About Dan

Dan McGrath, his wife Teresa, and their three kids live in the Lexington-Hamline neighborhood.

Dan served as the founding Executive Director of TakeAction Minnesota, a statewide, multi-racial progressive organization of individual members, labor unions and community groups. During his time at TakeAction Minnesota, Dan worked to expand Minnesota Care, ban the criminal history box for people seeking employment, raise the minimum wage, pass gay marriage and pass the earned sick and safe time ordinance in Saint Paul. In 2012, Dan was a leader in the campaign that defeated the Voter ID constitutional amendment.

Dan has also worked to organize school bus drivers with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He also supported SEIUs campaign to establish labor standards boards – an innovative way for workers, employers, community leaders and government to set higher standards in the workplace.

Dan got his start as an organizer and door-to-door canvasser with Progressive Minnesota where he rose to become its executive director. In that role he worked to reelect Senator Paul Wellstone and was the campaign manager of the 2002 Vote Yes for Saint Paul Kids referendum.

Dan works for the Grassroots Power Project, a national organization that trains and supports community groups and labor unions around the country. In 2023, he and a colleague wrote the book Governing Power, a resource for how organizers can better strategize.

Dan serves on the board of the Land Stewardship Project, an outstanding farm & rural group. He also serves on the board of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha Action (CTUL Action Fund), an organization of low-wage workers.

In his freetime Dan LOVES to cross country ski and you may have seen him out for a run in the neighborhood.

Fun Facts About Dan

  • Sister Kathleen Ries, Dan’s aunt, introduced him to community organizing when he was 17 years old.
  • Dan is Attorney General Keith Ellison’s campaign treasurer & senior advisor.
  • Dan has skied the American Birkebeiner Cross Country Ski Race 10 Times! (That’s 500 kilometers of skiing!)
  • Dan once bungee jumped off the second tallest platform in the world. And he will never do so again.
  • Dan was an election observer in El Salvador’s 2009 election.
  • Dan worked as a democracy educator in South Africa.
  • Dan worked for peace and reconciliation in Ireland.
  • Dan and his wife Teresa biked from Oregon to Colorado.
  • Dan ran a 50-mile ultra marathon this summer. It was really hot!
  • Dan & Teresa’s kids are involved in soccer, wrestling, band, tennis, track, scouts and more. Dan and Teresa passionately believe in carpooling.
  • Dan and his wife Teresa met at Hamline University where they both played soccer and wore the same jersey number (15).
  • Dan’s wife Teresa is a toxicologist who works on safe building materials for a national nonprofit..
  • Dan serves on the board of the Land Stewardship Project, an outstanding farm & rural group.
  • Dan serves on the board of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha Action (CTUL Action Fund), an organization of low-wage workers.
  • Dan doesn’t drink coffee.