Headwaters 2023 Annual Report
About Headwaters Foundation for Justice
We are a Minneapolis-based community foundation that invests in grassroots organizing across Minnesota. We do this through grantmaking programs that support organizations and groups on the front lines of social change. Each of our programs invites people from the community to learn about and lead our grantmaking work. Since 1984, Headwaters has believed that the people who directly experience society’s injustices are exactly the people who know the way to collective liberation. We fund a variety of groups, and we prioritize funding groups that are led by and for Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color.
Mission
To amplify the power of community to advance equity and justice.
Four Core Values
1 | Advance equity
Our work supports movements and systems change that lead to individual resiliency and community power.
2 | Demand inclusion
People who are most affected by inequity are often left out of decision-making work. We insist on changing that—nationally, regionally, and locally.
3 | Transform power
We grow power through community-led grantmaking, donor education, and leadership development.
4 | Trust in community
A community knows itself best, and its people need to lead the way to collective liberation. Our job is to listen to and support the solutions that will improve life for all Minnesotans.
A letter to community
Dear friends,
When was the last time you paused to take stock of all you’ve accomplished? In movements for justice, we know that the change we’re after will be won over generations. We talk about taking a long view of the work, knowing that the ebbs and flows of wins and backlash are part of a larger tide pushing towards liberation. Sometimes though, always taking this long view and looking towards the next fight comes at the expense of much needed moments of celebration.
This past year asked a lot from many of us. Great challenges called for bold and dedicated action. And in many cases–both here at Headwaters and in our community of grantees–we saw action pay off.
At Headwaters, we’re celebrating the strides we’ve made in reshaping our organization in service of building effective programs to support movements for liberation. Since making the decision last fall to rethink our structure and decision-making models, our team has been working hard. We've built new tools, systems, and ways of working together. We have made tremendous progress and are stronger for it.
In our community, we’re celebrating wins in long-term fights that responded to new opportunities and threats. Community members successfully organized to buy the Roof Depot superfund site to transform it into a vibrant community hub. Abortion and transgender rights advocates won the fight to codify Minnesota as a refuge state in the face of threats to bodily autonomy. Environmental justice organizers won meaningful protections for the Boundary Waters for the next 20 years.
Celebrating these victories is energizing and grounding. It honors both the folks who worked on these wins today and the generations of people whose work laid the foundation for their success.
Taking the time to name and celebrate our victories is especially important when we see challenges on the horizon. Because, for us, victories aren’t a sign to step away, believing the work is done. Instead, they are a compelling invitation to continue leaning in. Wins remind us of what is possible when we commit to unapologetically supporting movements for justice.
We are proud to stand in solidarity with movements for liberation in Minnesota. We hope you’ll join us in taking a moment to look back and celebrate the victories of this past year, while looking ahead to the work to be done.
In celebration,
Bilal Alkatout
Interim Executive Director
By the Numbers
Headwaters’ Year in Grantmaking
Grantmaking and relationships are at the heart of what we do. We move money to movement organizations in Minnesota working towards justice, liberation, and self-determination.
- As a community foundation, we raise the dollars that we grant out. Every donor and partner is part of making our grants possible.
- We prioritize investing in BIPOC-led organizing and systems change work. We know this work is often overlooked, underfunded, and underestimated.
- We practice community-led grantmaking, meaning that community members make decisions about where dollars go. We believe community should have a say in allocation of resources and we know community members have the knowledge and expertise to guide our grantmaking.
- We offer support beyond the grant check. We strive to be champions for our grantees, amplify their work, and serve as a connector and partner.
- We trust and learn alongside our grantees. We offer general operating support and multi-year grants to provide organizations with maximum flexibility.
In Fiscal Year 2023, our grantmaking team was focused on community-centered evaluation of the Black Seed Fund, Fund of the Sacred Circle, and the Giving Project. Periodic phases of deep community-based evaluation of Headwaters’ programs and grantmaking are critical to the Foundation’s commitment to being a strategic movement partner, and a key element of Headwaters strategic plan. We know that taking time to learn from our grantees makes us a stronger partner.
Taking time to connect with our community this fiscal year meant that we did not accept applications for the Black Seed Fund, Fund of the Sacred Circle, and the Giving Project or make any new first year grants to organizations through those funds. We are proud that our commitment to multiyear funding in 2022 meant that all Headwaters 2022 grantees received uninterrupted Headwaters funding in 2023.
In addition to providing a second year of funding, Headwaters made additional grants to all 2022 Black Seed Fund, Fund of the Sacred Circle, and Giving Project grantees to support their work as Headwaters turned our attention towards evaluation. All 2022 grantees through these funds received additional, one-year grants of $16,000, for a total of $784,000 in 2023.
