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Minnesota · Public charity

Headwaters Foundation for Justice

HEADWATERS FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE (the foundation) is a community foundation whose mission is to amplify the power of community to advance equity and justice.

$3.9M
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
62
Itemized grants FY2024
88
Organizations funded FY2023
19%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Itemized, FY2024
$3.8M
The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2024
$30,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$473,000
Organizations funded a year
60 to 93
FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
8
Total assets, FY2024
$17M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 19% of the organizations Headwaters Foundation for Justice funded were first-time grantees, receiving 19% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 81% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $360k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementEnvironmentEducationHealthOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving61$3.7M30%
FY202388$1.9M19%
FY202293$3.2M44%
FY202173$3.5M38%
FY202083$2.7M28%
FY201974$1.1M47%
FY201866$851k61%
FY201760$831kn/a
100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Civil Rights$2.7MArts & Culture$2.0MCommunity Improvement$1.8MHuman Services$1.7MHousing & Shelter$1.7MEmployment$1.6MHealth$1.5MPhilanthropy$1.1MOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ND
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
PA
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
MS
AL
GA

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 261 grantees
All grantees of Headwaters Foundation for Justice by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia- United Renters for Justice$1,144,500829%
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos En Lucha$1,125,750912%
Dream of Wild Health$683,000810%
Family Tree Inc$629,50066%
Access Philanthropy Charities$457,750816%
Greater Minnesota Worker Center$397,250317%
Takeaction Mn Education Fund$357,75062%
Center for Third World Organizing$351,80048%
MIGIZI Communications Inc$310,00054%
Outfront Minnesota Community Services$273,50075%
Native Governance Center$266,00063%
Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood For$263,000410%
Manidoo Ogitigaan$235,500724%
Native American Community Development Institute$228,50074%
Ayada Leads$220,000627%
The Tiwahe Foundation$212,500714%
Coalition of Asian American Leaders$210,00034%
Our Justice$206,500310%
Voices for Racial Justice$193,50054%
Sead Project$181,000413%
Dakhota Iapi Okhodakichiye$181,000438%
Dakota Wicohan$176,00096%
African Career Education & Resources In$170,00057%
American Indian Community Housing Organization$160,00053%
Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota$154,00064%
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United Inc$145,00060%
West Side Citizens Organization$135,00048%
Indigenous Roots$135,00065%
Jewish Community Action$132,50096%
Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia$131,000622%
Mewinzha Ondaadiziike Wiigaming$126,000417%
American Indian Family Center$116,00041%
Little Earth Residents Association Inc$115,00033%
Niibi Center$115,000224%
New Native Theatre$115,000112%
The Fields Retreat and Learning Center$111,50045%
Crossingbarriers$111,000711%
Frogtown Neighborhood Association$110,000219%
Lower Phalen Creek Project$107,00031%
Center School Inc$106,00047%
Native Sun Community Power Development$106,00044%
The Awood Center$106,00066%
South Sudanese Foundation$106,000410%
Northwest Indian Community Development Center Nwicdc$106,00031%
Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance$106,000456%
American Indian Cancer Foundation$106,00042%
Black Table Arts$105,0001n/a
West Broadway Business and Area Coalition$100,000114%
Minnesota Black Collective Foundation$100,00022%
Solidaire Network Inc$100,00041%
Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council$100,000424%
Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery$100,00061%
