We believe that youth who thrive and develop their innate talents are best able to positively impact their families, communities, and society.

Our Aspiration

• Support youth from under-resourced communities to realize their full potential by leveraging their unique talents and capabilities.
• Ensure diverse opportunities for youth to explore and develop their talents.
• Encourage interactions across racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

 General Guidance for Prospective Grantees

• We focus on funding organizations that are aligned with our mission and are working to address deep, meaningful needs that they are uniquely positioned to meet.
• We only fund 501(c)(3) organizations, in good standing.
• Although we sometimes fund select national organizations, we generally fund organizations working in Minnesota, Dallas, Northern San Francisco Bay Area / Marin County, and the Vail Valley.
• We are committed to funding programs that support the advancement of women and girls.
• We are NOT accepting requests for: capital improvements, endowments, or scientific research.

Specific Guidance for Youth Development Focus Area

• We focus on funding organizations that are uniquely positioned to realize significant components of our focus-area aspiration (above).
• We focus on programs that serve youth who are high school-aged and younger
• We focus on programs that work with youth over a long time frame (i.e. years vs. days or weeks)

Letter of Inquiry

While the Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals, Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) are welcome. We most actively review LOIs in January/February and July/August for board meetings in June and December. If you meet the criteria listed above, please click here to start the LOI quiz.

To learn more about our grantees, please view our annual report.