Mike Winton

There isn’t an organization that David “Mike” Winton can’t raise a dollar for or a phone call he’s afraid to make. “I’m a fool for raising money,” he says. “It’s engaging people and ideas, and I like that process.”

Winton has raised funds all over the Twin Cities—over several decades and for many organizations. In the 1970s, he chaired the Minneapolis Foundation’s grants committee. In the 1980s, he cochaired the YWCA capital campaign with his wife, Penny. In 1999, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the United Way for cofounding the Cornerstone Program. He’s also raised money for the Council on Crime and Justice, which studies legal procedures as they affect minorities.

Winton takes pride in the Walker Art Center, and served as president of the board from 1966 to 1970 and chaired the $6.2 million joint Walker-Guthrie campaign in 1970. He’s on the $92 million capital campaign committee. The Walker is “one of our really creative centers,” he says. “The energy it puts into this community! It has worldwide outreach and impact. Everyone’s interested in creative new ideas, and being in the forefront of that has captured my attention.”

Perhaps the most poignant contribution Winton has made is Pathways, a holistic health center he started in the late 1980s, which serves—gratis—those with chronic or life-threatening diseases. After grappling with his own potentially life-threatening illness and Penny’s volunteer involvement during the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Winton realized there were few care options for those without funds—especially for holistic care, such as massage or acupuncture. Now, nearly 200 volunteers at Pathways serve nearly 1,000 active clients a year. “It’s really grown and become a unique part of the service community,” he says. “I’ve spent a lot of time on it, and I’m currently raising $1 million to strengthen the organization.”

But Winton says that supporting organizations that elevate the quality of life in Minnesota isn’t dependent on giving a lot of money. “It’s about opening up your heart and being fearless; it’s about not jumping to conclusions too quickly. It’s about seeing the interconnections between everything we do.

“The world is wildly interconnected. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve seen it.”