Our 2024 Impact

We know that young women are leading today, and we’ve seen how early investments in their leadership lead to lasting change and pave the way for even greater investments. Through our Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota, we invest directly in their ideas and vision as an equity strategy for whole community well-being because when young Black, Indigenous, and young women of color thrive, all young women, families, and communities thrive.

We learn from listening to and investing in our state’s communities who directly experience inequities and injustice, according to the data. The research we compile in the Status on Women & Girls+ informs the policies we advocate for during the legislative session. We work with the Governor’s Office to educate young women and gender-expansive people ages 16-24 about advocacy & policy work through our Young Women’s Cabinet. They learn from our research and develop their own policy agendas during the program.

One of the policies that the Cabinet members and WFM advocated for and was successfully passed by the legislature was the creation of a statewide health education standard that includes mental health, sexual and reproductive health, bodily autonomy, consent, and other health-related topics.

This year, WFM increased our We Thrive grantmaking to four colleges supporting women’s entry into high-wage, high-demand fields and expanded the program to reach budding entrepreneurs. With a $100,000 grant to Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), we are investing in pathways to wealth-building for Black and Latina women 25+.

“What we heard from entrepreneurs […] is that they needed mentorship. They needed focus. They needed mental wellness support. They needed to be able to come together and just to be. Because I don’t think there are a lot of spaces where we can just come together and just be and be supportive of each other. [This] program provides that for them and provides resources and training.”
– Renay Dossman, President & CEO of NDC, WFM

Read more: Rupturing the Racial Wealth Gap Recap

WFM’s investments in research and policy come together at the Capitol, where we successfully advocated for a $4 million increase for the Safe Harbor program, which supports sex-trafficked and exploited young people through age 24. The Office of Missing & Murdered Black Women & Girls was created and funded, as was the Office of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives. Using the research, we supported our partners to create a Task Force on Preventing Violence Against Latina Women. The data and our partners show us that solutions to disproportionate violence need to begin by understanding the unique circumstances facing different communities across our state. When we center their experiences and solutions, we can better understand and support families experiencing this harm and prevent violence before it starts.

We learn from the field and we lead with community expertise.

Watch interview: Zede’ Harut, Seeds Worth Sowing; Grantee-partner & Rest Up awardee

The Women’s Foundation invests in well-being of the mind, body, and spirit so that communities are whole, healthy, and sustainable. Research and listening show us how we need to change systems and better support the work on the ground, across the state. In the last year, we commissioned listening sessions with more than 100 people in rural Minnesota to learn from a diverse geography and our most marginalized Minnesotans.

Organizations in greater Minnesota are listening to and caring for huge constituencies, while experiencing deep polarization in many communities that harms access to adequate health care, as well as access to the preventative care like sex education and contraception. Grantee-partners and care providers shared their challenges providing access to health care, including a lack of resources to meet the deep needs in mental health. The field scan with rural partners is informing how we support grantee-partners and their needs in greater Minnesota, and increase resources for those who need it most.

We heard:

• “There is difficulty getting sex ed into schools in my community right now just because even the word sex in sexual health is really triggering”.
• In rural Minnesota we don’t have the resources to care for the community members we have…and there are many here who are far better resourced that are fighting tooth and claw to ensure that LGBTQ+ people are denied services, jobs, public positions, and education – including education centering around reproductive health.
• Bemidji needs a drop-in center for LGBTQ+ youth that can provide a safe space, access to resources, and adult staff familiar with the challenges that they’re facing.