During the third quarter of 2024, the Northwest Area Foundation approved 27 grants worth $5,906,500.
Our grantmaking supports organizations building social, racial, and economic justice—helping communities within our region of eight states and 76 Native nations thrive on their own terms. They’re advancing long-overdue change in deep connection with the land they inhabit and communities they serve—Native Americans, communities of color, immigrants, refugees, and people in rural areas.
We include grants of $10,000 or more in the list below. For information on grants of less than $10,000, please visit our grants database.
Descriptions of highlighted grants appear in our quarterly grants blog — Q3 Grants Highlight Healing as a Key Condition of Justice
African Economic Development Solutions of St. Paul, MN, will receive $375,000 over three years to support its culturally responsive business services, advocacy, and organizational infrastructure and growth to sustain African immigrant-owned small and minority-owned businesses. Grant term: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2027
Byrd Barr Place of Seattle will receive $500,000 over two years to support its direct services, organizational infrastructure, and systems change efforts. Grant term: Aug. 1, 2024 – July 31, 2026
Craft3 of Seattle will receive $500,000 over two years to support its efforts to sustain and strengthen its delivery of equitable commercial lending products and culturally responsive business services for entrepreneurs of color (EOC). Grant term: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2026
Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul of St. Paul, MN, will receive $250,000 over two years to support its collaboration with Ramsey County, HealthPartners, and the City of Saint Paul to pair each family it serves with a family coach to address structural barriers that make it hard for American Indian families to get out of poverty. Grant term: Oct. 1, 2024 – Sept. 30, 2026
MN8 of St. Paul, MN, received $50,000 to support its efforts to empower Southeast Asian Minnesotans to actively engage in the political process through civic education and leadership initiatives. MN8 seeks to build a strong voter base, particularly among youth, and promote sustained community involvement in shaping systemic change. Grant term: Sept. 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2024
Mountain Shadow Association of Bozeman, MT, received $250,000 to support its restorative services for Apsáalooke families, which reimagine substance abuse treatment systems to heal families and strengthen their connections to their culture and ways of life. Grant term: Sept. 1, 2024 – Aug. 31, 2025
NDN Collective Inc. of Rapid City, SD, received $50,000 to support its political advocacy, civic engagement, and environmental initiatives, particularly during the 2024 election—mobilizing resources and strategies to protect democracy, Indigenous rights, and Mother Earth, while addressing critical issues like voter participation, climate justice, and racial discrimination in key regions. Grant term: Aug. 1, 2024 – July 31, 2025
Nexus Community Partners of St. Paul, MN, will receive $900,000 over three years to support expansion of its services and geographic reach, as well as planning and management of internal organizational change as it scales its work. Grant term: June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2027
Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) of Minneapolis will receive $500,000 over two years to support its efforts to build organizational strength to pursue its vision of economic freedom and opportunity for Black entrepreneurs in North Minneapolis. Grant term: Sept. 1, 2024 – Aug. 31, 2026
Philanthrofund (PFund) Foundation of Minneapolis received $10,000 to support its revitalization campaign. Grant term: Aug. 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2024
Philanthropy Northwest of Seattle will receive $250,000 over three years to support its development strategy to grow the capacity of philanthropy in its region to redistribute resources and power to underinvested communities. Grant term: Aug. 1, 2024 – July 31, 2027
The Directors Council of Des Moines, IA, will receive $900,000 over three years to support its One Economy and One Economy Financial Development Corporation (OEFDC) initiatives. Funds will also support the expansion of One Economy’s systems change and advocacy efforts. Grant term: Sept. 1, 2024 – Aug. 31, 2027
Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation of Porcupine, SD, will receive $900,000 over three years to support its efforts to revitalize Lakota lifeways and to reconnect its community development efforts on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Funds will also support development of a seven-generation liberation plan. Grant term: Sept. 1, 2024 – Aug. 31, 2027
Unite Oregon of Portland, OR, will receive $250,000 over two years to support its primary focus areas: housing justice, climate justice, community safety, education equity, economic justice, and health equity. Grant term: May 1, 2024 – April 30, 2026
Ventures of Seattle received $200,000 to support its efforts to build an equitable economy in Seattle, and to support its new leadership transition and planning. Grant term: Aug. 1, 2024 – July 31, 2025
YWCA USA of Washington, DC, received $10,000 as a vice president discretionary grant. Grant term: Aug. 19, 2024 – Aug. 19, 2024