We are invested in a Minnesota where all women, girls, and gender-expansive people have what they need to thrive.
From Our President & CEO
This was a year of connecting to community. Women’s Foundation funding reached 40 counties, we held a Community Connect event in Rochester and sponsored 29 community events. Convening is one way we amplify the power of community leaders and drive collective impact for social change.
WFM invests in research and advocacy to transform conditions so all people can thrive. This year, we presented our Status of Women & Girls in Minnesota research to the Jobs & Economic Development committees of both the Minnesota Senate and House, because the data shows that if we improve economic security and safety for women, we can fulfill our state’s promise and ensure that our renowned quality of life is experienced by all our families. We celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA), which WFM was instrumental in helping pass. The package of laws established and strengthened workplace protections for women and increased accommodations for pregnant and lactating employees.
At the 10th anniversary celebration, I moderated a conversation on women’s economic futures with Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, and Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy. The conversation, which closed the celebration, reminded attendees that making an impact takes persistence.
Bringing equity to more Minnesotans takes decades of building coalitions, making compromises, and bringing sectors together. Legislative change often moves incrementally, but the results can be transformative within our lifetimes. We have to be willing to get in the fight, support strong ideas and leaders through good times and bad, and stick with the fight for the long haul to see results.
Young women and girls are powerful beyond measure. The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota created the Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota in 2016 to invest in the power of young women and their ideas. Young women and gender-expansive people are already leading in their communities. Our role is to listen, invest in their dreams, and remove barriers.
Our Levers for Systems Change:
Advocacy & Policy Change
Convenings & Partnerships
Listening & Research
Community Investing
Narrative Change
Our Impact
Fiscal Year 2025 | April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025
$5,262,063 invested in 208 organizations
$4,162,063 in grants to organizations and individuals
“The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota has been more than a funder-it has been a cornerstone, a partner in the truest sense. Your commitment to preserving the energy, voice, and well-being of women leaders is not just necessary-it’s visionary.”
Comfort Dondo, Founder & Executive Director, Phumulani Minnesota African Women Against Violence
Donor advised funds add impact to WFM’s mission, and they also add to the grantmaking power of investing in women and girls. In the last three years alone, DAF holders contributed almost $500,000 to organizations leading reproductive health in and around Minnesota.
Katherine Waymire’s dad started a donor advised fund (DAF) in part to involve his children in supporting nonprofits close to their hearts.
“The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota has been more than a funder-it has been a cornerstone, a partner in the truest sense. Your commitment to preserving the energy, voice, and well-being of women leaders is not just necessary-it’s visionary.”
WFM is responsive. We trust communities and invest in their solutions. Our impact is scalable, flexible, and nimble. We activate research, advocacy, narrative change, and convening to add impact to our community investments across four areas.
Leadership & Community Power
Our Young Women’s Initiative strengthens pathways to leadership in Minnesota. Each year, the Young Women’s Cabinet advances a policy agenda on issues they care about-maternal mental health, ethnic studies, protecting access to books, and support for crime victims. They advocate by testifying, meeting with legislators, and organizing events at the Capitol.
Women, girls, and gender-expansive people are key drivers of economic growth in Minnesota. A $100,000 grant to Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) reached future entrepreneurs with a booster program that teaches financial fundamentals and includes one-on-one coaching with cohort support.
Over two years, Fund for Safety grantees served more than 35,000 Minnesotans. The fund supports organizations addressing gender-based violence—such as trafficking, harassment, sexual and intimate partner violence, and systemic violence.
Our first Reproductive Freedom Fund grants protect and resource organizations leading on the frontlines in Minnesota, now and in perpetuity. Each grant includes funding for staff wellness and development. As the recipients of our inaugural Rest Up Awards share, investing in the people who care for our communities is critical to the long-term sustainability of organizations.
WFM’s $28 million in endowment investments align with our mission for gender and racial justice, and create extra impact through Program Related Investments (PRIs), statewide. PRIs build community power by investing in the economic success of women, girls, and women entrepreneurs, while maximizing our endowment for greater community impact.
WFM has invested $1.1 million in PRIs with MN CDFls. Since 2011, more than $11.3 million has been recycled through communities 11 times, resulting in 135 loans and lines of credit.
As the only community foundation dedicated to Minnesota’s women, girls, and genderexpansive communities, we are investing in equity + justice today while transforming conditions for future generations.
Our impact lies not only in what we do, but how we show up as a funder and partner. We listen, we seek feedback, we respond, and we build community power by trusting and amplifying community leaders.
