Northwest Area Foundation Awards More Than $2.2 Million in Fourth-Quarter Grants

The Northwest Area Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota, has announced grants totaling $2.25 million to nonprofit organizations working to assist low-income families across an eight-state region and the District of Columbia.

Fourth-quarter grants were awarded to organizations and programs working to provide financial education, vocational training, and leadership and organizational development and to help advance public policies designed to benefit low- and moderate-income families. Recipients include the D.C.-based Corporation for Enterprise Development, which was awarded a two-year, $500,000 grant to strengthen the capacity of asset- and wealth-building organizations that work with low-income families; the San Francisco-based Mission Asset Fund, which received a two-year, $200,000 grant in support of its Northwest Lending Circles Capacity Building project; and Build Wealth Minnesota, which was awarded $75,000 over two years for a financial education program for families.

The foundation also awarded $100,000 to the Rural Learning Center in Howard, South Dakota, for its Green Jobs training project, which aims to prepare low- and moderate-income workers for careers as wind turbine installers and energy technicians; $75,000 to the Minneapolis-based Headwaters Foundations for Justice to engage leaders in the Twin Cities African American Leadership Forum; and $50,000 to the TakeAction Minnesota Education Fund to organize community leaders who advocate for policies that can reduce poverty.

Other recipients include the Montana Budget and Policy Center, which was awarded $200,000 in support of its State Fiscal Analysis Initiative; the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Nebraska, which will receive $75,000 for its Reducing Poverty through Advocacy, Organizing, and Policy Change initiative; and the Seattle Foundation, which was awarded $60,000 for its Strategies to Eliminate Poverty program.

For a complete list of the foundation's fourth-quarter grantees, visit the Northwest Area Foundation Web site.

“Northwest Area Foundation Announces $2.25 Million in Grants to 'Bank the Unbanked,' Build Job Skills, and Improve Public Policy.” Northwest Area Foundation Press Release 12/21/11.

Primary Subject: Human Services
Secondary Subject(s): Civil Society, Public Affairs
Location(s): Minneapolis, Minnesota, St. Paul

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