughter and lives in South Minneapolis where he is often found hiking along the Mississippi with his dog Lucy. An avid outdoor adventurer, Jaden volunteered for Project Success in 2022 on the BWCA middle school canoe trip and learned firsthand about the transformational power of Project Success’ programs!