$4.2 Million Awarded in Racial and Economic Justice Grants

Racial and Economic Justice grants support organizations and projects that:

• Advance structural and systems change through policy advocacy, organizing, and movement building.
• Invest in economic systems and practices that build wealth and stabilize communities.
• Advance narrative strategies focused on racial and economic justice.

“The work these grants recipients are doing is both innovative and responsive, embedding the voices of those most affected by challenges in our community,” said Chanda Smith Baker, Senior Vice President and Chief Impact Officer at the Minneapolis Foundation.

Photos from the Sahan Journal, Pangea World Theater, and Cultural Wellness Center. 

One grant will support Sahan Journal, an independent, nonprofit digital newsroom dedicated to reporting for immigrants and communities of color in Minnesota. “Sahan Journal was founded on the belief that authentic journalism invites all of us to engage in public life and see ourselves as actors in civic and social change,” said Dawn Flinsch, the organization’s Managing Director for Development and Operations. “Our newsroom shapes and elevates coverage by, for, and about immigrants and communities of color at an unprecedented time of societal shifts that threaten to divide us. An equitable and healthy economy that includes all Minnesotans requires strong philanthropic support and political will and understanding and we are grateful for this grant from the Minneapolis Foundation.”

Another grant to the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) will support community organizing, policy development, and civic engagement to advance systems change. “Our work at NACDI is fundamentally about changing racist and oppressive systems,” said NACDI President and CEO Robert Lilligren. “This support from the Minneapolis Foundation will empower us to engage the community at all levels to build the Native community’s vision of a more just world.”

African American Leadership Forum: $55,000 to support community-created policy agendas addressing issues central to the African American community.

African Career Education and Resources Inc.: $50,000 to support wealth-building strategies for African immigrant families and businesses in the northwest suburbs.

African Development Center of Minnesota: $50,000 to support Black, Indigenous, people of color, and African immigrant-owned small businesses.

African Economic Development Solutions: $50,000 to support African immigrant entrepreneurs in Minneapolis cultural districts and first-ring suburbs.

Alliance for Metropolitan Stability: $50,00 to advance systems change through policy, advocacy, organizing, and movement building.

AL-MAA’UUN: $50,000 to support job seekers from lower-wage jobs into long-term career employment.

American Indian OIC: $50,000 to expand employer engagement efforts and provide improved access to livable-wage jobs for candidates of color.

Amherst H. Wilder Foundation: $50,000 to support the Community Equity Program, which centers on issues of racial justice and advances the leadership of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in the policy-making process.

Appetite for Change Minnesota: $50,000 to support the Metro Food Justice Network and build greater equity in the food system.

Asian Economic Development Association: $50,000 to support its integrated business and asset development services for Asian entrepreneurs in Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, and Brooklyn Park.

Black Table Arts: $50,000 to promote Black artist ownership.

BLCK Press: $50,000 to recruit talented youth from Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities in the field of journalism.

Bridgemakers: $65,000 to support the first youth of color-initiated and -led National Youth Leadership Summit in Minneapolis.

Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council: $50,000 to address the inequities and abuses in labor standards and elevate workers’ voices and rights.

Camdentown Minneapolis: $50,000 to incorporate housing and retail space for Black businesses.

CAPI USA: $50,000 to expand career pathways in green energy, health care, manufacturing, and property management for immigrants, refugees, and people of color.

Center for Economic Inclusion: $50,000 to work with public and private sector leaders and employers to close the racial employment, income, and wealth gaps.

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha: $60,000 to support worker organizing among low-wage immigrant, Black, and brown workers leading toward a just and equitable economy.

Centro Tyrone Guzman: $25,000 to support intergenerational advocacy to support racial and economic equity.

Change, Inc: $29,308 for the Rights of Passage program, which supports culturally based solutions to address systemic barriers created by racism and poverty.

City of Lakes Community Land Trust: $50,000 to assist low-income households of color in achieving homeownership.

Coalition of Asian American Leaders: $50,000 to expand its work with small Asian-owned businesses.

Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio: $50,000 to support wealth-building strategies for Latinos in Minneapolis and first-ring suburbs.

Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Accion Latina: $60,000 to support organizing, advocacy, policy development, and civic engagement in Latinx communities.

Cultural Wellness Center: $50,000 to support a community knowledge and asset engagement strategy on development investments across communities.

Destination Northside Coalition: $50,000 to build economic prosperity in North Minneapolis

Dream of Wild Health: $50,000 to support the Indigenous Food Network and rebuild sovereign food systems across intertribal urban Native communities.

Emerge Community Development: $50,000 to support workforce development, career technology centers, and social enterprises in Minneapolis and its northern suburbs.

Family Housing Fund: $50,000 to assist homebuyers who are low-income and Black, Indigenous, or people of color as they become owner-occupants in multifamily housing units.

Harrison Neighborhood Association: $50,000 to support tenant organizing and prevent housing displacement.

Heading Home Minnesota Funders: $50,000 to prevent and end homelessness in Minnesota.

Hope Community: $50,000 to advance economic mobility through policy, organizing, and movement building.

Housing Justice Center: $40,000 to help renters access safe, affordable housing through litigation, policy advocacy, and partnerships.

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota: $50,000 to prevent mass deportation, create pathways to citizenship, and increase protection and public safety for immigrants.

Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia: $60,000 to shape policy and support rent stabilization in Minneapolis.

ISAIAH: $50,000 to support organizing and grassroots leadership in Black communities in North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, and Brooklyn Park.

