The One Minneapolis Fund is designed to support diverse leadership and community engagement in the City of Minneapolis.

• Be a non-profit organization registered as a 501(c)(3) with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (or be a not-for-profit university or college based in Minneapolis).
• Have a history of serving people in Minneapolis.
• Show reliable fiscal agency, meeting standards established by the City of Minneapolis.
• Have headquarters located in the City of Minneapolis.
• Receive less than 50 percent of its annual budget from the City of Minneapolis.
• Submit only one application per organization.
• Be a legal entity.
• Cannot be a past recipient of the One Minneapolis Fund with missing components of program requirements, for example a missing final report or other required document.
• A minimum of 75 percent of funding will be awarded to organizations with total annual budgets of less than $1 million.
• Organizations that have not been funded by the City before and represent diverse communities are highly encouraged to apply. Past One Minneapolis Fund recipients are also allowed to apply.

Ineligible organizations

• Local, regional or state governmental entities.
• Organizations that currently receive funding from the Minneapolis Community Participation Program (these) are not eligible to apply directly, but may partner with other organizations on eligible projects.
• Organizations that receive 50 percent or more of their budget from the City of Minneapolis.

• Activities described in the proposal must support leadership development and community engagement by members of under-engaged communities. While events and conferences may be a part of the proposed activities, preference will be given to proposals that do not include a major event (one that costs more than 35 percent of the budget).

Ineligible activities

• Fund-raising, religious-based activities, electoral campaigning, and professional lobbying.

Read the entire Request for Proposals to determine your eligibility.

The City Council approved funding for ten exciting projects focused on leadership development in communities that are underrepresented in City and neighborhood boards and commissions. In total, the One Minneapolis Fund disbursed $182,000 in 2019 to the funding recipients. Project summaries:

1. One Family One Community, to train low-income renters and Northside residents to serve on City boards and commissions, neighborhood association boards and other City programs and activities.
2. RECLAIM, for the "Art Heals" project linking LGBTQ+ youth to community artists and mentorship, culminating in an evening of community celebration of healing through art.
3. The SEAD Project, to work with Southeast Asian youth through a leadership development program for students.
4. Little Earth Residents Association, to train and develop residents of the Little Earth community and surrounding East Phillips neighborhood to serve on City boards and commissions and neighborhood association boards.
5. Heritage Youth Sports Foundation, to train Minneapolis high school student athletes to serve as peer educators, teaching Minneapolis youth, ages 5-14, the Discovery of Self (DoS) curriculum.
6. Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia, to build a People's Institute, in conjunction with CTUL (Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha) to build the capacity of Latinx tenants to organize around tenants' rights.
7. HACER, for leadership training workshops for Latinos in Minneapolis to serve on City boards and commissions and neighborhood association boards.
8. The Bridge for Youth, for The Youth Leadership Development Project, a program that will provide training, skills development and leadership opportunities for homeless youth.
9. Lake Street Council, to bring small entrepreneurs of color, immigrant business owners and City representatives together to develop policy and programs to reduce the racial disparities of owning a business in Minneapolis.
10. Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition, for the TRANSit Project, a program that will work with a network of Transgender artists, activists, athletes and academics who are people of color who will support each other in leadership development and community engagement in the City of Minneapolis.

The 2018 One Minneapolis Fund funding cycle application closed on October 10, 2018 at 4 p.m.

Frequently Asked Questions (2017)

The following organizations were awarded funding for the 2017 grant cycle:

Lake Street Council (Group A): $10,000 - The Lake Street Council will recruit and prepare small business and community leaders of color in South Minneapolis for positions on City of Minneapolis Boards and Commissions and other civic leadership roles.

One Family One Community (Group A): $15,000 - One Family One Community will engage in leadership development around training renters and north side residents to serve on neighborhood boards and commissions.

Urban Homeworks (Group A): $12,000 - Urban Homeworks will host community engagement events to increase civic participation among low-income renters of color. The program will provide voter education, as well as train and encourage participants to join local leadership structures.

Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota (Group B): $20,000 - LACM will work to create a platform for ongoing learning and dialogue between the Southeast Asian community and various City of Minneapolis departments. The relationships built will ensure that City leaders are informed about the community’s needs, aspirations and how decisions will impact Southeast Asian residents.

Project Diva (Group B): $15,000 - Project Diva will provide mentorship and training for young African American women and girls ages 6-19, to increase academic achievement, economic independence and community involvement, while also supporting social health and emotional well-being.

Neighborhood Youth Academy (Group B): $15,000 - NYA will provide leadership development training and mentorship for low-income youth ages 10-18 focused on education, health and civic involvement.

Pangea World Theater (Group B): $25,000 - Pangea World Theater will provide leadership and community development training for artists from the East African, Latina/o/x and Indigenous communities, focused on place-making through the arts.

Courageous heARTS (Group B): $25,000 - Courageous heARTS will provide leadership development training and work to strengthen leadership pipelines to both new and existing opportunities for Roosevelt High School youth.

Cedar Cultural Center (Group B): $10,000 - The Cedar Cultural Center Youth Leadership Council will provide the opportunity for Somali youth and young adults to experience the positive cultural benefits of the organizations Midnimo program while building hands-on professional experience alongside the artists, staff, board members, and volunteers of The Cedar.

Youth Link (Group B): $10,000 - YouthLink will provide leadership development training, as well as design and implement a youth-led evaluation of the Youth Opportunity Center model of co-located, highly-collaborative services for young people who are experiencing homelessness in Minneapolis.

The following organizations were awarded funding for the 2016 grant cycle:

African Chamber of Commerce – $25,000 (requested $25,000) - Community engagement and financial literacy training for East African residents.

