Women's Foundation of Minnesota Announces Record Grantmaking in FY06 The Women's Foundation of Minnesota, the state's only grantmaking organization dedicated exclusively to growing equality for women and girls in Minnesota, awarded $1,074,502 in grants during its fiscal year ending March 31, 2006. It is the first time in the organization's 23-year history that it has hit the $1 million mark in a single fiscal year. “For the Women's Foundation, this level of grantmaking is tied directly to the effectiveness of our grantees in building equality for women and girls in Minnesota," said foundation president and CEO Lee Roper-Batker. "And as our base of support continues to grow, so do our resources and the numbers of programs we can fund each year. Our supporters understand the value that long-term investment in women and girls brings about to the health and stability of whole communities. Truly, when women move forward, the whole world moves with them.” The foundation provides grants through the Social Change Fund, dedicated to providing grants to state nonprofits working to achieve equality for women in five cornerstone areas; the girlsBEST (Girls Building Economic Success Together) initiative, dedicated to providing grants to programs that prepare girls for economic well-being and success; and a growing number of donor-advised funds, which allow donors to direct their philanthropy to organizations they support. The five-year girlsBEST grantmaking initiative, which designated its final round of grants in January, provided a total $1,017,045 in funding statewide. The girlsBEST initiative was established by the foundation in 2001 in response to information gained during a listening tour of 159 women and girls in 14 Minnesota communities. The common theme that emerged was the importance of investing in girls today as the best way to build opportunities and equality for all women tomorrow. The foundation also works to build philanthropy with and for women of color who are underrepresented in philanthropy. In 2005, it established the Women of African Descent Giving Circle, the first Black, all-women philanthropic group of its kind in Minnesota. The foundation earned the 2005 Responsive Philanthropy Award from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits for creating the nation's first Hmong Women's Giving Circle. Founded in 1983, the Women's Foundation of Minnesota grows equality for women and girls statewide by funding innovative social change programs, building women's philanthropy, conducting and reporting research, and educating the public about the successes and challenges of Minnesota's women and girls. > More headlines

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