Isuroon: $49,952 to support wealth-building strategies for Somali and East Africans families in Minneapolis.

Jobs Foundation: $50,000 to provide paid on the job training for unemployed adults with a history of incarceration.

Lake Street Council: $50,000 to advocate for continued public investments in businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota: $50,000 to support a housing collaborative serving the Loa, Hmong, Karen, and Cambodian communities in Minneapolis and first-ring suburbs.

Latino Economic Development Center: $60,000 to support advocacy and policy work affecting Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and entrepreneurs of color.

LatinoLEAD: $50,000 to support Latinx leadership and advance strategies for economic justice.

LegalCORPS: $32,000 to provide business law services to entrepreneurs of color.

Listen Up Youth Radio: $22,000 to support a social enterprise intersecting youth employment, civic engagement, and media storytelling.

Little Earth Residents Association: $50,000 to empower leadership and governance by Native residents.

Market Entry Fund: $60,000 to support entrepreneurs of color in the start-up of micro food manufacturing.

Memorialize the Movement: $50,000 to preserve and present the narratives of the plywood murals created by Black, Indigenous, and artists of color following the murder of George Floyd.

Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers: $50,000 to provide support for shared ownership models that build wealth for low-income, Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Metropolitan Economic Development Association: $60,000 to support entrepreneurs who are Black, Indigenous, or of color.

Minnesota Council of Nonprofits: $35,000 to the Minnesota Budget Project to support racial and economic equity through tax policy changes.

Minnesota Education Equity Partnership: $50,000 to conduct research and present policy briefs to inform and shape laws and practice to benefit students of color.

Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center: $50,000 to advocate for policy and systems changes that disproportionately impact Native American communities.

Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light: $45,000 to drive renewable energy and efficiency across Black, Indigenous, and communities of color in Minneapolis Green Zones.

Minnesota Second Chance Coalition: $62,250 to advocate for fair and responsible laws and provide support to individuals affected by the criminal justice system and their families.

MN350: $49,735 to organize transit riders to advocate for their priorities and for an equitable transit system.

Mni Sota Fund: $50,000 to support wealth-building strategies for American Indian families and businesses in Minneapolis.

Native American Community Development Institute: $75,000 for community organizing, policy development, and civic engagement to advance systems change.

Neighborhood Development Center: $65,000 to provide support for entrepreneurs who are Black, Indigenous, or of color.

Network for Better Futures dba Better Futures Minnesota: $50,000 for an integrated care model offering immediate employment, housing, life skills, and training for adults with a history of incarceration.

New American Development Center: $50,000 to support wealth-building strategies for Somali and East African families and businesses in Minneapolis.

Nexus Community Partners: $50,000 support community leadership training and civic engagement for Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Northside Economic Opportunity Network: $50,000 to provide support for low to moderate-income entrepreneurs who are Black, Indigenous, or of color.

Northside Funders Group: $50,000 to support economic revitalization in North Minneapolis.

Northside Investment Cooperative Enterprise: $50,000 to purchase properties and create and maintain affordable housing and commercial space, prioritizing Northside residents who are Black, Indigenous, or of color.

Open Access Connections: $30,000 to support older low-income homeless leadership to advance affordable housing policies and civic engagement.

Pangea World Theater: $55,000 for creative placemaking and narratives centering on the realities of Dakota, Ojibwe, Latinx, Asian, Immigrant, Black, and East African communities along Lake Street.

Philanthrofund Foundation: $49,725 to provide business capacity grants to LGBTQ Black, Indigenous, and businesses of color.

Phyllis Wheatley Community Center: $30,000 to support generational wealth-building strategies.

Pillsbury United Communities: $30,000 to amplify voices of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ communities for change and a just society through community media ecosystems.

PRG, Inc.: $40,000 to support narrowing the racial homeownership gap.

Project for Pride in Living, Inc.: $50,000 to support early-career housing and real estate developers who are Black, Indigenous, or of color.

Propel Nonprofits: $50,000 to provide fiscal sponsorships to nonprofits focused on racial and social justice that are led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Reviving Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment: $35,000 to amplify the voices and civic engagement of Muslim women.

Sahan Journal: $50,000 to provide equitable and comprehensive media coverage and elevate civic participation among immigrants and communities of color.

Sakan Community Resources Inc: $35,000 to provide comprehensive support services leading to homeownership for East African and Muslim families.

Seward Redesign, Inc.: $50,000 to support entrepreneurs and real estate developers who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color.

Soomaal House of Art: $25,700 to develop a new platform to connect Somali-American contemporary artists to art-seeking patrons.

StudiOne-Eighty: $40,000 to support career training for young leaders interested in community development.

Technologist Computers SBC: $50,000 to launch the first phase of community-owned internet access in North Minneapolis.

The Riverside Plaza Tenants Association: $80,000 to support a computer training certification program.

The SEAD Project: $55,000 to work with emerging leaders to create narratives that challenge barriers in Southeast Asian communities.

Twin Cities Innovation Alliance: $42,000 to build the leadership capacity of Black youth.

Urban Homeworks: $50,000 to support resident engagement, advocacy, and policy work.

Voices for Racial Justice: $50,000 to support organizing, power building, and civic engagement led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

YMCA of the North: $50,000 to launch a comprehensive youth engagement strategy to elevate voices into operations and larger system-wide issues and barriers.

Youthprise: $50,000 to elevate the voice of marginalized youth and establish a network of youth-serving stakeholders to support youth-centered visions and strategies.

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