Reimagine Education Grants
New Funding Opportunity
A community partner who attended a convening said, “I believe in the power of people to change systems, not the other way around.”
Those words resonate with the Minneapolis Foundation now more than ever given the toll the pandemic and recent civil unrest have taken on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and our youth.
In 2019, we engaged community partners, educators, and more than 1,500 young people at the All-Metro Student Conference to Reimagine Education. They told us that institutions such as our public education system and philanthropy must shift to:
- See us.
- Listen.
- Be guided by the lived experiences and wisdom of young people, parents, educators, and other members of our local BIPOC communities.
Today, we’re excited to share a new request for proposals and grant guidelines for our Reimagine Education initiative. These resulted from advice and themes that emerged from our convenings, in Reimagine Education reports, and from voices in community.
We’re interested in:
- Student and community leadership and power building.
- Creating culturally responsive and inclusive schools.
- Addressing structural barriers to racial equity in our education system.
We will accept online applications from 1 p.m. on Thursday, November 5 through 1 p.m. on Thursday, December 10. These guidelines are aligned with our new Strategic Framework, which guides our strategy setting and encourages us to be inventive in our thinking and actions.
Here’s how my colleague Chanda Smith Baker described one of her key takeaways from our Reimagine Education convenings:
“Young people told us culture matters and they want relationships with teachers to nurture their curiosity. Our students want to be in an environment that allows them to be engaged and have a curriculum that is reflective of and relevant to their lived experiences.”
This grant round embeds the wisdom and vision of these students. With Chanda, I’m pleased to share this opportunity with you.
