Biography

Recognized for transformational information technology leadership that brings operational excellence and strategic vision to nonprofit organizations, Edward Jensen is the Director of Information Technology at MEDA, the Metropolitan Economic Development Association, in Minneapolis. At MEDA, he leads the enterprise’s IT team and strategic planning, focusing on institutional resilience, knowledge enterprise leadership, and systems integrations. In this role, he has rebuilt MEDA’s technology infrastructure and knowledge enterprise, building a high-functioning team to elevate IT’s role as a mission multiplier supporting the organization’s expanding impact across Minnesota and beyond.

Prior to joining MEDA and moving into nonprofit leadership, Mr. Jensen ran his own eponymous firm in Phoenix, Arizona, Edward Jensen urban productions, whose work helped individuals and some of Phoenix’s celebrated nonprofit organizations advance their causes through an emphasis on information technology and communication. Major independent initiatives of the firm included The Downtown Phoenix Podcast, a critically acclaimed program that created spacious conversation on issues important to urban civics and community-building.

Mr. Jensen has been deeply engaged in civic and cultural leadership throughout his career. Current civic engagements include serving on the Board of Directors for Public Art Saint Paul and providing advisory support to the Minnesota CDFI Coalition. In Phoenix, he served as a Commission Member on the City of Phoenix Arts & Culture Commission, President of the Board of Directors of the Midtown Neighborhood Association, among others.

He is the author of the lecture A Brief History of Midtown Phoenix, which focused on midtown Phoenix’s history from the prehistoric up until the present day, while also paying special attention to Phoenix’s post-World War II history and mid-20th Century development. Originally debuted in 2019, A Brief History of Midtown Phoenix has since been revised to lift up the stories of communities not normally included in historical retrospectives. His photography has appeared in A Brief History of Midtown Phoenix as well as in other books and publications on central-city Phoenix history.

Mr. Jensen lives in Saint Paul. He spends summer evenings at CHS Field rooting for the St. Paul Saints, and updates his blog year-round (including through those long Minnesota winters) at edwardjensen.net.