In 2004, ULI Minnesota was awarded a $25,000 grant from the ULI Foundation Annual Fund to launch a program to spur regional dialogue and collaboration among local mayors and the private sector to help solve pressing land use challenges.

This grant, awarded as part of the Foundation’s Community Action Grant program (now known as the Urban Innovation Grant program), enabled ULI Minnesota to found the Regional Council of Mayors, which has grown over the past ten years to become a vital resource for public and private sector decision makers to engage on issues ranging from housing to transportation to regional competitiveness. From an original group of eight participating cities and towns, the program has grown to include mayors from 54 municipalities throughout the region.

For their efforts, ULI Minnesota was recently awarded the ULI Impact Award, given annually to a district or national council that has catalyzed an exceptional example of impact or change in the design and development of its community.