We are proud to support our grantee partners throughout the state as we work to strengthen and grow our grantmaking programs.
In addition to our community-led grantmaking, we moved resources through rapid response grants and donor advised funds. In Fiscal Year 2023, we granted nearly $1.4 million through donor advised funds and $40,000 through rapid response grants.
Grants Awarded
The Black Seed Fund (BSF) makes general-operating grants to Black-led groups and supports their organizational development and capacity-building needs. The Black Seed Fund supports organizations whose work amplifies the political, cultural, and economic power of Black communities.
Each organization below received a one-year general operating grant of $16,000 to support their work in 2023.
- Black Civic Network
- Black Disability Collective
- Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition
- Divine Natural Ancestry
- Divine’s Urban Gardens (D.U.G)
- Healthcare Reparations Cooperative
- Humanize My Hoodie
- Kilimo Minnesota
- Love First Community Engagement
- Million Artist Movement
- Project for Change
- Relationships Evolving Possibilities
- Somali American Farmers Association
- The Fields at Rootsprings
- T.O.N.E. U.P.
- Urban Farm & Garden Alliance
- YO MAMA’S House
The Fund of the Sacred Circle (FSC) is Headwaters' longest-standing fund. Since the early 2000s, FSC grants have provided general-operating support to Native-led organizations in Minnesota that focus on community organizing, self-determination and sovereignty, and systems change.
Each organization below received a one-year general operating grant of $16,000 to support their work in 2023.
- American Indian Cancer Foundation
- American Indian Family Center
- Center School Inc.
- Dakhóta Iápi Okhódakičhiye
- Dakota Wicohan
- Dream of Wild Health
- Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia
- Leech Lake Financial Services, Inc.
- Little Earth Residents Association
- Lower Phalen Creek Project
- Manidoo Ogitigaan
- Mewinzha Ondaadiziike Wiigaming
- Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance
- Native American Community Development Institute
- Native Governance Center
- Native Sun Community Power Development
- Northwest Indian Community Development Center
- Red Lake Endazhi-Nitaawiging
- Tiwahe Foundation
Giving Project grants support organizations that are led by and for Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color that use a community organizing approach to address root causes of injustice. They provide general-operating support to organizations that lead grassroots organizing work across Minnesota.
Participants of Headwaters’ Giving Project program cross-class, multiracial cohort raise all grant funds through 1:1 fundraising conversations with their community. Cohort members also make all grantmaking decisions.
Each organization below received a one-year general operating grant of $16,000 to support their work in 2023.
- Awood Center
- Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha
- Dream of Wild Health
- Foster Advocates
- Freedom From the Streets
- Hmong American Farmers Association
- In Black Ink
- InquilinXs UnidXs Por Justicia
- Manidoo Ogitigaan
- Minnesota Youth Collective Education Fund
- MN8
- Native Governance Center
- Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
- South Sudanese Foundation
- The Fields at Rootsprings
- The SEAD Project
- Wild Path Collective
Headwaters makes a small number of rapid response grants throughout the year to respond to emerging community challenges and opportunities.
Headwaters designed rapid response grants to allocate resources quickly and strategically, outside of our traditional grant rounds. We raise and grant out these dollars to community and social change organizations during unexpected and critical moments.
Rapid response grants offer grantees maximum flexibility, when they need it most.
The Fiscal Year 2023 Rapid Response grantees are:
Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) are charitable accounts that allow donors to make grant recommendations to Headwaters-values-aligned nonprofit organizations. Headwaters staff offer guidance and support in directing giving.
To inquire about setting up an HFJ Donor Advised Fund at Headwaters, contact Director of Individual Giving, Mary Delorie.
