Foundation Grants
Community Vital Signs
About Us
Then &Amp; Now: Minkel on a Mission to Fund Creative Thinkers
Foundation: Kellogg Foundation, Walton Family Foundation
Karen Minkel's job is "to connect our highly rated proposals to donors who are as excited about them as we are," she tells the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.
Minkel is the philanthropy director for Lever for Change, a Chicago-based nonprofit that holds open competitions to address some of the world's biggest problemsincluding racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate changeand offers prizes ranging between $10 million and $100 million.
Since its inception in 2019, Lever for Change has facilitated more than $1.3 billion in grants.
Its goal is to reach $2.5 billion by 2025.
The appeal, Minkel says, is that it's an opportunity to "openly source projects or organizations that align with your area of interest."
Since its inception, Lever for Change has developed and managed customized challenges on behalf of a variety of funders, including Pivotal Ventures (Melinda French Gates), institutional funders like the WK Kellogg Foundation, corporate funders like the LEGO Foundation, as well as philanthropic advisers and new and anonymous donors.
As of June 1, Lever for Change has facilitated over $1.3 billion in grants.
Minkel began working for the organization in April 2022.
She worked for the city of Fayetteville for seven years (2005-2012), three of those as director of
Read the Entire Article
Selected Foundation News
A customized collection of news from foundations from around the Web.
The Tampa Bay Innovation Center is kicking off its spring accelerator program, and it's got eight startups on its list. Among them: AgWise, which focuses on the climate impact of agriculture's...more
A "first-of-its-kind impact investing network" in the Philippines is putting its money where its mouth is, in the form of collateral-free loans to women-led social and environmental...more
"It is simply not good enough that, for many advisers, their understanding of AI is that information goes into a black box,'magic happens' and something comes out." So said the outgoing director...more
"The future is green, and it's ours to invest in." That's the takeaway from Elysabeth Alfano, CEO of VegTech Invest, who is offering an online course on "Impact Investing with Plant-based...more
"Without actively looking for it, I came across a problem to solve, a powerhouse co-founder and an idea worth pursuing, so I decided to go for it," Alba Forns tellsEquities News. Forns is the...more
It's no secret that Africa's livestock industry plays a big role in the region's economy. In fact, the demand for livestock products is expected to grow by 50% by 2030, notes Business...more
The New Mexico town of El Rito has been named one of America's 10 most livable cities by Time. The honor goes to El Rito for the third year in a row, thanks in large part to the work of its...more
"This research pushed me outside my comfort zone and forced me to interact first-hand with hard truths about what social media is being used for in the modern day," Daisy Rehbock writes in her...more
The CEO of the nation's second-oldest civic monument has been ousted over allegations of financial impropriety at Dallas' Fair Park, the Dallas Morning News reports. On May 1, Brian Luallen...more
Quebec City's Mus ? 'e des beaux-arts du Qu'bec museum is getting a major boost from a single man. Michael Audain, chairman of the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation, has pledged $10 million toward...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Social Enterprise: Reaching Out to the Private Sector for Help
John Converse Townsend, a Forbes contributor, shares what can the private sector do for a social enterprise. He encourages social enterprises to reach out to corporations for help to scale up their businesses.