2023 Reimagine Education Grants

The Minneapolis Foundation announces a call for proposals from nonprofits, schools, and school districts seeking grants for work that advances equity in our local K-12 schools and supports youth voice. Our Reimagine Education grants prioritize efforts to:

• Elevate student and community voices and power to build bridges between schools, families, and communities and improve school climates and academic outcomes.
• Provide opportunities for educators to build their understanding of race and equity and implement strategies that create culturally responsive and inclusive schools.
• Advocate for policies at the school, local, and state level to address systemic barriers to racial equity in Minnesota’s education system.

WHY ARE WE MAKING THESE GRANTS?
These grant guidelines reflect our Reimagine Education strategy, which uses a community-centered lens to ensure that the wisdom and experiences of students, parents, principals, teachers, administrators, and community members guide efforts to disrupt inequities in our schools.

“There are educators and other staff members who have dedicated their lives and careers to ensuring the young people they engage with feel heard and have a bright future,” said Chanda Smith Baker, the Foundation’s Chief Impact Officer and Senior Vice President. “These grants recognize that they need resources and support to innovate and find new ways to meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of our young people.”

Our education guidelines were revised in late 2020. We were influenced by the perspectives of the more than 1,500 young people and educators who attended the All-Metro Student Conference in 2019 and the researchers and educators who developed the Reimagine Education reports: Expanding the Vision of Reimagine Minnesota and Education Equity in the Age of COVID-19.

APPLICATION PROCESS
We will begin accepting applications on May 23, 2023. All applications must be submitted online. If you are applying for a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation for the first time, you will first need to set up an account in our online portal, GranteeView.

All applications must be submitted online by the deadline of 1 P.M. ON JUNE 27, 2023. We do not accept late applications or applications submitted via email. All applicants will be notified of funding decisions by September 1, 2023. The grant period is September 1, 2023, to June 15, 2024.

Grantees will be asked to submit a brief narrative report and itemized budget at the conclusion of the grant period. Please note that our grant reports emphasize learning and reflection with our grantee partners, not judgment.

We recommend downloading this document to preview the application questions and prepare for the online application.

WHAT WE WILL FUND
We plan to award approximately $1.2 million to $1.4 million to 25 to 30 groups. Grants will range from $10,000 to $75,000, with an average award of $25,000 to $40,000.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of  the types of work we plan to support:

• Student leadership and power building
• Recruitment and retention of diverse educators with equity-focused mindsets
• Parent/family/community organizing
• Principal and teacher leadership and collaboration
• Equity and climate frameworks
• Local or state policy advocacy

We are also open to other ideas that help create equitable outcomes for children and youth from local Black, Indigenous and communities of color. Our foundation supported a diverse set of groups in Minneapolis and inner-ring suburbs in 2021 and 2022 as part of our first and second grant rounds.

REVIEW PROCESS
Please note that our program and grants administration staff invite and train community members and colleagues across our organization to review proposals and make funding recommendations.

Patrice Relerford, our Foundation’s education program director, strongly encourages applicants to avoid ambiguous language and describe their programs, organizational focus, and the communities their work supports in a clear and straightforward manner.

ELIGIBILITY
Funding will be awarded to public schools/school districts and 501(c)(3) nonprofits that organize students, parents, and community members; engage in education policy advocacy to advance equity and eliminate disparities; and help educators collaborate to build their understanding of race, equity, and culture, and to create positive school climates.

We will prioritize proposals that impact Minneapolis; however, we will consider organizations in inner-ring suburbs (Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Robbinsdale, St. Louis Park, etc.).

Current and past grantees may apply as long as they are up to date with any reporting requirements due to the Minneapolis Foundation.

FURTHER ASSISTANCE
Please email Patrice Relerford at prelerford@mplsfoundation.org if you have questions about your organization’s eligibility, the content of your proposal, or the timeline of this RFP. If you have technical questions about this process, please contact our Grants Administration team at grantsupport@mplsfoundation.org or 612-672-8665.