Announcing Request for Proposals: Investing in the Field to Advance the Blueprint for Action
Today, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for funding through the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota (YWI MN). The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota invests in organizations, leaders, and the movement to create the conditions for women and girls to thrive. In the second phase of YWI MN investments, WFMN is continuing to invest more than half a million dollars to move specific Blueprint for Action recommendations forward.
This Request for Proposals invites front-line organizations working in the intersecting areas of economic opportunity, safety, and leadership on behalf of and with young women to apply for a multi-year grant of between $15,000 and $25,000 each year in general operating support. The grant cycle runs March 31, 2020 through March 30, 2021.
Grant Information & Timeline
Grants are two-year investments of $15,000 to $25,000 each year in general operating support to a cohort of organizations in Minnesota serving young women and girls, ages 12-24. Grants will be renewable the second year based on evaluation and progress towards goals and outcomes.
While grants will be coded for general operations, organizations must describe and report on specific programming aligned with the Blueprint for Action recommendation outcomes outlined in the RFP.
The YWI MN grantmaking process engages members of the Young Women’s Cabinet and WFMN staff as members of the YWI MN Grantmaking Committee. The Committee reviews the grant proposals and recommends awards for groups that best represent the mission, goals, and values of the Foundation and YWI MN. Learn more about past recipients of Investing in the Field grants.
Organizations with questions may contact Brook LaFloe, the Dr. Reatha Clark King Fellow | YWI MN Program Manager, at Brook@wfmn.org.
What is the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota?
The Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota (YWI MN) is a statewide initiative centering young women of color and American Indian young women to create a Minnesota where every young woman thrives. YWI MN was launched in 2016 as a public-private partnership between the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFMN) and the Governor’s Office of the State of Minnesota. YWI MN is driven by a powerful cross-sector partnership of government, businesses, nonprofits, philanthropies, and young women to build and ensure equity in outcomes for all young women in the state. While centering young women of color and American Indian young women, YWI MN focuses on young women between the ages of 12 and 24, from eight demographic communities across Minnesota that face opportunity gaps, including African American, African Immigrant, American Indian, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latina, LGBTQ* (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer), Disabilities, and Greater Minnesota young women. Our definition of a young woman is anyone who identifies as a woman and is inclusive of cisgender, transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary people.
What is the Blueprint for Action?
The YWI MN was designed by the Women’s Foundation with young women at the center and as key drivers of the work. To ground YWI MN in the lived experiences of young women and the community-specific challenges and solutions they identified, WFMN held Listening Sessions and commissioned a community action research process focused on young women from eight communities that experience the greatest disparities in outcomes in our state: African American, African Immigrant, American Indian, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latina, LGBTQ+, young women with disabilities, and young women in Greater Minnesota.
Learnings from the action research engagement yielded fresh and innovative approaches to issues of inequity, which became the Blueprint for Action. The Blueprint for Action is driving targeted and cross-sector solutions tailored specifically to young women who, data show, face the biggest barriers.
Deadlines & Information Sessions
Application deadline is now closed.
Optional informational sessions are available for all organizations interested in learning more.
