00E03682

Description:
This agreement provides funding under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to the Minneapolis Foundation. This is a regional grantmaker. The Minneapolis Foundation, partnered along with the NDN Collective, will institute a grantmaking program within the Region 5 states.

This award will be used to develop the administrative and programmatic strength needed to award over 200 grants within Region 5, targeting areas such as rural communities, urban centers and tribal communities. The Minneapolis Foundation will develop a quality management plan, create an application to support the grantmaking program, train their statutory partner on EPA requirements, identify and recruit 10 Regional Community Advisory Committee (RAC) members, and perform outreach in their targeted communities using these funds.

The Minneapolis Foundation will use the money associated with this award to build up their grant making capacity and to cover administrative costs associated with grantmaking for the next three years.

Activities:
The activities in the initial award phase include partnering with the NDN Collective and using the Minneapolis Foundation's projects (Midwest EJ Network and RE-AMP) to outreach specific communities in tribal governments, urban EJ areas and rural/remote EJ areas. Additionally, the Minneapolis Foundation and their partners will recruit 10 Resident Advisory Committee consultants to help draft the request for funding and review applications. These 10 RAC consultants will be recruited throughout Region 5 and be comprised of individuals from different community organizations, local communities and other partnership types.

RAC members along with the Minneapolis Foundation and NDN Collective will work collaboratively to create and review applications addressing the specific needs of disadvantaged communities within the Region 5 states. Various partners have experience with participatory governance and the Minneapolis Foundation will expand on those relationships through their collaboration with other community organizations.

Subrecipient:
NDN Collective will collaboratively oversee and monitor all aspects of program implementation, paying particular attention to compliance with EPA and federal requirements along with the Minneapolis Foundation. Using a consensus decision-making model, NDN Collective and the Minneapolis Foundation will identify RAC members, participate in RAC meetings as non-voting participants, and oversee implementation of RAC decisions and recommendations. This partnership will also serve as decision makers for administrative decisions that need to be made on an immediate basis. Additionally, NDN Collective provides critical knowledge of indigenous practice, customs and knowledge to support targeted outreach to tribal communities.

Outcomes:
The anticipated deliverables include developing an online platform for collecting applications and reporting, training statutory partners in quality assurance, monitoring type and amount of outreach in different community types, keeping application decisions no more than 5 months from application submission, and monitoring applicant satisfaction with the application process. The expected outcomes include short term outcomes such as increasing the number of disadvantaged community residents that have knowledge and skills about engaging in EJ, public health or climate change issues in their communities, increasing the number of disadvantaged community members with reliable access to environmental data and increasing grass-root led collaborations and partnerships working to improved environmental quality and public health in disadvantaged communities.

Intermediate outcomes include increasing the number of communities that have capacity to collect, analyze and share environmental data, reduce public exposure to toxins and pollutants in areas that were restores or cleaned up and increased number of CBOs with increased capacity in terms of funding, staff and skills. Long

Minneapolis Foundation

1 - CORE MISSION 1.1 - IMPROVE AIR QUALITY 2 - MORE EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS 2.1 - ENHANCE SHARED ACCOUNTABILITY 5 - ENSURE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 5.1 - ENSURE SAFE DRINKING WATER AND RELIABLE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 1 - A CLEANER, HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT 1.3 - REVITALIZE LAND AND PREVENT CONTAMINATION 2 - TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS 2.1 - PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS AT THE FEDERAL, TRIBAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS 3 - CLEANING UP COMMUNITIES AND ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 3.1 - PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES 1 - CORE MISSION 1.1 - IMPROVE AIR QUALITY 2 - TAKE DECISIVE ACTION TO ADVANCE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS 2.2 - EMBED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS INTO EPA’S PROGRAMS, POLICIES, AND ACTIVITIES

66.615 - Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program (EJ TCGM)

EPA Region 5: Chicago [EPA - RO]

Minnesota United States

State-Wide

Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program (EJ TCGM) (EPA-R-OEJECR-OCS-23-03)