Professional Biography
Dan Collison is Senior Director of Business Development & Public Affairs for Sherman Associates, and a professional videographer. Collison spends most of his days bringing people together across sectors through inter-disciplinary work for the explicit purpose of promoting human flourishing and building diverse community.
As a civic leader he has been instrumental in providing strategic leadership for the East Town Business Partnership and the NūLoop Partners amidst unprecedented redevelopment, catalyzing new business growth and forging new strategic collaborations between business leaders, civic leaders, and the residential communities of the East Town and North Loop districts.
As a pastor in the Christian religious tradition Collison served churches for 30 years and helped lead First Covenant Church, Minneapolis through a comprehensive congregational redevelopment. Collison is a Humphrey School of Public Policy Fellows, Fellow in the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, has completed a Doctoral degree in Ministry from Fuller Seminary (CA), a Master’s degree in Divinity from Bethel Seminary (MN), and a Bachelor’s degree from The Eastman School of Music (NY).
Collison is a 2022 AIA Minnesota Collaborative Achievement Award winner, a 2015 recipient of Minnesota Business magazine’s (Real) Power 50 awards, an annual list of 50 remarkable business leaders. In 2010 Metro Magazine listed him in the “Top 100” List of people, places, and things making a positive impact in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region. And, in 2020 the City Pages People Issue Collison was named one of the unsung heroes of the Twin Cities.
Philosophy of Cross-Sector Leadership
The "Intersector Project" (www.intersector.com) is a program of the Aspen Institute and resource hub dedicated to advancing effective collaboration among business, government, and non-profit sectors in the United States. Drawing from more than 70 interviews with intersector leaders the Intersector Project has distilled six characteristic that define leaders of intersector collaborations. This has become my core ethical framework for my work across all sectors and organizations in my portfolio.
BALANCED MOTIVATIONS
A desire to create public value in a professional or a personal capacity; the ability to reconcile the drive to foster social good or work on a particular social or environmental issue with competing considerations, such as financial needs or holding influence.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
A set of hard skills and professional competencies received from training or work experience from one or more sectors; possession of practical skills in areas such
as quantitative analytics, strategic planning, and stakeholder management that are valued across sectors.
CONTEXTUAL INTELLIGENCE
The ability to assess the differences and recognize the similarities between sectors, stemming from exposure or experience; an understanding of each sector’s individual culture, values, constraints, and key performance indicators which allows leaders to navigate within and between sectors.
INTEGRATED NETWORKS
The ability to use one’s legitimacy and credibility among contacts across sectors, earned from a history of leadership positions; the capacity to leverage networks across sectors in order to advance one’s career, build teams, or convene stakeholders on an intersector issue.
PREPARED MIND
Deliberate career planning across sectors; a willingness to seize new opportunities and an openness to pursue a flexible career path.
INTELLECTUAL THREAD
A leader’s subject-matter expertise on a particular issue – based on work experience in the discipline, formal education, and professional training – practiced across sectors.
Inquire and Connect
I enjoy working with people who have expansive imaginations for a more connected and caring world.
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