A Minnesota That Works for Everyone
WE ARE COMMITTED TO DISMANTLING A BELIEF IN A HIERARCHY OF HUMAN VALUE, WITH A FOCUS ON RACIAL EQUITY.
As we work to create a just and vibrant Minnesota where all communities and people thrive, we know we can never realize our vision unless we advocate for equity.
Facing Race Awards
Our Annual Facing Race Awards celebrate individuals and organizations working to create a racially equitable community.
Narrative Change
Storytelling is how we make sense of the world around us. We can’t get to a just and equitable world until our collective narrative fairly and wholly represents each and every one of our communities.
Art In This Present Moment
During challenging times, artists are at the forefront of expressing a community's response and demanding change. We launched Art in This Present Moment, an initiative of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, with funding from the McKnight Foundation, to support their work.
We are providing financial support to artists who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who are changing and challenging dominant narratives through their craft.
Equity Resources
These articles, links and other resources offer ways to act now and learn more about how to be anti-racist and advocate for racial equity.
Analyzing Our Grantmaking
In 2020, we undertook a project to assess our grantmaking and measure how we use our grant dollars to contribute to racial equity within the East Metro and the state of Minnesota as a whole.
To fully understand our contributions to the various racial and ethnic communities that live here, we set out to disaggregate all of our grantmaking data from the past few years. Our data disaggregation project methodology report is available for those who would like to learn more, and we wrote about our learnings in a recent blog post.
Stories of Advocating for Equity
Redefining What Equity Looks Like
Entrepreneur and Foundation Board Member Alex West Steinman is embracing equity and accessibility with her work.
Watch the video
Stories From Across Minnesota: Caring for Community
Jessica Lee Velasco is a mother, advocate, leader, organizer and activist who uses her platform to engage, encourage and empower her community in Worthington, Minnesota.
Watch the video
Changing the Way One Community Looks at Race
Educator and performer T. Mychael Rambo educates and inspires youth and police in Hibbing, Minnesota.
Learn More
Stories From Across Minnesota: Preserving Language and Culture
The Boys & Girls Club of the Leech Lake Area serves over 1,200 Indigenous youth ages 5-18. They find ways to integrate language and culture into all of their programming, including through technology.
Watch the video