[CircleUp] Northwest Area Foundation Awards $2.04 Million to Prosperity Building Efforts

[Heidi Davis]

News Release


 


Contact:  Susan Buckles, APR

                Public Relations Specialist

                Northwest Area Foundation

               (651-225-3865) sbuckles at nwaf.org
<mailto:sbuckles at nwaf.org>  

 

 

Northwest Area Foundation Awards $2.04 Million to Prosperity Building
Efforts 

 

Grants will support proven approaches that build assets and wealth,
strengthen capacity and leadership and improve public policy 

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (November 19, 2009)  The Northwest Area Foundation has
awarded 14 grants totaling $2.04 million to nationally-known and
ethnically-diverse organizations with proven track records of success
offering approaches that reduce poverty by building prosperity across
its eight-state region.  This is the first set of grants made under the
Foundation's new strategic plan approved by the board of directors in
October 2008. 

 

"We believe the best way to reduce poverty is to ensure fair access to
meaningful opportunity," said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of the
Northwest Area Foundation.  "That change begins with making sure people
can build their financial assets, but it also means building on the
human potential that resides in every low-income community.  These
grants support a diverse array of outstanding organizations that are
hard at work unlocking that potential." 

 

The awards will further one or more of three outcomes critical to the
Foundation's mission:

 

Asset and wealth building - $1.565 million was awarded to nationally
recognized nonprofits that can support organizations that integrate
economic development with asset- and wealth-building practices and
expand regional partnerships for workforce development, small business
strategies and green jobs development across the Foundation's
eight-state region.  

*         $1.265 million was granted to a cluster of intermediary
organizations that provide local community organizations with technical
assistance, training, networking, leadership, and support for small
grants. Grants include:

o   CFED of Washington D.C.  - $365,000

o   National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders of San
Antonio, Texas  - $300,000 

o   Oregon Native American Business and Entrepreneurial Network of
Tigard, Ore.  - $200,000

o   First Nations Oweesta of Rapid City, S.D. - $200,000

o   First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colo.  $100,000

o   Seattle Economic Development Association of Seattle, Wash., fiscal
sponsor of Express Advantage - $100,000

 

*	$300,000 will support partnerships among workforce and small
business development initiatives in Minneapolis.   Grants were awarded
to Emerge Community Development and Summit Academy OIC, for training in
the new green jobs industry and to increase access to jobs created
through federal stimulus dollars.  A grant to the Neighborhood
Development Center will provide training, technical assistance and micro
lending for start-up and expanding micro businesses.

 

Improving public policy solutions - $375,000 was awarded to the
following organizations:

*	Northwest Federation of Community Organizations  of Seattle,
Wash., - $100,000, to conduct research and increase civic engagement of
low-income, immigrants and communities of color by training and engaging
leaders who will build coalitions to address public policy issues that
impact poverty reduction and prosperity building initiatives.
*	$275,000 was awarded to assist in the expansion or start-up
phase of State Fiscal Analysis Initiative (SFAI) affiliates in North
Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. SFAI affiliates are nonprofit,
nonpartisan organizations that conduct rigorous policy analysis in order
to advocate for responsible tax and budget policies, particularly as
they impact people with low- and moderate- incomes.  Grants to lead
these efforts were awarded to:

o   Consensus Council, Inc.  of Bismarck,  N.D. - $100,000

o   Rural Dynamics, Inc. of Great Falls, Mont. - $75,000

o   South Dakota Voices for Children of Sioux Falls, S.D. -  $100,000

 

Strengthening capacity and leadership - $100,000 was awarded to Western
Organization of Resource Councils of Billings, Mont, to develop
leadership and advocacy in the small-scale renewable energy industry
that will leverage federal incentives and create green jobs and
businesses which benefit people with low incomes.  Project examples
include a micro-biodiesel pilot program and retrofitting
energy-efficient schools to reduce energy costs.

 

The Foundation is currently accepting grant proposals only on an
invitation basis.  For more information about the Foundation's
grantmaking approach and the work of grantees across its eight-state
region, please visit www.nwaf.org.    

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts by the
people, organizations and communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to reduce poverty
and achieve sustainable prosperity. These states were served by the
Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill's son
Louis W. Hill established the Foundation. 

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