Funding

As a funder collaborative, NFG believes that racial equity is about shifting concentrations of power and resources. We strive to be accountable to community and carve out spaces for community voice to be centered in strategy development and grantmaking decisions. 

By focusing private, public, and corporate funders on a shared vision of success, we actively work to reduce economic and educational disparities, and lift up the natural assets that exist in North Minneapolis. Working with partners and the community, we strive to act as catalysts for real change – both impactful and sustainable. 

Our work sparks ideas, amplifies investments, and inspires neighborhoods.

What We Fund

Economic Development

Economic Development efforts that grow a thriving local economy where Northsiders own and operate successful businesses, hold good paying jobs, have ample housing choices, and experience a higher quality of life. Since 2021, NFG has directed flexible dollars to Black developers, resulting in more than 20 real estate projects that have created new office spaces, housing and retail storefronts.

Northside Youth Enrichment Fund

The Northside Youth Enrichment Fund supports efforts that expand learning by connecting young people to exceptional enrichment opportunities in and outside of the classroom. Since 2023, NFG has awarded grants through a youth-led grantmaking process, working directly with Northside youth to review grant applications, understand what “enrichment” really means to young people, how we know if something has a lasting impact, and what mutual accountability looks like when we make funding decisions collectively.

How We Work

Changing the way philanthropy works in North Minneapolis is about more than what we do, it’s about how we do it.

  • NFG is deeply committed to the idea that community members have critical opinions and perspectives that should shape and direct the collaborative’s work. Whether influencing program design or participating in a grant review committee, NFG has steadily deepened its practices and actions to ensure community voice is embedded in our work.

  • NFG strives to make the grant seeking and application process low barrier. Our grant applications are refined every year based on stakeholder feedback and usually use simple platforms such as Outlook or Google Forms or a simple “Word” document submission to our managing consultant.

  • NFG works diligently to ensure our resources are flexible and quick to deploy. Generally, it takes about three to four weeks between when a request is made to when the resources are transferred to the grant recipient. We recognize that quick access to resources is critical for community projects.

  • To be responsive to emerging opportunities and have the biggest impact, we utilize a strategic screen that includes centering racial equity and justice, with a primary focus on Black/African Americans; leveraging or building capacity in a Northside organization and/or partner(s) for long term sustainability; and investing in projects that have the potential for multi-sector partnerships.

Our Leadership

  • Joel Luedtke

    Board Chair

    Joel Luedtke joined the Minneapolis Foundation in April 2021, to support the grantmaking work of its new partner, The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota. Prior to that time, Joel worked for the Phillips Family Foundation, where he led its education grantmaking.

    Joel is deeply engaged in the Phillips’ community-led grantmaking process and facilitates its North Minneapolis Education Advisory Committee. From 2011 to 2016, Joel focused on workforce development grantmaking, serving as the founding Co-Chair of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Workforce Innovation Network. Prior to joining the Foundation, Joel served as the Director of a Minneapolis-based refugee resettlement program where he supervised a multi-ethnic staff of 14 that provided a range of services to new refugee arrivals. Joel earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gustavus Adolphus College.

  • E. Coco

    Managing Consultant

    A transplant from Velletri, Italy, Elizabeth Coco (Coco) brings a global perspective to all aspects of her work. She is a skilled program developer and manager, facilitator and grantmaker with over a decade of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. Before launching her consulting practice, Coco led strategy development and grantmaking in the sphere of racial and economic justice on behalf of The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota. Coco also served on the board of directors of the Headwaters Foundation For Justice and Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust, an organization she helped launch.

    Coco brings deep knowledge of reparative economic development frameworks and is passionate about building inclusive organizational cultures and systems that center community voice in decision-making. Coco is fluent in English, Italian and conversational in Spanish. She is an Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Qualified Administrator and recipient of the national PLACES Fellowship hosted by The Funders Network. Coco earned her BA from Gustavus Adolphus College in Religion and Women Studies.