What is a Community Foundation?

As a community foundation, not only does Women’s Foundation of Minnesota have a deep commitment to invest in Minnesota’s women, girls, and gender-expansive people and the issues that impact them — but people turn to us because of our relationships with communities across the state. We offer personalized advice on how and where to give to trusted organizations. We’re in proximity to local communities across the state for the greatest impact. And our grantmaking processes involves a broad base of support with engaged community members such as individuals, families, nonprofits, and more.

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota is the first statewide community foundation in the nation focused on gender and racial justice. Community foundations believe in the power of community solutions – on staff, in our grantmaking processes, and getting money out quickly to people doing work on the ground.

In our Women’s Foundation ecosystem, we see a world where all women, girls, gender-expansive people across a multitude of intersecting identities, from urban to rural, LGBTQ+, disabled and more; have the power and opportunity to create and lead safe, healthy, fulfilling lives. Through our intersectional equity lens and our values of hope, generosity, courage, inclusion, and belonging; we lead through our levers of listening and research, community investing, advocacy & policy change, strategic communications & narrative change, and cross sector partnerships & convenings to grow progress within our impact areas of safety, economic justice, holistic well-being & reproductive justice, and leadership & community power.

When you choose to partner with Women’s Foundation, you choose to invest through a community foundation with community expertise.