Rest Up Awards Announced in Honor of Women’s Foundation’s 40th Anniversary

$400,000 in award funding for 40+ local leaders to invest in rest and well-being

Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFM) today announced the recipients of its inaugural Rest Up Awards to cultivate rest and well-being with women leaders across the state. The award is a keystone celebration of WFM’s four decades of commitment to advancing gender and racial justice and transformation with women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals throughout the state.

“For the past 40 years, we have championed a more inclusive and just future for women in Minnesota, and there has never been a greater need to support the well-being of those who work on the forefront,” said Gloria Perez, President and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. “Giving leaders resources to focus and pause will ultimately strengthen the organizations they run and uplift multiple generations of women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals. We believe movements for gender and racial justice are more effective and sustainable when we care for the well-being of leaders, and through the Rest Up Awards, we are making it loud and clear that we are committed to them.”

2023 Rest Up Award Recipients

Statewide leaders from 40 organizations have been granted a $10,000 Rest Up Award, amounting to $400,000 in total funding. Selected leaders will have full discretion to use the funds any way they choose to cultivate care, joy, and healing for themselves and their teams. Recipients will be recognized at the Women’s Foundation’s 40th Anniversary Celebration in Minneapolis on Friday, October 6. Awards will be released between October 2023 and January 2024. To learn more about WFM’s impact on holistic health and well-being, please visit wfmn.org/our-impact/well-being.

Recipients include:

Jalilia Abdul-Brown – Change Starts with Community
Tracine Asberry – St. Paul Youth Services (SPYS)
Ruby Azurdia-Lee – Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, Inc.
Gwendolyn Barber – Resources, Justice & Management
Suzanne Burks – Phyllis Wheatley Community Center
Montha Chum – MN8
Sarah Curtiss – Men as Peacemakers
Kenosha Davenport – Sexual Violence Center
Kelly Drummer – MIGIZI
Rev. Dr. Alika Galloway – Liberty Northside Healing Space (Liberty Community Church, PCUSA)
Hanna Getachew-Kreusser – Face to Face Health & Counseling Service, Inc.
Bethlehem Gronneberg – uCodeGirl
Signe Harriday – The Fields at Rootsprings
Zede Harut – Seeds Worth Sowing
Linda Her – Asian American Organizing Project (AAOP)
Mirdalys Herrera Tweeton – Centro Tyrone Guzman
Cheniqua Johnson, Cierra Hardin, Jhaelynn Elam – In Sisterhood, We Brunch
Ethelind Kaba – Ann Bancroft Foundation
Neda Kellogg – Project DIVA International
Deyona Kirk, Divine Konnections, Inc
Jewelly Lee – Hnub Tshiab: Hmong Women Achieving Together
Irma Marquez Trapero – LatinoLEAD
Louise Matson – Division of Indian Work
Nicole Matthews – Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC)
Lulete Mola – Black Collective Foundation MN
Melissa Nambangi – Minnesota African Women’s Association (MAWA)
Ana Perez de Perez – discapacitados abriendose caminos
Gabrieline Reece – Women Who Influence
Ruth Richardson – Planned Parenthood North Central States
Sheri Riemers – Ain Dah Yung Center
Hadija Steen Mills – Healthcare Reparations Cooperative
Kaysone Syonesa + Jessica Eckerstorfer – The SEAD Project
May yer Thao – Hmong American Partnership
Patricia Tototzintle – Esperanza United
Dr. Artika R. Tyner – Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute
Shayla Walker – Our Justice
Claudia Waring – Asian Women United of Minnesota
Cynthia Wilson – NAACP Minneapolis Branch 0450
Pamela Zeller – Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment
Carmen Zuniga – Violence Intervention Project, Inc.