The Citizens League is a nonpartisan think tank based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota. It was established in 1952 as a good government advocacy and policy group.
The first Citizens League board of directors was elected on February 14, 1952; the League's first president was Stuart Leck. Dues were $5.
In the past 68 years, the Citizens League has had only nine executive directors: Ray Black (1952âÂÂ1958); Verne Johnson (1958âÂÂ1967); Ted Kolderie (1967âÂÂ1980); Curt Johnson (1980âÂÂ1991); Lyle Wray (1992âÂÂ2003); Sean Kershaw (2003âÂÂDecember 1, 2017); Pahoua Yang Hoffman (2017- May 15, 2020); Kate Cimino (2020 â September 2023); and Jake Loesch (2023âÂÂPresent).
Records of the Citizens League are available for research use. They include minutes (1971-1981), correspondence, reports (1958-1984), subject files, notebooks, financial information, and printed materials.