We are a Minneapolis-based community foundation that invests in grassroots organizing across Minnesota. We do this through grantmaking programs that support organizations and groups on the front lines of social change. Each of our programs invite people from the community to learn about and lead our grantmaking work. Since 1984, Headwaters has believed that the people who directly experience society’s injustices are exactly the people who know the way to collective liberation. We fund a variety of groups, and we prioritize funding groups that are led by and for Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color.
Our mission is to amplify the power of community to advance equity and justice.
Our four core values are:
Advance Equity. Our work supports movements and systems change that lead to individual resiliency and community power.
Demand Inclusion. People who are most affected by inequity are often left out of decision-making work. We insist on changing that—nationally, regionally, and locally.
Transform Power. We grow power through community-led grantmaking, donor education, and leadership development.
Trust in Community. A community knows itself best, and its people need to lead the way to collective liberation. Our job is to listen to and support the solutions that will improve life for all Minnesotans.