Joel Kramer

Born in New York, Joel moved to Minnesota in 1983 to become editor of the Star Tribune. He then became publisher and president in 1992, serving until 1998 when the newspaper was sold. He was involved in editing two investigative projects that won Pulitzer Prizes, one at Newsday and one at the Star Tribune.

After leaving the Star Tribune, Joel spent three years as a senior fellow in journalism at the University of Minnesota, six weeks as the running mate of Becky Lourey in her unsuccessful effort to win the DFL nomination for governor, and four years running Growth & Justice, a think tank he founded to focus on state policy that simultaneously creates economic growth, does so sustainably, and shares the fruits of the growth broadly.

Joel co-founded MinnPost with his wife, Laurie, and served as CEO and Editor from its inception in 2007 until 2016.

On the civic front, Joel currently chairs Minnesota Jewish Media, which publishes the Jewish World. He is past board chair of three nonprofits — Children’s Theatre Company, Achieve Minneapolis and Growth & Justice. He and Laurie are members of the 1% Club, which means they promise to contribute 1% of their net worth every year to philanthropic causes.