July – September quarterly, fall Maada’ookiing, and Youth In Philanthropy grants

Between July 1 and September 30, 2021, the Northland Foundation awarded $238,450 in 16 quarterly grants to benefit the people and communities within its service area. In addition, 18 Maada’ookiing grants totaling $45,000 were approved in October by the Maada’ookiing Board to Indigenous individuals for creative projects within the shared service area. Another six grants totaling $5,000 were made by the students and adult mentors serving on the Northland Foundation’s Youth In Philanthropy Board. Awards up to $1,000 each are made to support children-and-youth driven projects.

The largest quarterly grant of $50,000 supports the Arrowhead Intelligent Region initiative to advance broadband infrastructure and access in our rural region. The initiative officially launched in February and the first round of project grants were awarded in June. The initiative is led by Blandin Foundation and Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation who, along with economic and community developers in our region including the Northland Foundation, have joined together to establish a grant pool for funding projects to:

• improve broadband infrastructure,
• build a knowledge workforce,
• incent innovation,
• ensure digital equality,
• enable community engagement, and
• ensure environmental and social sustainability.

“The past 18 months have shown, in stark relief, how a lack of broadband access stifles opportunity—for businesses, schools and students, health care, social connection, needed products and services, and more,” stated Erik Torch, Director of Grantmaking. “We are pleased to support this collaborative effort aiming to expand access so that, in the not-too-distant future, everyone in our region will have the tools to reach their full potential.”

View a listing of all recent grants including grantee name, project information, and dollar amount.