Minnesota Community IDEAS Grantees
Congratulations to our 15 grant recipients for the inaugural Minnesota Community IDEAS grant program!
This statewide grant opportunity awards grants based on an organization’s transformational impact within three target communities — Native-led, Native-serving organizations, Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities Metro Area. The program, a partnership with Bush Foundation, awarded its first grants in May 2025.
Meet Our 2025 Grant Recipients
Native-led, Native-serving Grantees
Grant funding will support the expansion of INDIGEBOX, which infuses early childhood education with authentic Indigenous cultures.
Bagley, MN
Grant funding will support measures to address mobility issues for Elders to promote health and community connectivity.
Nett Lake, MN
Grant funding will support the Sunktanka Wicahyuapi (They Care for Horses) program that creates opportunities for youth and cultural revitalization.
Morton, MN
Grant funding will support the Community House, which provides affordable transitional housing and culturally specific healing for Indigenous residents experiencing homelessness and addiction.
Minneapolis, MN
Grant funding will support the development of an Urban Immersion Campus to restore Minnesota’s Indigenous languages through immersion in early childhood education.
Minneapolis, MN
Greater Minnesota Grantees
Grant funding will support growth in organizational capacity and program development to increase impact through building and enriching communities within and across identities.
Avon, MN
Grant funding will support Hooyo's Leadership and Wellness Hub that provides holistic, culturally relevant mental health resources, economic empowerment and leadership development for Black women in Central Minnesota.
Saint Cloud, MN
Grant funding will support the expansion of The Key facility, which provides wraparound care that addresses the physical, emotional, academic and social needs of area youth.
Northfield, MN
Grant funding will support the expansion and capacity of the SANE program, which provides critical services to victim-survivors in Carlton County.
Duluth, MN
Grant funding will support the development of a dynamic community hub that addresses the pressing needs of youth, families and the broader Pelican Rapids community.
Pelican Rapids, MN
Twin Cities Metro Area Grantees
Grant funding will support the Sears Redevelopment Project to transform the vacant 17-acre site in Saint Paul into a vibrant, inclusive “World Cultural Heritage Hub.”
Minneapolis, MN
Grant funding will support the expansion of immigrant and refugee food system supports including food shelf and farmers’ market access, along with new community gardens and greenhouse.
Brooklyn Center, MN
Grant funding will support the expansion of a tuition-reduced, entrepreneurial-focused barber school for Black American high school students to develop business and leadership skills.
Saint Paul, MN
Grant funding will support the development of Empowerment Groups to provide under-served, criminalized women who have experienced domestic violence with support, advocacy and community.
Minneapolis, MN
Grant funding will support a 2-year Homeownership Accelerator Pilot to break cycles of exclusionary access to financial management resources experienced by BIPOC communities.
Saint Paul, MN
Impact through Grants
grant recipients
across three target geographies
granted
in 2025
selection committee members
from across Minnesota
Thank You to the Community Selection Committee
The Foundation convened a separate Community Selection Committee of community leaders for each target community. Each committee reviewed applications and made final decisions on the organizations awarded funding from each target community.
The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation would like to recognize the members of the Community Selection Committee who diligently considered each applicant and the impact each had on their community.
Natalie Fern - Grants Associate, CommunityGiving
Tailor Doeden - Director of Community Engagement, Central Minnesota Community Foundation
Ahmed Makaraan - Executive Director, ESHARA (Ethnic Self-Help Alliance for Refugee Assistance)
Nate Dorr - Program Manager, Greater Minnesota Housing Fund
Fayise Abrahim - Director of Strategic Initiatives, Youthprise
Majra Gibbons - Senior Program Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation
Mercedes Plendl - Senior Director of Programs, PFund Foundation
Biiftuu Ibrahim Adam – Community Volunteer
CeMarr Peterson - Senior Director of Impact, Black Collective Foundation MN
Niila Hebert - Executive Director, Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement (MAVA)
Due to the breadth and depth of relationships with the Native-led, Native-serving applicants, this community selection committee would prefer to remain anonymous. All committee members identify as Native and serve organizations which are Native-led, Native-serving in the state of Minnesota.
About the Minnesota Community IDEAS Program
The Minnesota Community IDEAS Program was informed by, and developed alongside, community members. This statewide grant program seeks to design, test and spread ideas that make our communities better for everyone and inspire, equip and connect people through meaningful, community-led change.
Grant selection was determined by community members through Community Selection Committees that considered the following criteria for grant review and selection.
Impact
Communities realize significant, long-lasting change
Development
Communities develop, test and spread ideas
Equity
Communities are equipped and connected to benefit from change
Agency
Communities inform and form change
Solutions
Communities drive action