First Quarter Grants 2022

During the first quarter of 2022, the Northwest Area Foundation approved 20 grants worth $2,201,460.

The first quarter’s funding primarily supports renewal grants for grantees that have a pre-existing grantmaking relationship with us or grants that fulfill prior commitments. However, the quarter’s funding also supports grants that reflect the new grantmaking approach we began implementing at the start of 2022. These new grants are for work that supports learning efforts to shape how we’ll fund groups that advance social, racial, and economic justice.

Overall, our grantmaking supports organizations within our region of eight states and 76 Native nations. These organizations advance long-overdue change in deep connection with the land they inhabit and communities they serve—Native Americans, communities of color, immigrants, refugees, and people in rural areas. They’re on a journey to build social, racial, and economic justice—helping communities thrive on their own terms.

We include grants of $10,000 or more below. For information on grants of less than $10,000, please visit our grants database.


Bii Gii Wiin Community Development Loan Fund of Minneapolis will receive $300,000 over three years to support Mni Sota Fund’s vision to foster opportunities for Native Americans to build intergenerational wealth and pursue self-determined visions for their lives.
Grant term: Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2024

Dream of Wild Health of Minneapolis will receive $200,000 over two years to support expansion of its work in the Native food economy as it continues to scale a promising Native food economy network of suppliers and consumers.
Grant term: April. 1, 2022 – March 31, 2024

Global to Local Health Initiative of SeaTac, WA, will receive $450,000 over three years to support its transformation into an organization that is explicitly antiracist and deeply community grounded, creating a strategic framework focused on sustainability, equity, and impact.
Grant term: July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2025

Interim Community Development Association of Seattle received $150,000 to support its core work and a new set of eviction prevention services to mitigate ongoing COVID-19 impacts.
Grant term: Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2022

Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance of St. Paul, MN, will receive $150,000 over two years to support its general operations as it transitions to new leadership and strengthens its organizational health.
Grant term: March 1, 2022 – Feb. 29, 2024

Northside Residents Redevelopment Council of Minneapolis received $25,000 for its community safety specialist pilot program, a nationally replicable model to improve safety, advance racial equity, and create high quality jobs.
Grant term: Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2022

Opportunity Link of Havre, MT, will receive $400,000 over two years to support the continuation of its core programs, support its efforts to assist the Foundation’s work with tribes participating in the Vibrant Tribal Economies (VTE) initiative, and to support adaptations and responses caused by the ongoing pandemic.
Grant term: April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2024

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Renewable Energy Power Authority of Fort Yates, ND, received $75,000 to support predevelopment work for Anpetu Wi, a utility-scale wind farm on the Standing Rock Reservation.
Grant term: Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2022

Working Partnerships Incorporated of Minneapolis, as fiscal sponsor for Workers Confluence Fund of Minnesota, will receive $450,000 over two years to support efforts to advocate for the rights and dignity of workers being paid low wages and to strengthen the collaboration between worker centers and labor unions.
Grant term: Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2023