Dr. Duane Carter, Ed.D

Dr. Carter is president of the Value Growth Group, an organization dedicated to helping businesses and nonprofits enhance value and pursue growth opportunities. With extensive expertise in strategy, business development, operations, organizational effectiveness, and finance, he guides organizations in strengthening their products and services to increase market value. He is also the author of No Margin, No Mission: Adapting Leading Business Practices to Grow Your Nonprofit.

Prior to founding the Value Growth Group, Dr. Carter served as senior vice president and a member of the executive leadership team at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. With more than 15 years of executive leadership experience, he has led the development of winning strategies, driven successful organizational change, introduced innovative customer solutions, eliminated redundant costs through rigorous operational analysis, and leveraged data-driven insights to identify growth opportunities.

In addition to his consulting and executive leadership work, Dr. Carter has served as an adjunct professor in the Labovitz School of Business and Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth and in the Leadership and Change MBA program at the College of St. Scholastica. He has taught courses in strategic management and strategic leadership and change, sharing his expertise with emerging leaders and executives. He serves as the Board Chair Emeritus of Northwest Area Foundation, which is a half-billion-dollar foundation that supports people, organizations, and communities in an eight-state region to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity.

Dr. Carter earned a Doctor of Education in Organization Development and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business from the University of Minnesota. His academic foundation, combined with his executive leadership and teaching experience, underscores his commitment to advancing organizational effectiveness and sustainable growth across sectors.