Foundation Awards $2.4 Million in Economic Mobility Grants

The Minneapolis Foundation today announced grants to 19 organizations working to expand economic mobility across the Twin Cities.

The grants, totaling $2.43 million, support nonprofit organizations that help small businesses start, grow, and succeed. By investing in entrepreneurs, these organizations strengthen neighborhood business districts, create jobs, and build a stronger regional economy.

The awards are part of the Minneapolis Foundation’s Economic Mobility grant program, which has distributed more than $20.7 million over the past six years.

In response to the economic crisis created by federal immigration enforcement this year, the Minneapolis Foundation adapted this grant round to address urgent community needs. The Foundation is investing in a smaller cohort of nonprofit organizations that support small businesses, providing larger awards and extending the grant period to two years.

“Our region is still feeling the economic effects of the disruptions we’ve experienced this year,” said Jo-Anne Stately, Senior Vice President of Impact at the Minneapolis Foundation. “These grants support nonprofit partners that help small businesses adapt, recover, and build the resilience our communities need to thrive.”  

Photo courtesy of African Development Center

Grants were awarded through a competitive process, with applications reviewed by a committee of Foundation staff and community members.

One of this year’s awards will support First Children’s Finance, a nonprofit that provides loans and business development assistance to child care businesses serving low- and moderate-income families. “Every day, I see how child care creates opportunity for families, communities, and the entrepreneurs who provide it,” said Suzanne Pearl, the organization’s Minnesota Director. “This investment will help us connect even more Minneapolis-area child care business owners with the support and capital they need to create and sustain lasting businesses, build wealth, and reinvest in their communities.”  

Another grant will support the African Development Center of Minnesota, which helps African immigrants and refugees build financial stability through business development, homeownership, and financial education.

“Our work of economic empowerment and the success of our communities wouldn’t have been possible without partners like the Minneapolis Foundation,” said Nasibu Sareva, the organization’s CEO. “While still living in the shadow of the Covid years, these political, economic, and social times are significantly testing us in multiple ways, both disruptively and systematically. Against this backdrop, community, commitment, and collaboration have perhaps never been more important.”

• African Career Education and Resources, Inc.: $100,000 to support coordinated, culturally relevant technical assistance and business development services that strengthen small businesses and improve access to capital.
• African Development Center of Minnesota: $150,000 to support technical assistance and lending services in 16 languages while improving operational efficiency through strengthened technology systems.
• African Economic Development Solutions: $120,000 to strengthen internal systems and infrastructure while expanding one-on-one technical assistance, credit-building support, business development services, and access to commercial real estate loans.
• Coalition of Asian American Leaders: $120,000 to support the Ignite Fund’s third cohort, strengthen the cohort pipeline, and enhance program evaluation and impact infrastructure for Asian American entrepreneurs and small businesses.
• First Children’s Finance: $120,000 to provide individualized technical assistance, business consulting, training, and access to capital to help childcare businesses stabilize, grow, and sustain long-term operations.
• Lake Street Council: $150,000 to support individualized technical assistance, expand access to capital, and enhance specialized services and marketing efforts for small businesses along the Lake Street commercial corridor.
• Latino Economic Development Center: $120,000 to support one-on-one technical assistance, business plan development, and access to lending for Latino entrepreneurs seeking to launch or grow small businesses.
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation: $150,000 to support the Commercial Corridor Program, strengthening corridor-based business development organizations through capacity building, technical expertise, and financial stability to promote healthy commercial corridors and local commercial real estate ownership.
• Metropolitan Economic Development Association: $100,000 to provide access to capital and one-on-one technical assistance for historically underserved small business owners in Minneapolis and the surrounding inner-ring suburbs.
• Minnesota Consortium of Community Developers: $150,000 to expand a coordinated small business support model that provides technical assistance, education, and mission-driven lending to entrepreneurs at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
• Mni Sota Fund: $150,000 to support sustained and integrated small business services while launching and operationalizing the Indigenous Wealthbuilding Center as a hub for Native entrepreneurship in Minneapolis.
• Neighborhood Development Center: $150,000 to support a coordinated small business support model that provides entrepreneur training, technical assistance, business incubator access, and mission-driven lending to low-income entrepreneurs.
• New American Development Center: $100,000 to support responsive technical assistance, business training, and capital access that strengthens East African and Somali-owned small businesses.
• Northside Economic Opportunity Network: $150,000 to support an integrated suite of small business services, including one-on-one technical assistance, business development support, training, business incubation, and access to capital.
• Philanthrofund Foundation: $150,000 to provide affirming, accessible, and flexible funding and capacity-building support to advance wealth-building opportunities for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
• Seward Redesign, Inc.: $150,000 to provide integrated small business support services, including one-on-one technical assistance, access to capital, and ecosystem engagement to support business stabilization, growth, and long-term sustainability.
• West Bank Business Association: $80,000 to strengthen and expand organizational capacity through individualized technical assistance, marketing initiatives, and enhanced business engagement efforts for small businesses in the Cedar-Riverside commercial district.
• West Broadway Area Coalition: $100,000 to provide one-on-one technical assistance, business workshops, and community engagement initiatives to strengthen the West Broadway commercial corridor.
• WomenVenture: $120,000 to provide an integrated small business support model that includes business training, one-on-one technical assistance, and access to capital for women- and minority-owned businesses.