Second Quarter Grants 2026

During the second quarter of 2026, the Northwest Area Foundation approved 34 grants worth $10,002,650.

Our grantmaking supports organizations building racial, social, and economic justice—helping communities within our region of eight states and 76 Native nations thrive on their own terms. They’re advancing 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.

The second quarter of 2026 focused heavily on strengthening democracy through investments in civic infrastructure, organizing and advocacy, and community-led responses that stabilize systems amid rising authoritarian trends and regional displacement. Q2 investments prioritized grassroots leadership development, legal defense systems, and indigenous sovereignty, ensuring that underrepresented voices possess the resources to lead public policy and community-driven solutions. Offering robust general operating support and scaling existing commitments has enabled us to provide our partners with the stability required to drive systemic change and resist ongoing economic and political pressures.

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

African Career Education & Resources (ACER) of Minneapolis will receive $500,000 over four years as a cost amendment to the existing $250,000 grant it received to support efforts to center community leadership, economic inclusion, and systems change through culturally responsive and community-driven strategies.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2024 – Sept. 30, 2028

Ayada Leads of Minneapolis will receive $500,000 over three years as a general operating grant to support efforts to train and empower New Americans—especially women in the African Diaspora—to excel in influential roles across their communities. Grant funds will also support efforts to promote active civic participation as essential to a representative democracy and works to ensure that the voices, values, and priorities of women in the African Diaspora are reflected in public policy and decision-making spaces.
Grant term: May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2029

Black Liberation Collective of Boise, ID, is a project for the fiscal sponsor Culture for Change Foundation of Twin Falls, ID. Culture for Change Foundation will receive $300,000 over two years as a project grant to support Black Liberation Collective’s efforts toward mutual aid, healing justice, gender-affirming care, and community leadership development as core strategies for survival and transformation.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2028

Byrd Barr Place of Seattle will receive $500,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support direct services, infrastructure, systems-change efforts, and an expansion into South Seattle to serve families forced to relocate due to displacement.
Grant term: Aug. 1, 2026 – July 31, 2028

Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina (COPAL) Education of Minneapolis will receive $500,000 over four years as a cost amendment to the existing $250,000 grant it received for general operating support to address a range of community needs, including workers’ rights, organizing and leadership development, health and wellness, environmental justice, and community pride and connectedness.
Grant term: Oct. 1, 2024 – Sept. 30, 2028

FAST Blackfeet of Browning, MT, will receive $500,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support efforts to provide programs that promote long-term health and food sovereignty in the Blackfeet Nation.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2028

Headwaters Foundation for Justice of Minneapolis will receive $900,000 over three years as a project grant in support of four pooled grantmaking funds that support Native communities, Black communities, and social justice-focused nonprofits in Minnesota.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2029

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota of St. Paul, MN, will receive $250,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support efforts to continue responding to the legal needs of immigrant and refugee communities across Minnesota.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2028

Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (Iowa MMJ) of Des Moines, IA, will receive $400,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support efforts to provide immigration legal services and build a community defense infrastructure.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2028

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) of Duluth, MN, will receive $250,000 over two years as a project grant to support efforts to assist local communities of color in the Duluth area through entrepreneurship, convening, and access to resources.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2028

Lower Phalen Creek Project (dba Waḳaƞ Ṭípi Awaƞyaƞkapi) of St. Paul, MN, will receive $600,000 over three years as a general operating grant to support internal operations as it continues to grow and prepares for the public opening of the Waḳaŋ Ṭípi Center.
Grant term: May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2029

Mid-Iowa Health Foundation is a project for the fiscal sponsor Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, both located in Des Moines, IA. Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines will receive $500,000 over two years as a project grant to support Mid-Iowa Health Foundation’s efforts to drive systemic policy change by providing local data to find the most impactful ways to improve housing stability among community members in Central Iowa.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – Aug. 31, 2028

Minnesota Voice of St. Paul, MN, will receive $500,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support its advocacy work amid increasing challenges for democratic participation and rising authoritarian trends.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2028

Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) of Minneapolis will receive $750,000 over three years as a general operating grant to support efforts to sustain its momentum and retain community ownership opportunities for neighborhood residents.
Grant term: May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2029

OneAmerica of Seattle will receive $400,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support efforts to build immigrant and refugee power for collective change through leadership development trainings, issue campaigns, policy advocacy, nonpartisan civic engagement, immigrant-centered narratives, and electoral organizing.
Grant term: May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2028

Pride Foundation of Seattle will receive $500,000 over two years as a project grant to support regranting and provision of technical assistance to organizations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2028

Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (Reviving Sisterhood) of Minneapolis will receive $200,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support its work in leadership development and economic empowerment, civic engagement, and narrative change.
Grant term: June 1, 2026 – May 31, 2028

Seeding Justice of Portland, OR will receive $900,000 over three years as a project grant to support its grant programs, which serve priority communities and other marginalized groups, as well as an initiative to support diversity, equity, and inclusion work within the nonprofit sector.
Grant term: May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2029

Trans Justice Funding Project (TJFP) is a project for the fiscal sponsor Goodnation Foundation, located in New York. Goodnation Foundation will receive $250,000 over two years as a project grant to support Trans Justice Funding Project’s funding initiative that supports grassroots, transgender (trans) justice groups run by and for trans people in the Foundation’s region.
Grant term: June 1, 2026 – May 31, 2028

Unite Oregon of Portland, OR, will receive $250,000 over two years as a general operating grant to support efforts to strengthen grassroots organizing, expand leadership pathways, and drive equitable policy and systems change across Oregon.
Grant term: May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2028

West Side Citizens Organization (aka West Side Community Organization) of St. Paul, MN, received $150,000 as a general operating grant to support efforts to deepen its hyper-local work on the West Side of St. Paul.
Grant term: May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027

Whiteswan Environmental (WE) of Bellingham, WA, will receive $400,000 over three years as a general operating grant to support its Spirit of the Sxwo’le (SOS) Coalition for longhouse restoration and Indigenous stewardship in the Salish Sea.
Grant term: April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2029