Q1 Grantmaking Spotlight: Grantees Fuel Justice in AAPI and Latino Communities

Q1 grantees are determining how to spend funds in their work for justice.

In the first quarter of the year, 20 grants totaling over $2.6 million were approved for grantee organizations changing unjust systems and finding solutions to long-standing inequities.

Throughout our service region—Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and the 76 Native nations that share the same geography—our grantees are exercising their power. Many are receiving general operating funds, which allows them to determine how best to deploy their lived experience so their communities can thrive.

Q1 grantees include AAPI Civic Engagement Fund and Centro Latino of Iowa—one a national organization, the other a growing regional nonprofit—both aiming to achieve justice by modeling and promoting service and advocacy of, by, and for the communities they support.

AAPI Civic Engagement Fund supports AAPI advocacy in our region and the nation.

AAPI Civic Engagement Fund aims to scale grassroots efforts to uplift Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities as an integral part of our country’s democracy.

A three-year, $750,000 general operating grant—through AAPI’s fiscal sponsor, the nonprofit New Venture Fund of Washington, DC—will help AAPI Civic Engagement Fund continue cultivating a culture of civic participation in AAPI communities through grantmaking, capacity building, advocacy, and research. It has plans to strengthen community organizations, foster learning and training, advance leadership development and activism, and promote AAPI voices, stories, and experiences.

Since its inception in 2013, AAPI Civic Engagement Fund has awarded over $29 million in grants and provided more than 3,700 hours of learning opportunities for AAPI-led organizations across the country. It further supports AAPI movement building through annual convenings and the Shared Liberation Network, a grantee-led group aimed at peer learning exchanges to build skills, strategies, and relationships that increase impact.

Centro Latino reaches out to provide services and connections for Latinos in Iowa.

Based in Council Bluffs, Centro Latino of Iowa is a cultural and social hub for Latinos in Iowa, who face bureaucratic and social barriers when working and interacting within the community and when attempting to gain access to social and financial resources that can support them. Centro Latino provides social and financial stability services, legal assistance, adult and cultural education, civic engagement, and networking opportunities so Latinos gain the support they need to thrive.

Centro Latino will use a one-year, $75,000 grant for general operations, supporting its internal capacities, policies, and practices. It plans to expand its value as an advocate to the larger community by being a bridge to agencies and employers across the country. Its outreach is especially critical for Latinos in rural areas, many of whom aren’t aware of the organization or its services.