02-04-2025
Knight Foundation names Charlene Bradley as St. Paul director
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has named Charlene Bradley as the new director of its St. Paul operations.
Bradley, who was born and raised in St. Paul, spent almost 13 years with Target, first as a senior manager overseeing customer inquiries, community initiatives and guest relations and later as a director of operations. She previously spent eight years with Thomas Reuters, first as a senior team leader in customer service and later as a senior project manager, overseeing technology-driven efforts to boost business operations.
After leaving Target last summer, she launched CE Bradley Consulting last October. Bradley holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Capella University.
Since 2000, the Knight Foundation has invested more than $50 million in St. Paul, with a focus on downtown revitalization and local entrepreneurship, including $1 million in ReConnect Rondo, an effort to establish a highway lid over Interstate 94 in the Rondo neighborhood to host new housing and forge neighborhood connections.
The Knight Foundation also has supported the Great River Passage Conservancy's efforts to better connect the Mississippi River to downtown, and the St. Paul Downtown Alliance's efforts to establish a downtown development corporation.
Established in 1940 as an educational foundation, the Knight Foundation officially launched in 1950 with a focus on supporting communities where the Knight brothers published newspapers. The $2.4 billion foundation supports free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in the areas of media and democracy, and the overall success of the 26 cities and towns where it maintains a presence.
In the mid-1970s, Knight Newspapers merged with Ridder Publications to create Knight-Ridder Inc., a former publisher of the Pioneer Press.
