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We invest in people working on lots of ideas around the region.
There are some ideas that we have made major commitments to help spread. All these ideas advance our purpose statement: to inspire and support creative problem solving — within and across sectors — to make our region better for everyone.
We are currently working proactively to spread these four ideas:
- Make our region the leader in student-centered education.
- Support Native self-determination and help governments solve problems by better understanding and designing for the people they serve.
- Make our region the best place in the country to launch and grow social purpose businesses.
- Make art central to problem solving on more issues in more communities all around our region.
When we talk about spreading ideas, we mean inspiring, equipping and connecting people to put those ideas in practice. Spreading ideas is about building movements for change that:
INSPIRE PEOPLE TO CHANGE
Spreading great ideas is about hearts and minds, helping people think differently about how they can make change.
EQUIP PEOPLE TO CHANGE
Once people are inspired to change, they need to have the skills and resources to change successfully.
CONNECT PEOPLE TO CHANGE AT SCALE
Successful change requires a supportive network of people doing the work that both sustains change and creates a virtuous circle, inspiring others to join. We want to build networks that are greater than the sum of their parts, spreading ideas and energy across communities for regional impact.
To spread these ideas, we are trying to create momentum toward a new way of thinking and acting. We approach this work with an ecosystem mindset and invest in efforts that will impact the work of lots of other people and organizations.
We encourage people who are working in these issue areas to check out our open grant programs. We don’t have an open grant program specifically tied to our strategic initiatives. If you know of exciting work happening that could relate to our initiatives, please let us know.