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Northwest Area Foundation Awards $300,000 to Latino Asset-Building Effort

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (December  21, 2009)  The Northwest Area Foundation has awarded $300,000 to the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) of San Antonio, Texas, to fund a asset-building collaborative that will make grants to community-development and asset-building organizations serving low-income Latino communities. The award will focus on Latino asset and wealth building efforts in the Foundation's eight-state region, which consists of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.  Grant dollars will also fund professional development opportunities, including a fellowship program for practitioners.

“We believe it’s important to provide culturally-relevant training that will increase access to capital, strengthen peer networks, and develop leaders in the Latino asset-building and community development field,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation.  “The goal is to build stronger and more effective Latino-led organizations that increase prosperity in low-income communities.”

The grant will allow NALCAB and its partners to offer training in resource development, federal grant writing, organizational leadership and board and staff development.  NALCAB will provide $95,000 in small sub-grants to community-development and asset-building organizations within the eight-state region for strengthening organization capabilities.

"We seek to strengthen the regional non-profit infrastructure that can deliver culturally and linguistically relevant asset-building services to the fast-growing Latino population in the Northwest," said Noel Poyo, executive director of NALCAB.

 NALCAB is the national voice for Latino-led community development corporations and community-based organizations that focus on asset building.   Its mission is to build financial and human assets as well as real estate and technology resources in Latino families, communities and organizations. 

This award is among the first set of grants made under the Foundation’s new strategic plan approved in October 2008. It will further asset and wealth building strategies, one of three outcomes critical to the Foundation’s mission of reducing poverty and building prosperity in its region.

Northwest Area Foundation awarded a total of 14 grants worth $2.04 million to nationally-known and ethnically- diverse organizations that support community-based practitioners who focus on asset building projects and on supporting efforts that help individuals and families build their financial and human assets.  Grants were also awarded for efforts that strengthen capacity and leadership and improve public policy solutions to reduce poverty and build prosperity. 

The Foundation is currently accepting grant proposals only on an invitation basis.  For more information about the Foundation’s grantmaking approach and the work of grantees across its eight-state region, please visit www.nwaf.org.   

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts by the people, organizations and communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son Louis W. Hill established the Northwest Area Foundation.

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