Archibald and Edyth Bush established the Foundation in 1953. The instruction they left for the future stewards of their resources was fairly simple: do the most possible good for the community.
Today, the Bush Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the geography. We work to inspire and support creative problem solving – within and across sectors – to make our region better for everyone.
Broadly speaking, we do this in few ways:
We invest in people and organizations working on any issue that is important in their communities. These investments are managed primarily by our Community Innovation and Leadership programs. They are awarded through competitive grant and fellowship processes open to all eligible people and organizations in the region.
We invest in efforts to address specific issues that the Foundation believes are a priority for the region. We manage these investments through our strategic initiatives – Community Creativity, Education, Nation Building and Social Business Ventures. Each initiative makes a handful of big investments every year to accomplish a particular goal.
We also support organizations that help create and sustain an environment for our programs and initiatives to be successful. Ecosystem grants sustain organizations that create unique and significant value for Bush Foundation grantees, Fellows, Rebuilders and others.
Through communications and convenings, we share stories of the people and organizations we invest in, and create and support events that inspire, equip and connect people across the region we serve.
The Bush Foundation has seen a lot of change over the past 60-plus years. But the thing that has always been the same is our commitment to do the most possible good with the resources Archie and Edyth left to the community.