Catharine Reid Fund
- Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha
- CloseKnit
- Gender Justice
- Gender Justice: UnRestrict Minnesota
- Greater Minnesota Worker Center
- Green America
- Public Art St. Paul
- Relationships Evolving Possibilities
- The Fields at Rootsprings
- Tiwahe Foundation
- Wild River Conservancy
Courageous Possibilities Fund
- aMaze
- Ananya Dance Theatre
- Body Wisdom d.b.a. InterPlay
- Breast Cancer Action
- Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha
- Dream of Wild Health
- East Side Freedom Library
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- Indigenous Environmental Network
- Indigenous Peoples Task Force
- Jewish Community Action
- Kaleo Center for Faith, Justice & Social Transformation
- Micro Grants
- OutFront Minnesota Community Services
- PFund Foundation
- re:power fund
- TakeAction MN Education Fund
- The Shalom Center
- T'ruah
- Voices for Racial Justice
- Women's Environmental Institute
Earth Cloud Fund
- Land Stewardship Project
Eliana's Redistribution Fund
- Bigwitch Indian Wisdom Initiative
- Carolina Federation
- Center for Popular Democracy
- Changing Frequencies
- Climate Justice Alliance
- Dignity and Power Now
- Earthseed Land Collective
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- Health Justice Commons
- Indigenous Environmental Network
- Maji ya Chai
- Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA)
- Movement Voter Project
- Philadelphia Community Farm Inc
- Reparations Summer
- Sunrise Movement Education Fund
- Wild Path Collective
Elizabeth Scott Fund
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
Melissa Scott Fund
- American Indian Community Housing Organization
- Asian American Organizing Project
- Avenues For Youth
- Black Collective Foundation MN
- Black Immigrant Collective
- Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council
- Foster Advocates
- Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery
- InquilinXs UnidXs Por Justicia
- Juxtaposition Arts
- Migizi Communications
- Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center
- OutFront Minnesota Community Services
- Relationships Evolving Possibilities
- Restaurant Opportunities Center of Minnesota (ROC-MN)
- Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
- The Bridge for Youth
- The SEAD Project
- Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
Solidarity Fund
- Black Immigrant Collective
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- Native American Community Development Institute
The Rubin Laub Fund
- Dream of Wild Health
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- Migizi Communications
Toby and Robert Rubin Philanthropic Fund
- Awood Center
- Gender Justice
- Wild Path Collective
Anonymous Fund I
- Breast Cancer Action
- Climate Justice Alliance
- Cooperation Jackson
- Cooperative Development Funds of CDS
- East Phillips Neighborhood Institute
- Education for Liberation Minnesota
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- Little Earth Residents Association
- Lower Phalen Creek Project
- Makoce Ikikcupi
- Midwest Farmers of Color Collective
- No More Deaths
- Pillsbury United Communities
- Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association
- Sisters' Camelot
- Sustainable Economies Law Center
- The Fields at Rootsprings
- Wild Path Collective
Anonymous Fund II
- Brown Hope
- International Institute of Minnesota
- MN350
- Partners in Health
Anonymous Fund III
- For the Gworls
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- InquilinXs UnidXs Por Justicia
- QUEERSPACE collective
- re:Power
- Relationships Evolving Possibilities
Anonymous Fund IV
- Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
Anonymous Fund V
- Communities in Partnership
- Corporate Accountability
- Georgia STAND-UP (Georgia Strategic Alliance for Direction)
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- InquilinXs UnidXs Por Justicia
- Reparations Summer
- Resource Generation
- SOIL
- Solidaire Network, Inc.
Anonymous Fund VI
- A New Way of Life
- Anishinaabe Agriculture Institute
- Association of American Indian Affairs
- Black and Pink, Inc
- Blue Ridge Abortion Fund
- Brigid Alliance
- Cobalt Foundation
- For the Gworls
- Headwaters Foundation for Justice
- Indigenous Climate Action
- Indigenous Women Rising
- Make the Road New York
- Mariposa Fund
- Midwest Access Coalition
- Native Conservancy
- Native Renewables
- New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
- No More Deaths
- Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project
- Soul Fire Farm Institute
- The Women’s Safe House
- Tierra Para Las Mujeres
- Transgender Law Center
- Turn 2 U, Inc.
- United Negro College Fund, Inc.
- VOICE OF THE EXPERIENCED
Financials
Note: The numbers included in this section are preliminary, unaudited numbers.
Final audited financials will be available on our website in 2024.
People
Fiscal Year 2023 Staff
As of June 30, 2023:
- Bilal Alkatout, Interim Executive Director
- Mary Delorié, Director of Individual Giving
- Kristin Gilbert, Operations Manager
- Sierra Judy, Program Associate
- Wakíŋyaŋ LaPointe, Program Officer for Native Communities
- Chris Olson, Grassroots Gift Officer
- Veronica Rucker, Executive Support Specialist
- Emily Scott, Director of Operations & Finance
- Ewan Scotto, Director of Communications
- Kate Vickery, Program Officer
- Sarah Xiong, Donor Systems Associate
Fiscal Year 2023 Board of Directors
- Habon Abdulle, Secretary
- Camille Cyprian, Board Chair
- Alyssa Hawkins, Officer
- Eric Howard, Vice Chair
- Fran Hutchins, Officer
- Leah Olm, Treasurer
Fiscal Year 2023 Development Committee Members
- Roula Alkatout
- Amara Andrus
- Karla Arredondo-Payan
- Mia Divecha
- Graham Early
- Grace Fogland
- James Miller
- Nimisha Nagalia
- Emma Olson
- Julie Vo McConnell
- Marsha Yang
Fiscal Year 2023 Finance Committee Members
- Leah Olm*
- Kong Her
- Alexander Robinson
- Stephanie Cole
* Board Member
Grantee Spotlight
Headwaters' grantee community is made up of powerful organizers working across the state to build power in communities using a diverse range of strategies. Each of these organizations has a unique and powerful story to tell about their work and how it moves Minnesota closer to liberation.
