Mini-Grants for K-12 Educators Teaching Native American Content

Minnesota educators at public, private, charter, and tribal schools are eligible to apply for up to $2,000.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), in partnership with the Minneapolis Foundation, is pleased to announce a new program to provide educators with small grants to assist them in teaching Native subject matter accurately. This funding opportunity is part of the SMSC’s Understand Native Minnesota campaign, which is focused on improving the narrative about Native peoples, their history and culture, and tribal governments in Minnesota K-12 schools.

The program has $500,000 available for mini-grants in 2024, with awards of up to $2,000 per educator. Educators at public, private, charter, and tribal schools are all welcome to apply.

This mini-grant program aims to:  

1. Promote the acquisition and use of Native-specific resources for classrooms and libraries.  
2. Develop new standards-aligned curriculum resources.  
3. Support educators in attending high-quality, Native-specific professional development.  
4. Support experiential learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom.  
5. Implement best practices for Native students.

This funding opportunity is open to educators at Minnesota K-12 schools statewide. This includes educators at public, tribal, charter and private schools. Individual educators, groups of collaborating educators, and schools may all apply.

Proposals should align with one or more of the five key categories for funding. These include:   

1. Resources and/or materials for the classroom that address current or upcoming Minnesota state academic standards. 
2. Professional development that specifically focuses on Native content or best practices for working with Native students. 
3. Classroom projects or experiential learning opportunities that expand classroom learning about Native content. 
4. Curriculum and resource development that meets current or upcoming Minnesota state academic standards.  
5. Other activities which are consistent with the goal of teaching Native content more accurately and comprehensively.  

Grant dollars must be fully expended by Dec. 31, 2024.

We will begin accepting applications on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. All applications must be submitted by 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. We do not accept late applications or submissions via email.

All applications must be submitted online through the Minneapolis Foundation’s online portal, GranteeView. If you are applying for a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation for the first time, you will need to set up an account for yourself and for your school in our system. Follow the instructions on this webpage to register yourself as a Grant Administrator and your school as a grantee organization.

Before starting your application, please review the Mini-Grant Guidelines and Application Preview Worksheet. This will help you determine whether your proposal aligns with the funding criteria of the mini-grant program.

To help prepare for your application, you can also find an example budget here. 

We hosted an information session on January 11, 2024, via Zoom. That recording is posted here. 

If you have questions about your application, please reach out to the following:

• Guidance on Native American Curriculum and Professional Development: Odia Wood-Krueger, odiawoodkrueger@gmail.com 
• Questions about Grant Guidelines: Josh Johnson, jjohnson2@mplsfoundation.org
• Help Logging in to the Application Portal: grantsupport@mplsfoundation.org or 612-672-8665