Arleta Little is an Arts Program Officer and Director of the McKnight Artist Fellowships program at the McKnight Foundation.  Prior to working in philanthropy, she served as the Executive Director of the Givens Foundation for African American Literature, a literary arts organization in Minneapolis dedicated to advancing and celebrating African American literature and writers.  With degrees in English, Social Work, and Public Affairs, Arleta has also worked for over 15 years as an organizational development consultant providing strategic planning, program evaluation, and grant writing services to organizations in Minnesota.  Committed to public service, Arleta taught English for two years in Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer and has since served on numerous boards, including as a current board member of Grantmakers in the Arts.  As a poet and writer, she was most recently published in Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota.  A native of Washington D.C., Arleta loves to travel, has lived abroad three times, and has visited more than 35 countries. She lives in Longfellow neighborhood in Minneapolis.