Community Innovation

Grantee Learning Logs

An important part of creative problem solving are the lessons learned along the way. As a learning organization, we realize how important these discoveries are and have intentionally included time for reflection and sharing as part of how we work. 

In that same spirit, we ask our Community Innovation grantees to share their reflections and learnings through interim and final reports. Their learning logs are a great resource for what went well, what didn't and what others might take away as they work to make our region better for everyone.

The Barbara Schneider Foundation

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

For further indigenizing, or bringing under control, Crisis Intervention Teams in Indian Country by integrating existing assets, strengths, cultural values and practices in the Native communities to improve the safety, health and well-being of the Native population

Frogtown Neighborhood Association

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

Furthering creative problem solving in Frogtown through transformative leadership and community engagement

Ramsey County

Term: August 01, 2014 - February 28, 2019

To develop a sustainable model for individuals in recovery from mental illness and/or chemical dependency, which will be integrated into the East Metro's Mental and Chemical Health crisis care system through the Mental Health Crisis Alliance

Dunn County

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

For the Placing Local First Initiative; economic diversification in nine Vision West ND communities that will increase understanding of local cluster development and test solutions that focus on creative place-making and local marketing

Northland Foundation

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

To conduct AGE to age: Bringing Generations Together for Breakthrough Solutions in three rural Northeastern Minnesota communities

The BrandLab

Term: June 01, 2017 - June 30, 2020

The BrandLab would like to see the Twin Cities develop the most inclusive and diverse marketing industry in the nation. There is still a long way to go to realize that vision, but the BrandLab is committed to this cause through their Fearless Leaders work. This highly collaborative initiative, guided by a diverse group of professionals from Twin Cities marketing and creative firms, will focus on developing and facilitating workshops for local firms about diversity and inclusion. BrandLab’s biennial “State of the Industry” report is an important tool to measure and share the progress of this work.

Appetite for Change

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

Hungry For Change: food business incubation in North Minneapolis in partnership with NEON

Artspace Projects

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

Oglala Lakota Artspace: Native Arts & Business Incubator administered in partnership with The Lakota and First Peoples Fund

Cultural Diversity Resources

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

Mobilizing and empowering immigrants and refugees in the Fargo-Moorhead region to reduce racial, social and economic disparities

Citizens League

Term: June 01, 2017 - June 30, 2019

By 2030 more than 1 in 5 million Minnesotans will be over the age of 65. A significant portion of them will be people without traditional family support, or “solos” – those who are aging alone. The Citizens League, Minnesota Elder Justice Center and two “solos” have joined forces to address this critical issue. Together, they will form a taskforce to explore the existing resources and policies relevant to solo health care decisions, identify core elements of a “Backup Plan” for solos to assure personal health and wellbeing, and create a recommendation plan for future work to implement solutions.

Minnesota Education Equity Partnership

Term: June 01, 2016 - June 30, 2018

To conduct a 'Race Equity and Excellence in Education Action Planning' process with the goal of identifying specific strategies to address race equity in education

Southwestern District Health Unit

Term: August 01, 2014 - August 31, 2018

To implement a Community Paramedic program that will fill gaps in and improve the region's health care system

Propel Nonprofits

Term: June 01, 2017 - June 30, 2018

Many Muslim women face significant barriers when trying to engage and lead in their communities, but RISE is working to change that. RISE will create online and offline spaces for Muslim women to connect, build training models to help them strengthen leadership skills and provide opportunities to step into leadership positions in their communities. Through this work, RISE hopes to change the public narrative about Muslim women, so that their story is no longer told for them, it’s told by them.

Nonprofits Assistance Fund serves as fiscal sponsor of Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE) and expects to work with RISE on this grant.

Community Connections

Term: April 01, 2017 - April 30, 2019

Affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues in Western North Dakota. The influx of people arriving in Western North Dakota in search of jobs in the oil fields created an unprecedented demand on service providers. Williston, a community at the center of this rapid growth, experienced extraordinary burdens on services. In response, six churches in Williston, together with Community Action Partnership, Job Service ND, Veterans Administration, ND Veterans Department and the Williston Basin Resource Coalition, will collaborate on an effort to better understand and respond to this issue in their community and surrounding rural areas. Together, they will collect data about the homeless population in the area, present findings to community stakeholders, develop a plan to address the issue and test some of their ideas.

