Jennifer Ridgeway Joins Timberwolves & Lynx Front Office as Vice President of Social Responsibility

Minneapolis-St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx have announced the hiring of Jennifer Ridgeway to the position of Vice President of Social Responsibility.

Ridgeway comes to the Timberwolves and Lynx after spending nearly five years as the Executive Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer for The Sanneh Foundation, an organization whose mission is to serve the holistic youth development needs of the increasingly diverse Twin Cities metro area. Under her leadership, the organization experienced exponential growth, bringing the company up from a 3-person full-time staff to a staff of 50, and grew revenue over 900%. She recently completed a capstone project for the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee, creating their fund evaluation and social responsibility report.

Ridgeway, a Minnesota native, earned her Bachelor of Arts in economics from UNC-Chapel Hill, her MBA in finance from University of St. Thomas, and recently completed the Sports Philanthropy Executive program at George Washington University and the Executive Leadership program at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Prior to her time with The Sanneh Foundation, she worked in financial services for U.S. Bank and Securian Financial.

“I’m excited to be joining this team and be able to use the platforms of a high-profile organization to utilize sport for social good,” said Ridgeway.  “I’m inspired by the executive leadership’s interest in growing the company’s impact on the community and I’m eager to work with the team to build on the success of the FastBreak Foundation and their community outreach efforts.”

In her role, Ridgeway will be responsible for overseeing the Timberwolves and Lynx community relations efforts and the FastBreak Foundation. Ridgeway will begin her duties with the Timberwolves and Lynx on Wednesday, August 1.

“Jennifer is a leader in this space and we are thrilled to have her joining our team,” said Timberwolves and Lynx Chief Executive Officer Ethan Casson. “She has done wonderful work for the Sanneh Foundation and we can’t wait to see her bring that expertise to our teams to create an even greater impact on our community.”

Previous Vice President of Community Engagement John Thomas will move into the role of Vice President of Basketball Development, focused on relaunching the Timberwolves & Lynx Basketball Academy and developing a new player alumni relations program.