At SkyWater Search Partners, we believe that supporting our community is more than just an ideal; it's a principle guiding how we operate and contribute to our communities. As a leading executive search firm, our role extends beyond helping organizations find exceptional talent—we strive to be a force for positive change in the business ecosystem. One way we do this is by intentionally directing our spending to support local vendors and businesses that deserve the business.
On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we take a moment to reflect on Dr. King’s enduring legacy and the lessons his work continues to teach us about leadership, justice, and the pursuit of equity. As an executive search firm, SkyWater Search Partners is committed to fostering diversity and inclusion within the organizations we serve, a mission that aligns deeply with Dr. King’s vision of a society where everyone has equal access to opportunity.
At SkyWater Search Partners, we believe that vibrant communities are built through strong community partnerships. One way we live by that value is through our Employee of the Quarter Award. Each quarter, we honor a top-performing team member with the gift of a substantial financial donation, in their name, to a nonprofit organization of their choosing, whether they serve a local neighborhood or a world community in need of support.
You likely knew that last year, Minnesota joined fifteen other states in officially recognizing the second Monday of every October as Indigenous Peoples Day. You probably had a pretty good idea of what that meant, too: that rather than celebrating Christopher Columbus (who, in fact, had a history of committing atrocities against Indigenous People), our state would honor Native Americans instead.
There is so much more to understanding Indigenous Peoples Day than that.
This month, SkyWater Search Partners celebrated our tenth annual “Walk a Mile for a Smile” event in support of Smile Network International, one of our favorite international charitable organizations.
At SkyWater Search Partners, we believe that vibrant communities are built through strong community partnerships. Each quarter, we honor a top-performing team member with the gift of a substantial financial donation, in their name, to a nonprofit organization of their choosing.
As Minnesotans celebrate Juneteenth as a state holiday for the second year, we would like to pass along this story about Minnesota playwright and activist Rose McGee. McGee’s long-running play, “Kumbayah The Juneteenth Story,” has been bringing the meaning of this holiday to life for communities across our state and several others, through the power of storytelling, music, and sweet potato pie.
Pride Month is a time to celebrate love, diversity, the progress made within the LGBTQ community, and the countless, often unnamed heroes that have brought about that progress. At the center of these celebrations is the Pride Flag, a global symbol of the pride, inclusion, and unity that all members of the community deserve to experience.
Small Town, Big Dreams
Cornelia “Coya” Knutson always wanted to become an opera singer. It was a distant dream for a girl born in 1912 and raised on a small farm in North Dakota, but she went for it. After earning her degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, Knutson was admitted to the Juilliard School of Music. A year into it, though, she decided a career in music wasn’t for her.
