Next steps for someone working in philanthropy:

• How does trust show up in your organization? Trust-Based Philanthropy’s self-reflection tool breaks it down so you can see where your current practices land – whether you’re new to this work or have been at it for a while!
• As you expand and advocate for trust-based philanthropy, having a space for shared tools, ideas, and questions can be helpful. Connect with your peers through the Trust-Based Philanthropy Peer Exchange.
• And of course, we want to work with you! Funders, institutions, and interested partners can reach out to our Co-Executive Director, Bilal Alkatout, at bilal@headwatersfoundation.org

Challenging norms - for everyone:

• Consider what you think you know about decision-making – in any space! Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t one right way to make decisions.
• Reconstruct what you think is possible in the workplace. Media Justice shares their findings on 32 hour workweeks and the philosophy behind their Compensation Policy.
• Ever dealt with a challenging funding process? Crappy Funding Practices is informative for funders and cathartically entertaining for anyone who has had to navigate an unnecessarily difficult grant application! (You can also report your own experiences)
• Our way of challenging who is and isn’t invited into grantmaking decisions is through our intentionally cross-class, multi-racial, and multi-generational cohort of the Giving Project. Learn more and keep an eye out for ways to support the 2024-25 cohort in their grantmaking journey!

In Alfred’s words, learn about the 4 organizations that the Wellspring Fund grantmaking committee selected:

• Dream of Wild Health uses its ecosystem-based approach to make food justice and food sovereignty an accessible reality that benefits everyone through its Indigenous Food Network.
• Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL) organizes workers across racial identities to fight against low-wage worker exploitation.
• Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia/United Renters for Justice advocates for and empowers all renters, especially Black, Indigenous, and People of Color renters, for just and healthy housing with dignity.
• Greater Minnesota Workers Center is crucial in building power outside of the Twin Cities so that when low-wage immigrant and refugee workers fight against xenophobia and racism for fair labor practices, they know they’re not alone.

Learn more about the Tending the Soil (TTS) coalition that Alfred is a part of!

• Check out this Star Tribune article on what’s on the horizon for this powerful group of power-building nonprofits and labor organizations.
• Join TTS member, CTUL, at their Worker Solidarity Committee meetings. Building off of a recent win for worker rights and worker dignity, the November meeting is happening this weekend (11/3)! Get involved by emailing ally@ctul.net

Native voices and intersectionality

• You’ve heard of Hot Ones, but have you heard of Wings with Wayne? Check out their latest episode with Wambli Quintana, a Tribal youth leader.
• Excited for some art? Illuminative created a virtual gallery, “A Celebration of Indigenous Queer Intimacies”, honoring intimate and intricate 2-Spirit and LGBTQ+ Connections
• Learning about what “Two-Spirit” means? Them’s InQueery series includes an introduction to the history of the term Two-Spirit.

Excited about community grantmaking?

• If you are interested in becoming a community grantmaker for the next Wellspring Fund, we’d love to connect! Please reach out to Kate Vickery at kate@headwatersfoundation.org to learn more.

Storytelling work in action

• Get to know some of our local organizations doing narrative and cultural organizing! (And consider them as you make your Give to the Max Day gifts?!)
  • Mizna creates a nurturing and liberatory space for artists, filmmakers, writers, and cultural workers. Learn more about the many arts events they host.
  • The Southeast Asian Diaspora (SEAD) Project is a community of creative and literary storytellers redefining what community development and cultural representation looks like for the Southeast Asian diaspora. Check out their programs here.
  • New Native Theatre produces, commissions, and creates authentic Native American stories, bringing indigenous values center stage on all levels of theatre production. Keep an eye out for their next show!
  • Although they’ve since sun-setted, you can learn more about Reclaim the Block’s legacy by checking out their sunset statement Their letter also includes a list of abolitionist organizing in Minnesota to get connected to.
• And, of course, we’d be amiss if we didn’t plug our own stories! Check out our grantee stories and donor stories!

Narrative change strategy

• Curious about what narrative research looks like? The Decolonizing Wealth Project published “Solidarity By Design,” which includes more than 2 years of research! Complete their short form to access it.
• Movement work so often involves imagining a world we’ve never seen. Center for Story Based Strategy dives into Radical Imagination here and the way it can serve as an antidote to the extractive economic system we live under.
• It’s happening in Minnesota! This is Reframe shared a case study that showcased how the Our Minnesota Future coalition worked together in shaping narratives around a Minnesota that is greater than fear.

Finally, especially this month, don’t forget to fight the narratives of capitalism by resting

• Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, provides a historical analysis of what rest means when we live under a capitalism derived from slavery and plantation labor, and when we are existing under white supremacy. Her podcast episode on For the Wild is a great introduction to Rest as Resistance.
• Check out the Audre Lorde project’s guide to planning wellness. Because as Audre Lorde said: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”