Equity, Belonging, Diversity and Inclusion

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Introducing Our 2024 Theory of Change Initiatives

These new initiatives at MCF are a direct outcome of our 2024 theory of change. We’re taking primarily an organizational learning and leadership development approach to grow our own and our members’ capacity to operationalize equity and belonging outcomes.

About Our Equity & Belonging Change‑Making Work

At the Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF), we are committed to helping philanthropy create the conditions that contribute to a Minnesota where race no longer determines outcomes or predicts success in key areas of life. 

Our Role

We shape norms, mobilize resources, and disseminate best practices. Through organizational learning and leadership development, we grow the capacity of our members to operationalize equity and belonging outcomes by strengthening policies, practices and resource flows.

Our Core Strategies

• MCF DEI Experiential Leadership Lab provides a combination of challenge and support to all of our members for becoming aware, using self as a learning territory, and experiment taking action, even when outcomes are unknown. 
• Rural Urban Bridging for Impact (RUBI) Initiative strengthens connections and fosters a sense of belonging across Minnesota by addressing the unique challenges and opportunities at the intersection of rural and urban communities.
• People of Color and LGBTQ+ Community of Practice centers and creates intentional community of support among members who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and/or LGBTQ+.
• Living Resource Library to curate and share field guides, case studies and toolkits.

Measuring Progress & Sharing Our Learning

• Developing and tracking Equity & Belonging Change-Making Strategies: We are in the early stages of establishing a clear pathway forward with a monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework for achieving our desired equity and belonging outcomes.
• Learning from the past: A forward-looking retrospective project is underway to learn from our prior equity, belonging, diversity, and inclusion change-making strategies as a way to publicly document our efforts, lessons learned, successes, and setbacks.