Brief Bio

Jonathan Palmer served as the sixth Executive Director for Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, Inc. (HQB), a 95-year old African American nonprofit social service agency in Saint Paul, MN. from 2008-2023. Brought in as a change agent, Jonathan successfully led the effort to restore the historic organization to financial health and full service. Prior to HQB, Jonathan served as the Director of the Minneapolis Empowerment Zone (EZ), a federally-funded community renewal initiative through the Department of Housing and Urban Development administered by the City of Minneapolis; and Executive Director of the Jordan Area Community Council. Jonathan is a graduate of Morehouse College where he received his BA in Psychology with a minor in Theatre and is completing an MA in Public Affairs from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. In 2022, he received a Certificate from Loyola University, Quinlan School of Business for the Executive Leadership Institute program. In 2021, he received the NAACP’s Outstanding Servant Leadership Award from the Roy Wilkins Saint Paul Chapter, and in 2018, he received proclamations from the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and the Mayor of the City of Saint Paul for a decade of service with HQB and restoring and preserving this historic community institution. Among his other awards are being named one of the inaugural Heroes of the Rondo Commemorative Plaza (2017) and the Sullivan Ballou award for his work on Project Superhero (2014).

Jonathan holds over 30 years of experience in public and nonprofit management through his community-based activism, leadership and volunteer work in Minnesota and across the country. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors for MDI (Board Chair); Minnesota Costumers for a Cause (CFAC), the Schubert Club, Rondo Center for DIverse Expression. Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities (MACC), and the Charities Review Council where he serves as Chair of the Governance Committee. He is the Director of Heritage and Minnesota Commissioner for the International Clan MacFarlane Society, Inc. and a Fellow in the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He is an avid historian and gives presentations and lectures on African, African American and Scottish history and culture as well as Systemic Racism, Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). He is an artist, poet, singer, genealogist and urban superhero working hard to make a difference in the communities he serves. Jonathan lives in North Minneapolis.

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