Propel Nonprofits$98,00051%
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop$96,00048%
Juxtaposition Arts Inc$95,00031%
Womens Environmental Institute at Amador Hill$93,50097%
St Theresa S Parish-Cacina$85,0002n/a
Takeaction Minnesota$82,00021%
Breast Cancer Action$81,00082%
Bdote Learning Center$80,00051%
Resource Generation Inc$80,00031%
Right to the City Alliance$80,00020%
White Earth Land Recovery Project$80,00041%
Amazeworks$78,00095%
Foster Advocates$76,00028%
Alliance for Metropolitan Stability$75,00015%
Northeast Minneapolis Arts Assoc$75,000126%
Harrison Neighborhood Association$75,000124%
Hmong American Farmers Association$71,00041%
Unidos Minnesota Education Fund$70,25037%
Body Wisdom Inc$70,00073%
Land Stewardship Project$70,00041%
East Phillips Neighborhood Institute$69,000272%
International Institute of Minnesota$68,82040%
Pueblos de Lucha y Esperanza Minnesota$67,000412%
Springboard for the Arts$66,50051%
Dakota Child and Family Clinic$66,00023%
Public Functionary$66,0002n/a
Black Disability Collective$66,0003n/a
Renewing the Countryside$66,00024%
Gender Justice$62,50031%
Wild Path Collective Incorporated$60,800242%
East Side Freedom Library$60,50092%
Hnub Tshiab - Hmong Women Achieving Together$59,000351%
Isuroon$58,00042%
Immigrant Development Center$57,00069%
Hispanic Outreach of Goodhue County$57,00047%
Leech Lake Financial Services Inc$56,00026%
Pangea World Theater$55,01433%
Honor the Earth$55,00031%
Indigenous Peoples Task Force$53,00012%
Bcn Communities$50,0001n/a
Southerners on New Ground Inc$50,00010%
Endazhi-Nitaawiging Qalicb Inc$50,000116%
St Paul Youth Services$50,00033%
Voice of Calvary Ministries$50,00013%
Housing in Action Inc$50,00031%
Arcata Press$50,00034%
Minnesota Youth Collective Education Fund$46,00024%
Freedom From the Streets$46,0002n/a
Twin Cities Agricultural Land Trust$46,000422%
Love First$46,000213%
In Black Ink$46,00029%
Brown Hope$42,82022%
Upstream Arts Inc$40,00032%
All Parks Alliance for Change$40,000320%
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians$40,0001n/a
Infact DBA Corporate Accountability$40,00020%
Pesticide Action Network North America$39,00031%
Makoce Ikikcupi$36,00035%
Peacemaker Resources$36,00024%
Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation$35,82020%
Somali American Women Action Center$35,0002n/a
Unitecloud$35,000313%
Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota$35,00026%
Community Stabilization Project$35,0003n/a
Interplay$35,0002n/a
Appetite for Change Inc$35,00021%
Hope Community Inc$32,50021%
Landmark Conservancy Inc$31,00031%
A Jewish Voice for Peace$30,50010%
Minnesota Uber Lyft Drivers Association$30,000215%
Somali Museum and Cultural Center$29,00033%
Grassroots International Inc$28,00010%
Walk-In Counseling Center Inc$26,00025%
Circle of Peace Movement$26,0002n/a
Southside Harm Reduction Services$25,00013%
Women For Political Action Change Education & Advo$25,0001n/a
Unicorn Riot$25,00014%
National Network of Abortion Funds Inc$25,00020%
Penumbra Theatre Company Inc$25,00011%
Ajp Educational Foundation Inc American Muslims for Palestine$25,00011%
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mas$25,00017%
National Lgbtq Task Force$25,00010%
Mizna$25,00018%
Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization$25,00014%
Shalom Center$24,00044%
Mn350$22,82022%
Waterlegacy$22,0002n/a
Take Action Minnesota Education Fund$20,0001n/a
Well Being Development$20,00023%
Pillsbury United Communities$20,00010%
National Lgbtq Task Force Action Fund Inc$20,00026%
The Dial Group Inc$20,000125%
Closeknit$20,00017%
Releasemn8$20,0001n/a
Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers$20,00020%
St Paul Neighborhood Network$20,00011%
Autism Society of Mn$20,00021%
Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project$20,0002n/a
Alliance for Global Justice Corp$20,00010%
Until We Are All Free Movement$20,00024%
Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust$20,00011%
The Bridge for Youth$20,00020%
Young Dance Inc$20,0002n/a
New Arab American Theater Works$20,000237%
Sharing Our Roots$20,00041%
