Conversations with 'Power Pairs' who influence Minnesota – and each other

We all have different roles in our lives. We might be a parent, a partner, a daughter, a coworker and a friend, and we show different sides of ourselves depending on which role we’re playing.

That’s what we’re exploring in “Power Pairs,” a series on MPR News with Angela Davis. We’re talking with people in the news — prominent Minnesotans who you may know of separately but who reveal something new when we sit them down together.

Maybe they’re married or siblings or best friends. They could be business partners or a parent/adult child dynamic duo.

Listen in as Angela talks with two people in a close relationship about how they support each other and how they’re working to build a better Minnesota.

Here’s who we’ve talked with so far. Check back for more! 

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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and therapist Resmaa Menakem

Our first pair is a nationally-known trauma expert and a state politician who are longtime friends. Trauma expert and therapist Resmaa Menakem and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have been close friends most of their lives. They met in their 20s, before their careers took off. They even hosted a community radio show together on KMOJ in Minneapolis for a decade. Each is a successful Minnesotan in his own right and in tough times they have leaned on each other.

Star Tribune publisher Steve Grove and startup investor Mary Grove

Five years ago the Star Tribune’s new publisher Steve Grove and startup investor Mary Grove left big jobs at Google in California and moved to Minnesota with their twin toddlers to start a new chapter. Since then, the married couple has navigated a pandemic, job changes and, earlier this month, the start of first grade. Today, they’re each other’s biggest fans and big believers in the potential of Minnesota.

A writer father and politician daughter want everyone's stories told

Writer David Mura is a third-generation Japanese American who grew up in a Chicago suburb learning, as he says, “how to be white.” Over the years Mura has reflected on race, cultural identity, popular culture and how his family’s experience and the experiences of other non-white Americans were left out of the broad American story. Mura’s daughter, Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, Minneapolis-DFL, had a very different experience growing up in multiracial Minneapolis in the 1990s. They talk about why Minnesota is stronger when everyone’s stories are remembered and shared.

Former Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm and polar explorer Ann Bancroft

Forty years ago, Ann Bancroft and Jan Malcolm met on a basketball court and became close friends. Bancroft was the first woman to reach the North Pole on foot with dog sleds with a group in 1986 and Malcolm retired as Minnesota’s health commissioner at the end of 2022, after serving under Governor Tim Walz and guiding the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During their long and close friendship, the two women have supported each other through intense challenges, weathered personal loss and encouraged each other to follow their dreams.

Do you know a ‘Power Pair?’

Two Minnesotans who have a close relationship and lean on each other for support in the work they do? Maybe they’re married or siblings or best friends. They could be business partners or a parent/adult child dynamic duo. We want to hear their stories on MPR News with Angela Davis at 9 a.m. weekdays.

Send us your suggestions below:

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