The year 2012 marked the 55th Anniversary of the Elmer L. & Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation.
In February, a board member and staff attended the Council on Foundation’s Family Foundation Conference in sunny Miami Beach, Florida. Along with a representative from the Trillium Foundation, they spent time at networking sessions, seminars, and activities pertaining to different aspects of family foundation philanthropy.
In 2012, the Foundation went beyond the midway point in its social justice grantmaking rotation:
The $40,000, two-year grant cycle in the political power and process focus area ended with the national, state, and local elections held in November. Civic participation efforts were fully implemented by the Minnesota Participation Project of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. A full report of the program is due in January 2013.
In 2012, the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy (CEED) was at the midpoint in the development of an environmental justice atlas of the Twin Cities. The much-anticipated first drafts of the maps were received. Also, the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota took over the technical aspects of the atlas development. In June, directors and staff attended a summit of project leaders, representatives from environmental justice organizations and interested individuals with the purpose of garnering community input on the format and possible uses of the maps. An interim report of the $62,000, two-year project is due in January 2013.
In the focus area of human rights, directors and staff met with representatives from the Islamic Resource Group and the Council on American Islamic Relations Minnesota to learn more about efforts in the reduction of Islamophobia in Minnesota. A grant supporting those efforts is likely to be made in 2013.
The final payments for several multi-year grants were made in 2012: Public Art Saint Paul received a final payment of $3,000 for a three-year, $9,000 grant. The Real Change Homeless Project of Seattle, Washington received a final payment of $4,000 in fulfillment of a three-year, $12,000 discretionary commitment. Carleton College received a final payment of $8,000 for a three-year, $24,000 grant.
Other grant payments of note include the second of three $15,000 payments for the capital campaign benefitting the Hackley Public Library in Elmer Andersen’s hometown of Muskegon, Michigan. The Masters in Advocacy and Political Leadership program at the University of Minnesota Duluth received the second of three $5,000 payments. The Elmer L. Andersen Research Scholars program at the University of Minnesota received the third of five $5,000 payments.
Anticipated in 2013 is an office move into another part of the building at 2424 Territorial Road, the development of a web presence, a grant award in the area of human rights and a possible change in investment management.