Local Progress Policy Institute$20,00010%
Nokomis East Neighborhood Association$19,00023%
Neighborhoods Organizing for Change$18,7501n/a
Native Conservancy$18,00020%
Grassroots Power Project$18,00031%
Ztp$18,00033%
Rondo Center of Diverse Expression$16,000172%
Somali American Farmers Association$16,0001n/a
Mn8$16,00022%
Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter School$16,00011%
Southern Poverty Law Center Inc$15,07710%
Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association$15,0001n/a
Association for Black Economic Power$15,00016%
Al-Maa'uun$15,00011%
Groundswell Fund$15,00010%
City of Lakes Community Land Trust$15,00011%
Communities In Partnership$15,00011%
Great River School Charter School No 4105-07$15,00010%
Redeemer Center for Life Inc$15,00011%
Uptake Institute$15,000113%
Division of Indian Work$15,00010%
Joyce Preschool$15,00011%
Minnesota Youth Collective$15,00013%
NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc$14,82710%
Haven Housing$13,00010%
Theater Mu Incorporated$13,00012%
Repower Fund$13,00020%
We Health Clinic P A$12,00011%
Philanthrofund Foundation Inc$12,00022%
Spiral Collective$12,000210%
Asian Women United of Minnesota$11,80011%
4 Directions Development$10,0001n/a
Postpartum Support International$10,00020%
Cycles for Change$10,0001n/a
Exposed Brick Theatre$10,000114%
Mni Sota Fund$10,00010%
1 Day at a Time$10,000111%
Oromo Community Inc Minneapolisst$10,00016%
Cooperation Jackson of Mississippi$10,00011%
Tri-County Action Program Inc$10,00010%
Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits Inc - Coalition of Asian Ame$10,0001n/a
Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center$10,00010%
Brownbody$10,00016%
Elliot Park Neighborhood Inc$10,00016%
East Side Neighborhood Services Inc$10,00010%
Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota$10,00011%
Reclaim$10,0001n/a
St David's Center$10,00010%
The Brigid Alliance Inc$10,00020%
Avenues for Youth$10,00010%
Trans United$10,0001n/a
Wellshare International$10,00011%
Georgia Strategic Alliance for New$10,00011%
Itasca County Family YMCA Inc$10,00010%
Third Wave Foundation$10,0001n/a
Faith in Minnesota$10,00011%
Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging Inc$10,00010%
Change Inc$10,0001n/a
Mental Health Collective$10,00011%
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities$10,00010%
Peoples Press Project$10,0001n/a
Somali Community Barwaaqo Organization Inc$10,0001n/a
University of Minnesota Foundation$10,00010%
Transgender Law Center$10,00020%
Women's Advocates Inc$10,00010%
Southern Minnesota Independent Living Enterprises & Services Inc$10,00010%
Mn Transgender Health Coalition$10,0001n/a
Cobalt Foundation$10,00020%
Jordan Area Community Council$10,00016%
East Side Neighborhood Development Company Inc$10,00011%
Somali American Community$10,0001n/a
Asian American Organizing Project$10,0001n/a
Afro American Development Association$10,00014%
The Cedar Cultural Center Inc$10,00011%
Domestic Abuse Project Inc$10,00011%
Cooperative Development Fund of Cds$10,00012%
Land Stewardship Action Fund$10,00016%
Asian Economic Development Association$10,00011%
Queerspace Collective$10,00011%
Hallie Q Brown Community Center Inc$10,00011%
Enitan Story$10,000110%
Waadookodaading Ojibwe Language Institute Inc$10,0001n/a
Asian Media Access$10,0001n/a
Jubilee Gift Galaxy Inc$10,00010%
St Anthony Park Community Council$10,0001n/a
Uprising Theatre Company$10,000119%
Ananya Dance Theatre$10,00031%
20 Theatre Company Twin Cities$10,00015%
Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center$10,00011%
Unidos Mn$10,00017%
Kootasca Community Action Inc$10,00010%
Wespac Foundation Inc$8,00010%
Minneapolis Community & Technical College Foundation$8,00010%
People Serving People Inc$7,00010%
Sakan Community Resources Inc$7,00016%
The Tank Ltd$7,00010%
Association on American Indian Affairs Inc$6,00011%
ARC Retreat Community$6,0001n/a
Mixed Blood Theatre Company$5,0001n/a
T'Ruah$5,00010%
The Shalom Center$5,0001n/a
New Dawn Theatre Company$5,00014%
Pregnancy & Postpartum Support Minnesota$5,0001n/a
Chinook Fund Inc$5,00011%

