Our Founders Diane and Alan Page

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Education gives people the power of choice.  The power of choice is the power of liberty.  Recognizing that disparities in academic opportunity deny children of color both choice and liberty, Diane and Alan Page started the Page Education Foundation in 1988.

The Foundation's goal is to encourage, motivate, and assist Minnesota's students of color in the pursuit of post-secondary education, and, in the process, change the future.  The Foundation achieves that goal by doing two things. First, by providing financial assistance to students pursuing post-secondary education. Second, and most important, by requiring its Page Scholars to work with young children, kindergarten through eighth grade, specifically in the area of education.

By having this requirement, everybody wins-our scholars, the young children they mentor, and the community at large. Our Scholars send the clear, strong message to those young children by word and by deed that education is a tool that can be used to achieve one's dreams.  And the children see someone who maybe looks like them, who may have some shared experiences, who is reliable, who works hard, and who takes an interest in their well-being, using education as a tool for success.

The first year the Foundation had 10 Page Scholars; now we have more than 500 annually.  Since then, the Foundation has awarded over $16 million in grants to more than 8,000 Page Scholars. Those Page Scholars have volunteered nearly 500,000 hours, working with 50,000 children across Minnesota. In the end, our Scholars are bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice.

Alan, with careers as a Hall of Fame football player and a Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, is the face of the Foundation, but Diane was its heart and soul, serving as its executive director for 30 years. Diane died of cancer in September 2018, but her vision and commitment to racial, social, and economic justice continue through the Foundation's work. To recognize her critical role in starting and growing the Foundation, it has been formally renamed The Page Education Foundation Founded by Diane and Alan Page.

Diane Sims Page's Bio

Diane Page Legacy Fund

Diane grew up in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and attended Robbinsdale High School and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. After graduation, Diane worked with Pillsbury for five years, then as an account executive for BBDO Advertising for a year. She transitioned to focus group moderation and became an expert in qualitative market research. Focus group moderation was in its infancy at the time, and Diane was a leader in developing many of the procedures used in focus group moderation today. She created her own company, Leapfrog Associates, to generate product ideas for large companies, including Pillsbury and General Mills.

Diane and Alan first met in the lobby of General Mills, a chance few moments that led to a lifetime partnership. She had been doing volunteer work with the Boys’ Club; when she was introduced to the well-known Minnesota Viking, she asked if he would be willing to help.

Diane and Alan married in 1973. Their marriage reflected not only their deep and enduring love for each other, but also a shared commitment to social justice.  Together, during Alan’s 1988 induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, Diane and Alan created the Page Education Foundation.

For 30 years, Diane served as the volunteer Executive Director and worked tirelessly to expand the organization’s mission and reach. If Alan was the face of the Page Education Foundation, Diane was its heart and soul.  Diane’s huge heart and her warmth made everyone around her feel better than they might otherwise have.  She made personal connections with donors, staff, volunteers and, most importantly, with Page Scholars past and present.  Lomumba Ismail, is just one of many former Page Scholars who credits his passion for teaching and helping others with the positive relationship he and Diane shared over the years.

Diane was a visionary who led the growth of the organization’s annual gala from a small and humble gathering in a local restaurant to an event with nearly 1,000 guests each year that raises a quarter of the organization’s annual budget.  In 2012, in celebration of the Page Education Foundation’s 25th anniversary, she encouraged Alan and their daughter, Kamie Page, to write a children’s book, “Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky.”  The project was a success—and 100 percent of the book sale proceeds went to the Page Education Foundation.  Alan and Kamie have collaborated on three more award-winning children’s books since then.

Diane Sims Page died September 29, 2018 after a lengthy battle with cancer.  The Diane Page Legacy Fund was established in her memory; to date, over $300,000 has been raised in the DPLF to continue Diane’s work and legacy.

Alan Page's Bio

Alans Fund Email Signature

Alan C. Page was born August 7, 1945, in Canton, Ohio.  He graduated from Canton Central Catholic High School in 1963, and received his B.A. in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 1967 and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1978.

After graduating from law school, Alan Page worked as an attorney for a law firm in Minneapolis, then served seven years as an attorney in the office of the Minnesota Attorney General.

He sought election to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1992 and won, becoming the first African American on the court and one of the few associate justices ever to join the court initially through election, rather than appointment by the governor.  When Justice Page was reelected in 1998, he became the biggest vote-getter in Minnesota history. He was reelected in 2004 and 2010 and served until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2015.

Law was Alan Page’s second career; he was first known for his skills in football both in college and in the NFL.  At Notre Dame, Alan Page led the school’s storied football program to the 1966 national championship, and in 1993 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Alan Page was a first-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings in 1967 and he played for the Vikings until 1978.  The last three years of his football career were with the Chicago Bears, 1978–1981.  During his career, Alan Page played in 218 consecutive games, earning All-Pro honors six times, and was voted to nine consecutive Pro Bowls.  In 1971 he was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, becoming only the second defensive player in history to be named MVP.  In 1988 Alan Page was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Justice Page and his daughter, Kamie Page, have written four children’s picture books, Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky (2013), The Invisible You (2014), Grandpa Alan’s Sugar Shack (2017), and Bee Love (Can Be Hard) (2020).

In November 2018, Justice Page received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 2019 he was chosen as a member of the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.