Build on the Love People Have for Where They Live

ON June 28, 2016

In Chicago, foundations, donors and individuals are coming together to benefit the city they love. Benefit Chicago is the latest example of extreme collaboration in which good people come together to not just meet, but to get something done. They aim to put $100 million to work in the community to fill the unmet need for financial capital in the social sector. 

What happens when foundations and others collaborate? 

Minnesota is proof that collaboration between local organizations and foundations can generate groundbreaking change. Our own Central Corridor Funders Collaborative has been incredibly successful in using the creation of the Green Line light rail to drive neighborhood development. The Northside Funders Group leverages its collaborators’ diverse perspectives and depth of knowledge in order to maximize their social impact in North Minneapolis.

In Chicago, the visionaries who run the MacArthur FoundationChicago Community Trust and Calvert Foundation came together over years of planning to create a unique partnership allowing individuals and institutions to give back to their own community through as little as a $20 investment. 

The positive side of Minnesota Nice is we already know how to work together. Congrats to our friends in the windy city. Tweet or email me with your ideas for what can work here!

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What I'm doing now

Top of my mind these days is investing in line with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion values. Many institutions promised bold moves after George Floyd was murdered. Who is following through and doing this well? Racial justice requires new pathways for capital flows. I’m excited to be part of the McKnight Foundation’s Groundbreak Coalition, aiming to deploy $2b in flexible capital over 10 years to disrupt the status quo. In Minnesota we are a generous state, a charitable state, a hard-working state: we need to try new approaches to create that famous quality of life for all. We are leading a session on Place Based Impact Investing at the Mission Investors Exchange conference in Baltimore. Reach out if you’ll be there so I can include you in the informal MN meet-ups.