Liljenquist, Josh. Digital Media and Community Impact Collection, 2019-ongoing

Collection

Identifier: SMHC Collection 0300

Scope and Contents

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The collection documents Josh Liljenquist’s development from a Communication Studies student at Minnesota State University, Mankato into a Minnesota-based digital creator and producer. Materials emphasize his creator career, human-interest storytelling, community-support and fundraising projects, professional media coverage, public-facing business materials, and continued relationship with Minnesota State University, Mankato. Formats may include PDF and web captures, photographs, video and audio files, published media, event records, media kits, project documentation, award records, and descriptive inventories. The collection is intentionally selective and should exclude private beneficiary information, confidential business records, credentials, financial account data, and unrelated personal correspondence.

The collection documents Liljenquist’s development as a Minnesota State alumnus, digital media professional, and public-facing community-support creator. It is not intended to preserve every social media post or every business record. Instead, the archival record should emphasize representative materials with clear provenance, context, rights information, and long-term research value.

Dates

Creation: 2019

Creator

Liljenquist, Josh (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

There are restrictions on use of this collection for research purposes. The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property and libel laws as they apply.

Conditions Governing Use

There are restrictions on use of this collection for research purposes. The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property and libel laws as they apply.

Biographical / Historical

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Josh Liljenquist was born in 1997 and grew up in Fairmont, Minnesota. Independent reporting by the Fairmont Sentinel and Minnesota Star Tribune identifies him as a Fairmont native and Fairmont High School graduate. He later attended Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he studied communication and completed a communications degree in 2021.

Liljenquist began building a social media career while in college. His early short-form work included entertainment and general-interest content. By 2023 and 2024, his public work had shifted substantially toward human-interest stories and community support. CBS Minnesota documented a December 2023 project in which he worked with Lotus restaurant in Minneapolis to provide food to people experiencing homelessness while also drawing attention to a local business. In February 2024, CBS Minnesota reported on his collaboration with Starkey to help a man receive hearing aids after a fundraiser had been organized to assist him.

The Minnesota Star Tribune profiled Liljenquist in January 2024, describing his Minnesota roots, the rapid growth of his online audience, and the opportunities and ethical questions surrounding filmed acts of assistance. The Fairmont Sentinel profiled him in March 2024 as a Fairmont native using social media to help people in Minnesota. These and later stories document a public career built around a mix of creator media, direct assistance, fundraising, local-business visibility, and follow-up storytelling.

Liljenquist’s professional creator work operates through Joshlilj LLC. His public-facing mission, Live to Love, describes the broader purpose behind his work but is not a nonprofit organization or a single fundraising campaign. Individual public fundraisers are separate, recipient-specific efforts. His official media materials distinguish audience reach from documented public support and preserve source-linked records of selected impact stories.

In 2025, GoFundMe highlighted Liljenquist among its Top 10 Impact Creators, recognizing creators who organized fundraisers, amplified causes, or inspired their communities to give. By 2026, Liljenquist was also re-establishing formal ties with Minnesota State University, Mankato. The University’s Career Development Center added Joshlilj LLC to its employer outreach list and discussed future Employer in Residence participation, while the University Archives agreed to accept an archival collection documenting his post-graduation career.

Full Extent

3.60 Gigabytes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Josh Liljenquist Digital Media and Community Impact Collection documents the Minnesota State University, Mankato alumnus’s post-graduation career as a digital creator, producer, and community-support storyteller known publicly as Joshlilj. The collection includes biographical and university records, independent press coverage, selected fundraising and community-impact documentation, professional photography, creator-business materials, awards and recognition, and selected audiovisual records.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Josh Liljenquist donated this collection in September 2026.

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: SMHC Collection 0300. Liljenquist, Josh. Digital Media and Community Impact Collection, 2019-ongoing
Author: Adam Smith processed this collection
Date: 2026-10
Description rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description: English
Script of description: Latin