Category:Announcement
By Brian Voerding, President, Initiative Foundation
“The work we do offers an antidote during times of division. At our best, we represent all of Central Minnesota’s people and places by backing their belief in better tomorrows with the resources to turn good ideas into results.”
At the Initiative Foundation, we believe in the promise and power of Central Minnesotans to imagine, decide on, and build thriving economies, vibrant communities and a culture of generosity.
We’re at our best when everyone prospers, participates and belongs.
That belief was true when we were created in 1986, and it’s just as true today as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. As rural economies struggled in the 1980s, people from all backgrounds came together to work toward a common future. The work was emblematic of rural community-building, especially in times of crisis: everyone and every resource pulling in the same direction to get good work done.
Rural communities asked for coordinated support, and the McKnight Foundation responded with an extraordinary investment to create the Minnesota Initiative Foundations—six independent regional development hubs that work together to serve Greater Minnesota.
From the start, our role has been not just to fund projects, but to strengthen the connections that help communities solve problems together.
As we mark our 40th year, we continue to invest in people and places through a proven model designed to expand opportunity and encourage belonging. We bring together lending, grants, training and community problem-solving so good ideas can move forward from concept to action.
Alongside that work, we advocate for Central Minnesota to attract outside investments, leveraging more than $1 billion into the region since our founding. That investment included more than $35 million pandemic-era funding distributed across Central Minnesota, a diverse landscape of people and place.
We serve 14 counties and the shared geographies of two Native nations, covering unique economic, cultural, political and geographical intersections. We represent a point of transition in the state—a gateway and a destination—where you’ll find fast-growing cities and small towns, major highways and gravel roads, dense forests, loamy farmland and lakes.
The region spans rapidly growing cities west and north of the Twin Cities, including St. Cloud as its largest population center. It stretches west and north into the towns and farms of Stearns, Todd and Wadena counties; east into growing Chisago County and sparsely populated Pine County at the Wisconsin border; and north into the Brainerd Lakes area and up to Leech Lake. Large portions of the sovereign Leech Lake and Mille Lacs Bands of Ojibwe are part of this shared geography.
Three counties account for nearly 450,000 people, while the largest county by land area is the size of Delaware and home to about 30,000 residents. This is Minnesota’s fastest‑growing region outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The percentage of residents who are people of color has more than doubled in less than a generation. St. Cloud has one of the nation’s largest non‑metro Somali American populations, and in Long Prairie, more than 60% of students are Hispanic or Latino. Some of the state’s wealthiest residents live just a few roads from some of the poorest. Newcomers, sixth‑generation farm families and Native residents share close residence. Despite headlines, politics are rarely professed and are generally practical and principled.
Like everyone, we have thriving and struggling people and places, and we wrestle with issues common to other parts of Minnesota: a lack of housing and child care, a need for more quality jobs, affordability, robust but increasingly fragile education and healthcare system.
We also face increasing isolation, polarization and division. Good jobs, strong communities, affordable living, healthy families and safe neighborhoods remain common goals, but we are less connected and less likely to hear a shared story about our future.
That is why we intentionally infuse our work with opportunity and belonging. As we invest in people and places, we focus on connecting people to place and to one another.
This work takes many forms. Enterprise Academy trains and provides microloans to diverse and underserved entrepreneurs. Rural Entrepreneurial Ventures supports towns to invest in local businesses and create ones they need. Thriving Communities helps people in small towns engage residents, grow as leaders and take on projects. Grants support gatherings and programs that bridge divides. The Initiators Fellowship invests in rural social entrepreneurs who are building purpose-driven businesses that connect communities. Managed community funds and planned giving empower residents to build, retain and pay forward local wealth. Stories in twice-a-year editions of IQ Magazine highlight regional challenges and shared solutions that are making a difference. Community programs bring people together to create solutions for child care, workforce, housing and other issues.
The work we do offers an antidote during times of division. At our best, we represent all of Central Minnesota’s people and places by backing their belief in better tomorrows with the resources to turn good ideas into results.
Central Minnesota’s people and places are as resilient, hopeful and determined. We’re proud to invest and stand alongside them, as we have for 40 uninterrupted years. We’ll continue to do so for years to come as we imagine and build healthy, vital futures that work for all.
Learn more about Initiative Foundation and their work at ifound.org.
Celebrating 40 Years of Investing in Greater Minnesota
Amid the farm crisis of the 1980s, the Minnesota Initiative Foundations were created to meet a moment. Today, they stand as a powerful model for rural philanthropy, economic development, and locally led solutions.