State of Minnesota, Department of Health

Term: August 01, 2014 - September 30, 2017

To bring together diverse stakeholders from medical, insurance, advocacy and cultural communities to create and test maternal health solutions which are accessible, culturally acceptable and financially sustainable

Rural Renewable Energy Alliance

Term: March 01, 2017 - October 31, 2018

Energy poverty, or a lack of access to modern energy services, affects one out of eight families in the United States. Rates in some communities like Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (Leech Lake) are even higher. In communities where households are on a fixed income, even a modest increase in the cost of heating or cooling can force families to make difficult choices about their resources. While energy assistance is available, funds are limited. Rural Renewable Energy Alliance will collaborate with Leech Lake partners to build a local, sustainable and shared alternative energy infrastructure. This partnership engages energy insecure households through the Tribal Government Community Action Agency, sustains an education and workforce pipeline with Leech Lake Tribal College and consult local utilities agency expertise. Developing and demonstrating this model has the potential to be transformative at the regional and national scale.

Hennepin Healthcare Foundation

Term: June 01, 2016 - March 31, 2018

To develop a model for capacity building to provide medical respite for persons experiencing homelessness in Hennepin County

Sacred Pipe Resource Center

Term: June 01, 2016 - December 31, 2017

To increase civic and social engagement of the American Indian community in order to build community leaders who can collectively address the pervasive, negative socio-economic disparities of the American Indian population in Bismarck-Mandan

Healthy Community Initiative

Term: November 01, 2013 - December 31, 2017

Northfield Promise' is a collective impact initiative designed to achieve community-level change for children and youth growing up in Northfield. By aligning all the major community institutions around a shared set of measurable benchmarks, assembling diverse action teams, collecting and sharing data, implementing action plans, and sharing progress with community stakeholders, the project seeks to ensure success for all Northfield youth.

The Matthews Opera House and Arts Center

Term: August 01, 2016 - June 30, 2019

To create a community collaboration centralizing the arts as an integrated asset for inclusivity, development and sustained outreach

Pillsbury United Communities

Term: June 01, 2016 - December 31, 2017

To create North Market: building with, not for, to improve community health in North Minneapolis

Western Wellness Foundation

Term: June 01, 2015 - December 31, 2017

To plan, establish and prepare to implement a 'one-stop-shop' family resource center to improve delivery, increase capacity, remove barriers and close gaps in family and social services

Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia

Term: June 01, 2016 - December 31, 2017

To continue the revitalization of indigenous languages through building families of Ojibwe speakers

Community Violence Intervention Center

Term: June 01, 2016 - December 31, 2017

To create a 2 Generation Plan to End Violence that will incorporate community generated ideas, include outcome measures, and identify solutions to test

Pearl Crisis Center

Term: June 01, 2015 - December 31, 2017

To support the Mille Lacs County Family Violence Coordinating Council in finding solutions to domestic violence and other types of abuse

St. Louis River Alliance

Term: August 01, 2014 - November 30, 2017

To develop a creative, resilient and community-driven future for the diverse neighborhoods along the St. Louis River

Tribal Nations Research Group

Term: June 01, 2015 - January 31, 2018

To promote high quality research relevant to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians that will advance the tribe's economic development and uphold its positive images

Great River Greening

Term: August 01, 2014 - September 30, 2017

To create a shared community vision for the Seven Mile Creek watershed, establish a watershed council to implement the community vision and build the relationships necessary to sustain watershed rehabilitation efforts into the future

Oglala Sioux (Lakota) Housing

Term: August 01, 2014 - September 30, 2017

To develop an appropriate legal entity under the Oglala Sioux Tribe to oversee water, sewer and solid waste operations and infrastructure improvement

Impact Foundation

Term: November 01, 2015 - October 31, 2018

To create an inclusive coalition that builds connections and engages community stakeholders, gathers data on youth, creates a data report with actions, and provides a Blueprint so that youth become more respected, empowered and engaged