$3.4 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.

“These grants reflect our commitment to investing in community-led solutions,” said Chanda Smith Baker, Senior Vice President and Chief Impact Officer at the Minneapolis Foundation. “We fund approaches and strategies that community leaders see working in and for community.”

In the past three years, the Foundation has invested more than $10 million in community, leadership, and organizational strategies through its Racial and Economic Justice grant program. Racial and Economic Justice grants are awarded through a competitive process, with applications reviewed by a committee of Foundation staff and community members.

Photos from Mni Sota Fund and African Career, Education, and Resources

One of this year’s grants will support Mni Sota Fund, a Community Development Financial Institution that offers pathways to American Indian homeownership and entrepreneurship, creating opportunities to build intergenerational wealth. “This grant will allow us to better tailor our services to each client’s specific needs,” said Kit Fordham, Executive Director of Mni Sota Fund. “As a result, we are helping the community build cycles of prosperity in place of cycles of poverty.”

Another grant to African Career, Education, and Resources (ACER) will support communities of color in Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park as they develop policy solutions to advance equity. “After more than 15 years of community-building in this region of the metro, we’ve witnessed both the richness that our community members create—culturally and economically—as well as the challenges that the historical disinvestment in our communities continues to pose,” said Nelima Sitati Munene, Executive Director of ACER. “This grant is a great step forward in furthering ACER’s mission to create systemic change for our majority-BIPOC communities.”

826 MSP: $30,000 to support K-12 students of color in elevating their voices and leadership through writing and publishing.

African American Leadership Forum: $40,000 to support the Black Agenda for Change in Minnesota.

African Career, Education, and Resources: $50,000 to support communities of color in Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park in developing policy solutions to reduce equity gaps in education, employment, health, and housing.

African Development Center: $50,000 to support technical assistance, financial services, and lending to build wealth for African immigrant entrepreneurs and families.

African Economic Development Solutions: $50,000 to support African immigrant entrepreneurs in Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis, and Richfield.

All Square: $40,000 to support career pathways for formerly incarcerated adults.

American Indian OIC: $50,000 to support employer engagement that creates culturally affirming hiring and retention practices for candidates of color.

Amherst H. Wilder Foundation: $30,000 to support the Community Equity Program, which centers on culturally relevant public policy developed and led by communities of color.

Appetite for Change Minnesota: $40,000 to support a Black-led food justice and social enterprise in North Minneapolis.

Association for Black Economic Power: $40,000 to support the launch of a full-service credit union in North Minneapolis

Better Futures Minnesota: $40,000 to support an integrated care model offering employment, housing, life skills, and training for adults with a history of incarceration.

Black Womens Wealth Alliance: $45,000 to support the ZaRah incubator program for businesses owned by African American women.

BLCK Press Center for Broadcast Journalism: $40,000 to support training opportunities for next-generation journalists of color.

Bridgemakers: $40,000 to support problem-solving leadership and career development opportunities for under-resourced and justice-involved youth in Minneapolis.

Build Wealth Minnesota: $40,000 to support the 9,000 Equities Initiative, which reduces the homeownership gap for Black families.

CAPI USA: $40,000 to support career pathways, family stability, and resettlement programs at multi-service centers in Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis.

Center for Economic Inclusion: $30,000 to support the organization’s work to close racial economic equity gaps in partnership with leaders throughout Minnesota.

Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization: $40,000 to support a community engagement process to build representative leadership, mission, and accountability.

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos En La Lucha: $40,000 to support leadership development, organizing, and policy development in Latinx communities.

Centro Tyrone Guzman: $25,000 to support intergenerational Latinx leadership, advocacy, and community engagement that addresses cultural and racial economic equity.

Change, Inc.: $40,000 to support the promotion of youth and young adult leadership through the Rights of Passage Program for people of color.

Comunidades Latinas Unidos En Servicio: $50,000 to support culturally tailored wealth-building strategies for Latino families.

Cookie Cart: $35,000 to support a social enterprise to improve economic inclusion for youth of color.

Comunidades Organizado el Poder y la Accion Latina (COPAL) MN: $40,000 to support civic participation in Latinx communities.

Council on American-Islamic Relations MN: $40,000 to support civic engagement, counter hate, and address inequities in education, housing, and human rights.

Cultural Wellness Center: $40,000 to strengthen community involvement in economic development and community health issues.

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

Dream of Wild Health: $30,000 to support a sovereign-based food system and culturally based leadership training site for Native youth.

Emerge Community Development: $40,000 to support placed-based, culturally relevant employment services in Minneapolis.

Family Housing Fund: $35,000 to support people of color as owner-occupants in multi-family units in Minneapolis.

GrassRoots in Action: $40,000 to support organizing and civic engagement in North Minneapolis.

Hope Community: $50,000 to support intergenerational capacity building, economic ownership, and collective power.

