Innovative fund awards $180,000 to 12 Northside projects

Northside Funders Group (NFG) is pleased to announce that the Northside Youth Enrichment Fund (NYEF) is now accepting applications with an available pool of $180,000. The application will be open from November 15, 2024 through January, 13 2025.

What happens when nine Northside youth get together with three philanthropy leaders and spend two days awarding more than $170,000 to local youth enrichment efforts? Magic: The answer is pure magic.

In case you missed it, on September 27th 2023 at The Capri Theater, Destination Northside Coalition (DNC) and Northside Funders Group (NFG) co-hosted the premiere screening of a docu-series entitled: How The Genius of the Northside Ignites Its Future- It’s Our Time. 

Northside Funders Group (NFG) is pleased to announce that the Northside Youth Enrichment Fund (NYEF) is now accepting applications with an available pool of $140,000. The application will be open from November 20, 2023 through February, 9 2024. 

Northside Funders Group (NFG) is pleased to announce a new youth-focused funding opportunity, which is currently accepting applications!

Over the next four months, Northside Funders Group is proud to bring you monthly learning events focused on various elements that contributes to “Thriving Neighborhoods and Communities.”

As we approach the close of Quarter 1, 2022, Northside Funders Group thought you might be curious about what the Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP) has accomplished since the last time we heard from them in December 2021. So, on March 25, we hosted a virtual event to hear from the team directly. If you missed it, you can read the highlights here or watch the meeting recording. 

Wondering what’s going on with the effort to stand up a Black-led credit union on the Northside? Well, so was Northside Funders Group (NFG)! In early December 2021, NFG hosted a funder briefing for the Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP) to provide an update on progress towards opening Village Financial Credit Union.

On October 27, the Northside Funders Group and Blue Line Coalition co-hosted a learning event open to funders and community stakeholders to discuss the METRO Blue Line Extension. 

Markella Smith, longtime Northsider, partnered with Folwell Neighborhood Association (FNA) to activate a previously vacant building into a gift shop and gathering space. 

As a maker herself, Markella recognizes the importance of a centralized place to showcase and sell the products of local artists, makers and entrepreneurs. This was always true, but especially true when COVID-19 hit and halted many of the pop-up markets or events where creators had been selling their products. 

The Northside Funders Group (NFG) strives to create a culture of learning to both enhance our effectiveness as grantmakers and ensure that we stay relevant and accountable to the Northside community. Our most recent event explored the neighborhood’s dynamic real estate development landscape.

The response to the COVID-19 emergency grants and the Restore North Campaign grant recipients have expressed a tremendous amount of gratitude. We have heard directly from many Northside business owners that we saved their businesses during a challenging and tumultuous time for our community.

The Northside Funders Group (NFG) announces that Executive Director Sarah Clyne will depart NFG on January 29 after two years of service. NFG members would like to thank Sarah for her leadership in assisting NFG in meeting its mission to increase collective impact in supporting the North Minneapolis community.  

North Minneapolis is no stranger to social uprisings, a result of centuries of disinvestment, unjust systems of oppression, and a community of activists fighting for social change. History provides us with helpful context to understand the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020

This joint statement was included as part of an article "Asian American Grant Makers Call on Philanthropy to End Violence and Bias on the Rise as Coronavirus Spreads" published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy 4/8/2020.

We heard loud and clear from the small business community that they were facing partial or, in many cases, complete income loss. In addition, those business owners also expressed that it was difficult to navigate the opportunities that fell under the Federal CARES Act (i.e. SBA loans, PPP loans, etc.) and due to the unknowns of the future felt a loan was not a viable solution to meet immediate needs.

Northside Storyville is a project of Northside Funders Group that tells real stories of real people to change the narrative of North Minneapolis. But it’s about much more than creating videos – it’s about lifting up the full North Minneapolis narrative.