Anyah – $1,000 (requested $1,000) - Leadership development for Minneapolis college students.

Circle of Discipline – $25,000 (requested $25,000) - Civic Engagement and leadership development among underrepresented youth.

From Death to Life – $20,000 (requested $23,300) - Conduct leadership development and focus groups among mothers who have lost loved ones to gun violence.

The Dial Group – $25,000 (requested $15,000) - Leadership development among artists from communities of color.

Emerge Community Development – $25,000 (requested $25,000) - Fund Vista volunteers recruited from non-traditional groups to work on housing, employment, financial literacy, and education services.

Givens Foundation – $17,000 (requested $25,000) – Using the arts to promote equity in economic, artistic and civic leadership.

Lake Street Council – $10,000 (requested $13,000) - Train minority business owners in civic engagement.

LVY Foundation - $19,000 (requested $25,000) – Youth leadership development.

The final report is visible here: 

The following organizations were awarded funding for the 2015 grant cycle:

Somali Action Alliance Education Fund – Group A - $12,000 (requested $15,000) - Fund the Somali Leaders Project to provide leadership training to prepare for Somali residents to serve on the boards of the Lyndale, Whittier, Phillips West and Seward neighborhood organizations, neighborhoods with large concentrations of Somali residents. The project will offer a leadership summit, training in board operations, post training placement assistance and monthly leadership seminars for training graduates.

CAPI USA – Group A - $12,000 (requested $15,000) - The funding would be used to develop the Immigrant Women’s Network, a leadership training initiative for professional immigrant women to become involved with city leadership structures.

YouthCARE – Group B - $21,500 (requested $25,000) - Support for the Teen Program at the Little Earth of the United Tribes. Provide training in leadership and civic engagement to youth ages 13 to 18 years old focused on the Safety and Sobriety Program.

Appetite for Change – Group B - $19,500 (requested $25,000) - Funding for the community engagement program of Appetite for Change includes several projects all aimed at using food as a tool to build equity and increase civic engaging within the African American community in North Minneapolis. Programs include the Good Food Advocacy Campaign in which Food Ambassadors meet to discuss changes needed in the community and Community Cooks workshops which use cooking classes as an engagement tool.

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha – Group B - $19,500 (requested $25,000) - Provide funding for the Workplace Rights Defenders project which focuses on leadership development and community engagement among low-wage workers of color who live and/or work in Minneapolis.

St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater – Group B - $19,500 (requested $25,000) - The project involves leadership training for youth in the Phillips neighborhoods. The youth leaders will also be trained in interviewing, art creation and neighborhood celebrations to engage residents in Phillips in community affairs.

Little Earth of the United Tribes – Group B - $19,500 (requested $24,800) - This project will train block club leaders in organizing and crime prevention techniques and form an organized system of block clubs with Little Earth. The project will also involve hosting safety forums and developing communications, engagement and action plans to enhance safety in the Little Earth complex.

One Family One Community – Group B - $19,500 (requested $21,500) - The program would provide training in leadership and serving on boards and commissions for people experiencing housing instability and work to place participants on the boards of neighborhood organizations.

The Neighborhood Hub – Group B - $19,500 (requested $25,000) - The project involves training youth in North Minneapolis in community organizing and public participation techniques. Topics to be addressed include health disparities in the community and community-police relations.

The final report for the 2014 grant cycle can be .

The following organizations were awarded funding for the 2014 grant cycle:

Lake Street Council - $15,000. The Lake Street Council is a business association serving the Lake Street area. The Council will partner with the Latino Economic Development Center and the YWCA to provide civic engagement training to people of color and immigrants who are small business owners.

Appetite for Change - $15,000. The One Minneapolis Fund grant will be used as part of the larger Good Food Advocacy Campaign. This project works to build the leadership capacity of African-American and low-income individuals to lead the food movement, connect with other communities in Minneapolis and increase community and civic engagement around food issues.

Council on American Islamic Relations - $10,000. This project will provide training in leadership development and civic engagement to Muslims in Minneapolis. The goal is to remove barriers and increase civic participation among currently under engaged groups.

Asian Media Access - $15,000. This grant would fund the Project PENN initiative, which is a place-based effort to engage under represented communities in North Minneapolis. The focus will be on developing leaders for an economic development scan and vision plan focused on the Penn and Plymouth Avenue Corridors.

Youth Care - $10,000. This funding would support a project with the Lind-Bohanon Neighborhood Association to provide 30 Camden area youth with after school leadership development, civic engagement and social activities.

Twin Cities Media Alliance - $10,000. The project will work with underrepresented residents of North Minneapolis to develop skills in civic engagement. This will include training in working in civic organizations, media literacy and use of social media. A key goal of the project is to shape the way North Minneapolis neighborhoods are depicted in the media.

Organizing Apprenticeship Project - $5,000. Through a series of events designed to develop community leadership for racial equity across Minneapolis, this project will work to bring underrepresented voices to city policymaking.

The following organizations were awarded funding for the 2012-2013 grant cycle:

Lao Assistance Center - $20,000. The program established the Lao Leadership and Advocacy Institute to provide leadership training to Southeast Asian residents. A total of 33 people completed the program.

Pillsbury United Communities, Waite House - $20,000. Waite House organized community circles to provide an engagement networks for Latino residents in the Phillips Community. In the program, 26 participants attended 10 training workshops on engaging with neighborhood and community organizations.

Conflict Resolution Center - $22,000. The grant funded an ongoing youth leadership development program designed for low income Minneapolis youth of color. The program serves at-risk students and those who have been in contact with the juvenile justice system. Specific activities include mediation training for participants. The program also involved leadership development, conflict resolution instruction, restorative justice mediation, and peacekeeping circles.