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
Indigo: A Music, Dance and Video Project
Indigo is a Hmong girl group created by Lucy Vang, Nancy Thor and Alexis Vang, whose goal is to shine light on their community through music and dance.
View the Artists' Work
Chief Buffalo Memorial Mural
The Chief Buffalo Memorial Mural in Duluth visually tells the story of a community and the descendants of Chief Buffalo, remembered as a prominent figure in northern Minnesota.
View the Mural
Frogtown Farm: An Urban Oasis
Frogtown Farm is an urban farming oasis located in Saint Paul, consisting of over 5 acres of green space, including wildflowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables. Watch the video to hear from Frogtown Farm staff and board members.
Watch the video
Art In This Present Moment Grants Announced
Funding recognizes Minnesota’s Black, Indigenous and people of color artists and their work created at the intersection of cultural art and activism.
Read the News