Blog

A group of volunteers from the community led our most recent round of Headwaters’ Community Innovation grantmaking work. Thanks to them—and an intermediary partnership we’ve held with the Bush Foundation since 2014—we awarded grants to these 15 organizations:

• All Parks Alliance for Change
• CloseKnit
• Foster Advocates
• Listen Up! Youth Radio
• Local Progress
• Manidoo Ogitigaan
• Mewinzha Ondaadiziike Wiigaming
• Native American Community Development Institute
• Partnership in Property Community Land Trust
• QUEERSPACE collective
• South Sudanese Foundation
• The DIAL Group
• The Fields Retreat and Learning Center
• Upstream Arts, Inc.
• Urban Homeworks, Inc

Grants are $20,000 and support communities to find new, more effective solutions to challenges and opportunities. “This group of grantees work on a range of issues including cultural preservation, creating space for LGBTQ+ youth, and influencing local policy,” says Director of Program and Grantmaking Melissa Rudnick, “They have one thing in common, though, and that’s the practice of turning to community experience and wisdom.”

The Community Innovation Grants Committee is made up of different community volunteers for each grant cycle. Headwaters thanks this round’s committee members:

• Fun Fun Cheng
• Ting Ting Cheng
• Shoua Salas
• Aimee Vue
• Marsha Yang

This marks the last round of Community Innovation Grants at Headwaters. The Bush Foundation continues to offer Community Innovation Grants; visit their website for details. Later this month, the Bush Foundation plans to announce new regional intermediary partners who will manage grant programs. The new programs will continue to invest in organizations across Minnesota.

Headwaters continues to offer grant opportunities through our longstanding Giving Project Grant and Fund of the Sacred Circle programs; and through our newer Black Seed Fund program. We’re excited to offer organizations larger grants, multi-year funding, and general operating support.