Plus 1 recipient with no EIN on record ($20k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Headwaters Foundation for Justice supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 10 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 200 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetInquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia- United Renters for Justice: $1,144,500 over 8y, 29% of budgetCentro de Trabajadores Unidos En Lucha: $1,125,750 over 9y, 12% of budgetDream of Wild Health: $683,000 over 8y, 10% of budgetFamily Tree Inc: $629,500 over 6y, 5.7% of budgetAccess Philanthropy Charities: $457,750 over 8y, 16% of budgetGreater Minnesota Worker Center: $397,250 over 3y, 17% of budgetTakeaction Mn Education Fund: $357,750 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetCenter for Third World Organizing: $351,800 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetMIGIZI Communications Inc: $310,000 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetOutfront Minnesota Community Services: $273,500 over 7y, 5.0% of budgetNative Governance Center: $266,000 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetReviving the Islamic Sisterhood For: $263,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetManidoo Ogitigaan: $235,500 over 7y, 24% of budgetNative American Community Development Institute: $228,500 over 7y, 3.8% of budgetAyada Leads: $220,000 over 6y, 27% of budgetThe Tiwahe Foundation: $212,500 over 7y, 14% of budgetCoalition of Asian American Leaders: $210,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetOur Justice: $206,500 over 3y, 10.0% of budgetVoices for Racial Justice: $193,500 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetSead Project: $181,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetDakhota Iapi Okhodakichiye: $181,000 over 4y, 38% of budgetDakota Wicohan: $176,000 over 9y, 6.4% of budgetAfrican Career Education & Resources In: $170,000 over 5y, 6.9% of budgetAmerican Indian Community Housing Organization: $160,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetCouncil on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota: $154,000 over 6y, 4.3% of budgetRestaurant Opportunities Centers United Inc: $145,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetWest Side Citizens Organization: $135,000 over 4y, 7.8% of budgetIndigenous Roots: $135,000 over 6y, 4.6% of budgetJewish Community Action: $132,500 over 9y, 5.7% of budgetGrassroots Indigenous Multimedia: $131,000 over 6y, 22% of budgetMewinzha Ondaadiziike Wiigaming: $126,000 over 4y, 17% of budgetAmerican Indian Family Center: $116,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetLittle Earth Residents Association Inc: $115,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetNiibi Center: $115,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetNew Native Theatre: $115,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetThe Fields Retreat and Learning Center: $111,500 over 4y, 5.4% of budgetCrossingbarriers: $111,000 over 7y, 11% of budgetFrogtown Neighborhood Association: $110,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetLower Phalen Creek Project: $107,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetCenter School Inc: $106,000 over 4y, 6.9% of budgetNative Sun Community Power Development: $106,000 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetThe Awood Center: $106,000 over 6y, 6.0% of budgetSouth Sudanese Foundation: $106,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetNorthwest Indian Community Development Center Nwicdc: $106,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetMinnesota Indigenous Business Alliance: $106,000 over 4y, 56% of budgetAmerican Indian Cancer Foundation: $106,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetWest Broadway Business and Area Coalition: $100,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetMinnesota Black Collective Foundation: $100,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 200.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Propel NonprofitsMN143.5× affinity78 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Propel Nonprofits · The McKnight Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Women's Foundation of Minnesota · The Minneapolis Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Minnesota Humanities Center · Youthprise · Target Foundation · Greater Twin Cities United Way · Pohlad Family Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare Headwaters Foundation for Justice with peer funders

About Headwaters Foundation for Justice

How much does Headwaters Foundation for Justice give?
Headwaters Foundation for Justice reported 62 itemized grants totaling $3,757,000, out of $3,925,200 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 60 and 93 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Headwaters Foundation for Justice fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Civil Rights (14%), Arts & Culture (11%), Community Improvement (10%).
Who are Headwaters Foundation for Justice's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia- United Renters for Justice ($1.1M), Centro de Trabajadores Unidos En Lucha ($1.1M), Dream of Wild Health ($683k).
Does Headwaters Foundation for Justice fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 19% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as Headwaters Foundation for Justice?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Propel Nonprofits, The McKnight Foundation, Fr Bigelow Foundation.
Where is Headwaters Foundation for Justice based?
Headwaters Foundation for Justice is based in MN.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 266 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $3.8M of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

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