Our Grantee Stories project - told in our grantees' own words – shares the stories of the work happening everyday in our communities to advance equity, transform power, and demand inclusion and justice for all Minnesotans.
Our first Grantee Story in 2023 highlighted Freedom from the Streets. Freedom from the Streets was founded in 2019 to support and build power with people who are homeless, formerly homeless, or on the verge of homelessness. In our first Grantee Story, Junail Anderson, Executive Director of Freedom from the Streets, shares how they support community members experiencing homelessness and organize for change.
“The vision I have for Freedom from the Streets is that people that is homeless or formerly homeless run it, are on its board, and are the ones out in the community - everything.
Because the simple fact is, if you've never been homeless or you've never been on the verge of homelessness, you don't know what to do.”
Get to know Freedom from the Streets and Junail’s work, in her own words.
Photo by Drew Arrieta
Grantee Spotlight
Headwaters' grantee community is made up of powerful organizers working across the state to build power in communities using a diverse range of strategies. Each of these organizations has a unique and powerful story to tell about their work and how it moves Minnesota closer to liberation.
Our Grantee Stories project - told in our grantees' own words – shares the stories of the work happening everyday in our communities to advance equity, transform power, and demand inclusion and justice for all Minnesotans.
Our first Grantee Story in 2023 highlighted Freedom from the Streets. Freedom from the Streets was founded in 2019 to support and build power with people who are homeless, formerly homeless, or on the verge of homelessness. In our first Grantee Story, Junail Anderson, Executive Director of Freedom from the Streets, shares how they support community members experiencing homelessness and organize for change.
“The vision I have for Freedom from the Streets is that people that is homeless or formerly homeless run it, are on its board, and are the ones out in the community - everything.
Because the simple fact is, if you've never been homeless or you've never been on the verge of homelessness, you don't know what to do.”
Get to know Freedom from the Streets and Junail’s work, in her own words.
Photo by Drew Arrieta
Donor Spotlight
Headwaters’ donors represent a brilliant and diverse cross-section of Minnesotans from every walk of life. Through our Donor Stories project, we introduce our community to some of Headwaters’ remarkable donors and donor-organizers.
One of those donor organizers is Aimee Vue. In her story, Aimee shares how her experience with grantmaking as a teenager opened her eyes to the possibilities – and problems – of philanthropy. She explains how her time in Headwaters’ Giving Project built on that foundation and gave her more tools to make philanthropic change with the young people she works with today.
“In my role, I work with a lot of young people – especially BIPOC young people - who say things like, “I can't be a philanthropist. I don't know how to do that. I don't have the money to do that.” And I get to help them begin to see things differently. By having those conversations with young people, I’ve seen how important it is to be able to redefine what philanthropy is with the lens that anyone can participate in philanthropy.”
Get to know Aimee and learn about how she works towards her vision of change.
Photo by Drew Arrieta
Donor Spotlight
Headwaters’ donors represent a brilliant and diverse cross-section of Minnesotans from every walk of life. Through our Donor Stories project, we introduce our community to some of Headwaters’ remarkable donors and donor-organizers.
One of those donor organizers is Aimee Vue. In her story, Aimee shares how her experience with grantmaking as a teenager opened her eyes to the possibilities – and problems – of philanthropy. She explains how her time in Headwaters’ Giving Project built on that foundation and gave her more tools to make philanthropic change with the young people she works with today.
“In my role, I work with a lot of young people – especially BIPOC young people - who say things like, “I can't be a philanthropist. I don't know how to do that. I don't have the money to do that.” And I get to help them begin to see things differently. By having those conversations with young people, I’ve seen how important it is to be able to redefine what philanthropy is with the lens that anyone can participate in philanthropy.”
Get to know Aimee and learn about how she works towards her vision of change.
Photo by Drew Arrieta
As a regional community foundation with an unapologetic commitment to justice, your continued engagement powers our programming. With your support, Headwaters’ community-guided grantmaking continues to expand. Your dollars support grassroots organizations throughout Minnesota that are on the frontlines of systems change.
Thank you for being in this work with us and for showing us your values-alignment with a financial contribution. Make your gift today!
Support Our Work
As a regional community foundation with an unapologetic commitment to justice, your continued engagement powers our programming. With your support, Headwaters’ community-guided grantmaking continues to expand. Your dollars support grassroots organizations throughout Minnesota that are on the frontlines of systems change.
Thank you for being in this work with us and for showing us your values-alignment with a financial contribution. Make your gift today!
Illustrations and graphic design by Blackbird Revolt