What does a sense of belonging mean to you? Offhand, it may be knowing your neighbors, living near friends and family, or joining a team, club, or social group. We think it is also having the voice, power, and tools to improve your circumstances and shape your future.

When you belong you feel welcomed, seen, respected, and invested in your community. You have the opportunities you need to create a good life for yourself and your family. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are words we hear often today. We believe “belonging” is foundational to DEI.

The Northland Foundation is building up belonging in our region along geographic, racial, and socioeconomic lines, or place, race, and class. This work is expanding things we’re already doing, as well as starting new programs and partnerships.

Why it’s important

Our mission is to “invest in people and communities for a thriving region”. This region as a whole can only reach its best potential if everyone living in it has a fair shot at success.

“Through conversations with all kinds of folks across our region, we know there are people who feel left out or left behind in a variety of ways. The strongest communities are ones where everyone can thrive. That’s where we’ll continue to focus our work.”

Tony Sertich, Northland Foundation President

Northeast Minnesota and the Native nations of this region have many strengths and assets. It’s also true that opportunities can differ based on where you live, who you know, the color of your skin, your current income, or family background. Not everyone has full and fair access to even the essentials like quality housing, education, health care, child care, employment and entrepreneurship. This needs to change for us all to realize our fullest potential as a region.

We see our part in driving change as two-fold. 1. Increase support for people who have traditionally been left behind, especially in relation to place, race, and class. 2. Work to undo barriers that have long been “baked in” to society, including those firmly in our wheelhouse – philanthropy and small business assistance.

What we’ve been doing

Northland has had a positive history of relationships with and funding for rural communities, Native nations, organizations led by and serving Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and nonprofits serving low-income people. Yet, when we dug into the data there were clear gaps. We needed to do more.

Some first steps included even more intentional outreach and grant awards to under-served organizations and communities region-wide. Our staff and board participated in DEI learnings around cultural awareness, bias, and historical inequities. We launched an Indigenous-led design process for what became the Maada’ooking program, adjusted board recruitment and hiring practices, crafted a Land Acknowledgement and updated our service area language to be more accurate and inclusive.

In 2019, we began hosting the Northland Small Business Development Center with a team of consultants who bring more eyes, ears, and feet on the ground in rural communities across our region.

Thanks to many generous and patient partners, advisors, and colleagues, we continue to learn and adapt. Belonging is now one of our grant priorities and a lens through which we look at all we do. Here are some of our Belonging-centered outcomes.

GRANTMAKING

• Intentionally increasing grantmaking to under-resourced communities in our region, which has led to a 15% increase in grants to rural communities in all corners of the region and a tripling of our funding to BIPOC-led organizations, Tribal Nations, and Indigenous individuals.
• Strengthening equity-centered community and leadership capacity as a partner/supporter for the Welcoming Community program led by Northspan with rural community members; setting aside special funds to award multi-year Systems Change Grants; and bolstering support for Indian Education professionals.

BUSINESS SERVICES

• Expanding lending and technical assistance for businesses owned by women, veterans, people with handicaps, people with low incomes, and BIPOC-owned businesses, working with the Northland SBDC, Tribal Nation leaders, BIPOC-led organizations, and other economic development partners.
• Soon launching a micro-lending program to help BIPOC and other emerging entrepreneurs get no-interest business loans of $1,000-$15,000.

PROGRAMS

• Offering culturally specific and DEI-focused training at low or no cost to hundreds of professionals who work with young children and families in our region.
• Supporting families with young children to be able to access high-quality child care and other important services through Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships, and the Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care and Community Resource Hub programs.

Moving forward

Academic, activist and artist Lilla Watson is credited with saying, “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Belonging is not just a word for us at the Northland Foundation. It’s a guidepost to shape decisions, strategies, and directions. It’s also a mirror to look at ourselves; listen, learn, and unlearn; and improve how we show up for people and communities in this region.

It is in all our interest to focus on making sure each and every person who lives in the Northland feels like they belong. We hope you will join us in building up belonging!

Thanks to funding partners

Belonging work is expanding with the Northland Foundation’s own resources together with major grants from the Bush Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Target Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation and support from other generous partners.