Minnesota Black Collective Foundation

The foundation initially operated as a fiscally sponsored project of Nexus Community Partners, a left-of-center community organizing and fiscal sponsorship organization, before becoming a standalone organization in 2023. It has distributed more than $3.3 million in grants and received funding from left-of-center grantmakers and corporate foundations, including the Target Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the Knight Foundation. ^{2 3}

Background

The Minnesota Black Collective Foundation was co-founded in 2020 by Repa Mekha, the president and CEO of Nexus Community Partners; Chanda Smith Baker, the chief impact officer at the Minneapolis Foundation; and Lulete Mola. The group emerged during the national Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and sought to establish a permanent vehicle to fund Black-led organizations and programs in Minnesota. ¹

The foundation was initially fiscally sponsored by Nexus Community Partners, a left-of-center community foundation in the greater Minneapolis area that focuses on funding issues related to race and Native American communities. ⁴ While sponsored by Nexus, the foundation raised approximately $1.8 million and granted more than $1 million. The foundation received its own tax-exempt status as an independent organization in early 2023 and has since grown its grantmaking and programmatic footprint. ⁵

Activities

The Minnesota Black Collective Foundation supports Black-led social, political, and economic programs and organizations through unrestricted grantmaking, leadership fellowships, events, and research. In 2024, it launched MN LEAD (Legal Education, Advocacy, and Defense for Racial Justice), a statewide program that provides legal training, risk-assessment resources, and small grants to help nonprofits defend race-conscious programs and policies against legal and political challenges. MN LEAD claims to have trained nearly 250 leaders and engaged more than 670 organizations. ^{6 1}

Funding

The Minnesota Black Collective Foundation’s major institutional supporters include the Target Foundation, the Carlson Family Foundation, the Mortenson Family Foundation, Thrivent, the U.S. Bank Foundation, the Northwest Area Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Bush Foundation, General Mills, the Winnebago Industries Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and Voqal. Additional funders have included the Minneapolis Foundation, the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation, the Pohlad Family Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. ²

In 2023, Nexus Community Partners passed through $3,276,535 in general operating support to the foundation after it became independent. Total revenues reached $5,851,290 in 2023 (largely one-time contributions) before declining to $2,832,734 in 2024. ⁵

Grantmaking

The Minnesota Black Collective Foundation has awarded more than $3.3 million to Black-led organizations and initiatives. In its 2024 to 2025 grant round, it distributed over $1 million to 25 organizations: $50,000 each to ten “Proven Impact” grantees, including Black Girl Advocate, Project Restore Minnesota, Sir Boxing Club, and Village Arms, and $10,000 each to fifteen “Planning and Visioning” grantees, including Biking with Baddies, Just B Solar Co., and Rochester in Color. ⁷