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota: $40,000 to support policies that protect the human rights of immigrants and secure racial and economic justice for immigrants and refugees living in Minnesota.

Juxtaposition Arts: $40,000 to support a bridge to college and careers through a youth art-based apprenticeship model.

Lake Street Council: $45,000 to support increased investment in businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color along the Lake Street commercial corridor.

Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota: $40,000 to support access to homeownership and affordable rental housing for Bhutanese, Hmong, and Lao communities.

Latino Economic Development Center: $50,000 to support technical assistance, financial services, and lending to build wealth for Latinx entrepreneurs and families in Minneapolis and first-ring suburbs.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation: $50,000 to support technical assistance, lending, and capacity-building for developers of color investing in Minneapolis Cultural Districts.

Market Entry Fund: $40,000 to support start-up funding and market placement of food products created by entrepreneurs of color.

Memorialize the Movement: $50,000 to support the preservation of plywood murals created by artists of color after the murder of George Floyd.

Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers: $50,000 to support a shared-ownership model of cooperative and employee ownership to build wealth in communities of color.

Metropolitan Economic Development Association: $50,000 to support technical assistance, financial services, and lending to build wealth for entrepreneurs of color.

Minnesota Community Health Workers Alliance: $40,000 to support policy advocacy and community organizing led by community health workers.

Minnesota Council of Churches: $50,000 to support the Racial Justice Initiative and 3-Point Action Plan to dismantle the structures and repair the damages of racism in Minnesota.

Minnesota Housing Partnership: $35,000 to support investments in emergency rental assistance and eviction prevention policies.

Minnesota Voice: $40,000 to support canvasing tools that expand civic and political participation in communities of color.

Mixed Blood Theatre Company: $35,000 to support the 12×12 Project, which highlights, amplifies, and celebrates diverse stories in 12 communities within the Twin Cities.

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

Muslim American Society of Minnesota: $20,000 to support voter engagement and mobilization through technology in the Muslim American community in Minneapolis.

Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI): $50,000 to support community organizing, policy development, and civic engagement to advance systems and structural change.

Neighborhood Development Center: $50,000 to support entrepreneurs and business owners of color.

New Africa Community Development Corporation: $50,000 to provide support for “A New Black Wall Street” in and around the West Broadway Cultural Corridor.

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

Northside Economic Opportunity Network: $50,000 to support low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs of color.

Northside Funders Group: $35,000 to support economic revitalization and opportunities in North Minneapolis.

Northside Investment Cooperative Enterprise: $50,000 to support the purchase of properties and create and maintain affordable housing and commercial space, prioritizing Northside residents of color.

PFund Foundation: $49,234 to provide business capacity grants to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and business owners of color.

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

Project for Pride in Living: $40,000 to support real estate developers of color.

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

Rebound, Inc.: $40,000 to support youth leadership and advocate for changes to the juvenile justice system.

Redesign, Inc.: $50,000 to support entrepreneurs and developers of color through technical assistance and lending services.

Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment: $40,000 to support increased civic engagement of Muslim women.

Rosy Simas Danse Inc.: $50,000 to provide technical and fiscal support for artists of color.

Sahan Journal: $50,000 to expand equitable and comprehensive media coverage among immigrants and communities of color.

Sakan Community Resource: $35,000 to provide support and comprehensive homeownership education to East African and Muslim families.

Sierra Leone Community in Minnesota: $50,000 to support Sierra Leonean and West African entrepreneurs.

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

The BrandLab: $30,000 to support career training for young people of color who are interested in marketing and advertising.

The SEAD Project: $40,000 to support emerging leaders in creating narratives that break down barriers in Southeast Asian communities.

Think Small: $40,000 to support people of color with education, training, and career pathways in childcare.

Twin Cities Media Alliance: $35,000 to provide technical-skills training opportunities to emerging media storytellers and artists of color.

Twin Cities RISE: $40,000 to support personal empowerment, career training, and job placement in Black and African American communities.

United Renters for Justice: $50,000 to shape policy and support rent stabilization in Minneapolis.

Unity Community Mediation Team: $50,000 to support improved public safety through policy changes in the justice system and mediation between community members and police.

Urban Homeworks: $40,000 to support resident engagement, advocacy, and policy work.

Urban League Twin Cities: $50,000 to support wealth-building strategies and advocacy within the African American community.

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

West Bank Business Association: $50,000 to promote economic opportunity and prosperity in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis.

West Broadway Business and Area Coalition: $45,000 to support youth of color as they pursue careers in urban planning and architecture.

Whittier Alliance: $40,000 to support community-based organizing and advocacy in the Whittier neighborhood.

To receive updates about future Racial and Economic Justice grant rounds and other funding opportunities at the Minneapolis Foundation, sign up for email updates.