Immigrant Rapid Response Fund: A Coordinated Philanthropic Response for Minnesota

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About This Briefing

Our communities face heightened uncertainty, enforcement actions and rapid policy shifts. These sudden disruptions continue to impact immigrant families in this hostile moment. We invite you to join us for this funder briefing on the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund (IRRF) to ensure resources move quickly and responsibly to trusted, on-the-ground organizations. 

The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund (IRRF), hosted by the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and founded by the MN Latine Fund, serves as a critical conduit for support. This briefing will provide funders with a “behind-the-scenes” look at how the fund prioritizes community-led organizations serving Somali, Latine, and other frontline communities. We will discuss the current landscape of immigration enforcement in Minnesota and how your foundation can lean into this collaborative funding model.

This briefing is designed to create space for how to move forward with clarity, courage, and coherence. 

What You’ll Learn

• The impact of Operation Metro Surge and the recent deployment of 2,000 agents in the Twin Cities
• Immediate legal and essential needs of families following the January 7 fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in South Minneapolis
• How a community-informed grantmaking model enables rapid, accountable response during emergencies
• Insights into mobilizing community organizing, providing emergency essentials (food/housing), and delivering legal services
• An update on the $5 million campaign goal and current resource gaps
• Actionable ways your foundation can participate through funding, coordination, or amplification

Funder Briefing Flow

Who’s Invited

All Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) members and funders more broadly are welcome. This work belongs to all of us, whether you’re in grantmaking, operations, leadership, communications, finance, board service, or any other foundation role.

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Ambar Cristina Hanson, Executive Director, Mortenson Family Foundation

Ambar leads the Foundation’s mission to build partnerships that strengthen community-driven approaches advancing equity, opportunity, and sustainable systems. Ambar earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado, Denver, and serves on the boards of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, Latino Economic Development Center, and Bigelow Foundation.

Gloria Perez, President & CEO, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota 

Gloria leads the nation’s first statewide women’s foundation, building pathways to prosperity for women, girls, and gender-expansive people through research, grantmaking, and policy advocacy. Previously, she became a national expert in two-generation strategies to reduce poverty as founding Executive Director and later President & CEO of Jeremiah Program, growing the organization from a local initiative to a national nonprofit. Gloria is an Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute and serves on several boards, including the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, the Ciresi Walburn Foundation, Esperanza United and Macalester College. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Macalester College and is a recipient of an honorary doctorate from the same institution.

Lulete Mola, President and Co-Founder, Black Collective Foundation Minnesota 

Lulete is the first President of the Black Collective Foundation MN, Minnesota’s first Black community foundation dedicated to advancing the genius of Black-led change. Previously, she served as Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, where she led the $10 million Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota. A summa cum laude graduate from the University of Minnesota, she’s a 2025 Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School, 2020 Aspen Institute SOAR Fellow, and a 2022 Facing Race Award recipient.

Muneer Karcher-Ramos, Program Director of the Vibrant & Equitable Communities, McKnight Foundation 

Muneer’s work focuses on building a future for Minnesota defined by shared power, prosperity, and participation. He previously served as Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment for the City of Saint Paul, where he pioneered guaranteed income pilots and childhood savings accounts to directly disrupt poverty. He was named a Minneapolis/Saint Paul Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and a Saint Paul Foundation Facing Race honoree. He earned a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in political science, sociology, and social justice from the University of Minnesota.

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Awale (Wally) Osman, Director of Organizational Learning and Leadership Development for Equity and Belonging, Minnesota Council on Foundations 
Wally leads the Minnesota Council on Foundations’ strategies for advancing internal equity, belonging, diversity, and inclusion (EBDI), as well as efforts to support the philanthropic sector in putting these values into practice through the Equity, Belonging, Diversity and Inclusion Institute (EBDI Institute). The EBDI Institute offerings include the Experiential Leadership Lab, Center for Organizational Learning and Practice, Rural Urban Bridging for Impact, People of Color and LGBTQ+ Community of Practice, learning and evaluation.

Questions or Accessibility Needs? Connect with Wally!

Email Wally at [email protected].