Collaborations

The Foundation recognizes that its success is dependent on working with others to achieve common goals. Partnerships and collaborations, both formal and informal provide greater resources, experience, and wisdom than the Foundation could garner on its own when working on complex issues. This strategy is most effective when the collaborations are configured in ways that maximize each participant’s assets and expertise. Formal collaborations take much time and effort, but can provide productive results. Informal associations can further learning and provide a stronger voice on common issues.

Nonprofit Resource Specialists
In 1999, the Foundation and Bremer banks formed a partnership with the goal of better serving the nonprofit community. This partnership resulted in creation of a bank position called the Nonprofit Resource Specialist. With some Foundation support, ten banks currently have a Nonprofit Resource Specialist on staff. The NRSs, as they are called, act as resources to and within the local nonprofit community, helping individual organizations strategically develop organizational capacity and resources including, but not limited to, the Otto Bremer Foundation. The NRS’s innovative and individualized approaches to community issues provide another resource in the Foundation’s Organizational Effectiveness Program. This partnership is evidence that Bremer Financial employees, involved as they are community volunteers, are one of the Foundation’s strongest assets.

To speak with or send an inquiry to a Nonprofit Resource Specialist, call or email the  Specialist closest to you:

International Fallls Myrna Meadows mlmeadows@bremer.com (218) 286-5622 345 4th Avenue International Falls, MN 56649 Brainerd Julie A. Vreeland javreeland@bremer.com (218) 828-5167 321 7th Street South Brainerd, MN 56401 Marshall and Willmar Lois Schmidt lcschmidt@bremer.com Marshall: (507) 537-0222 ext. 273 Willmar: (320) 235-1111 ext. 140 208 East College Drive Marshall, MN 56258 Alexandria Charter Holly Witt hswitt@bremer.com (320) 589-1424 701 Atlantic Avenue Morris, MN 56267 St. Cloud Kathy Grochow kdgrochow@bremer.com (320) 255-7137 1100 St. Germain St. W. Saint Cloud, MN 56301

Grand Forks Kelly Greenlees kgreenlees@bremer.com (701) 795-4520 3100 Columbia Road South Grand Forks, ND 58201 Minot Jerry Stai jmstai@bremer.com (701) 852-3361 20 1st Street SW Minot, ND 58701 Fargo Howard Barlow hcbarlow@bremer.com (701) 492-2600 1444 45h Street SW Fargo, ND 58103 Wisconsin Maltee McMahon mmcmahon@bremer.com (715) 235-2144 605 2nd Street Menomonie, WI  54751

The Graduate Fellowship on Philanthropy & Human Rights
Established in 2002, this joint venture with the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA) seeks to provide graduate students of color learning experience in the field of philanthropy as well address mutual pursuits of furthering the Foundation’s mission. The Fellowship connects an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural community of professionals and students committed to social justice while conducting independent research related to the Foundation’s funding strategies. Over the course of an academic year, the scholars conduct research that involves collaboration with local nonprofits and local communities while integrating fellowship research with academic objectives. The partnership provides a mutual exchange between the Foundation and scholars as a way of understanding the issues faced by communities.

The goals of the Fellowship are to increase the number of graduate students of color in social justice work, apply an academic specialty to a paid vocational/occupational opportunity, and impact communities supported by philanthropic initiatives.

The Funder’s Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities
The Funder’s Collaborative, an initiative of Hispanics in Philanthropy, is an example of a partnership that furthers the Foundation’s efforts to strengthen nonprofits. The mission of the Collaborative is to build the capacity of Latino nonprofit organizations and increase the knowledge and experience of Funders regarding Latino issues. As one of many Funders, the Foundation’s support leverages other resources locally and nationally. Grants given to the Collaborative in Minnesota are doubled through matched grants awarded by national Funders. A local advisory board reviews requests and awards capacity building grants to Latino nonprofits in the region. In addition to direct grants, the recipient organizations receive ongoing culturally-specific training and attend convenings that provide opportunities to network locally, regionally, and internationally with organizations across the United States and in Latin America.

The U.S. Human Rights Fund
On July 4th 2005, a group of foundations and individual donors created the U.S. Human Rights Fund, a collaborative funding initiative dedicated to supporting the full realization of human rights in the United States. The U.S. Human Rights Fund provides strategic, field-building support to the U.S. human rights movement, with a primary emphasis on capacity building, networking, communications and applied legal and policy research. The Fund focuses in particular on domestic social justice groups actively engaged in U.S. human rights work and their links to the U.S. rights, law and policy communities more generally. It also offers a range of services to donors interested in learning about and funding in this area. The Foundation’s funds are directed to organizations in the region.

Partners Internship Program
An initiative started by the Foundation more than a decade ago, the Partner’s Internship Program (PIP) has continued to grow and expand as a result of partnering with the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA). With an expressed purpose to “equip students to become effective change agents,” HECUA has a long track record of coordinating internships and community service learning experiences. The Partner’s Internship Program, places students in a ten-week summer internship in nonprofit organizations. During the ten weeks, students are able to attend board, committee, and staff meetings at their host organization as well as work on specific projects. The students come together at the beginning of the summer for an orientation and overview of the nonprofit sector and once again in August to report on their experiences and to reflect on the role of nonprofits in the communities as well as in their own lives.

Understanding HIV/AIDS in the African Community
In 2005, after noticing an influx of grant requests coming from Pan African organizations seeking funds for AIDS related work, Elsa Vega-Perez, Senior Program Officer and Kari Suzuki Bardy, Director of Operations collaborated with Patrick Troska of the Jay & Rose Phillips Foundation to convene stakeholders from the Pan African communities in Minnesota and representatives from the State Department of Health to discuss the growing trend and possible solutions for it. Over the course of convenings and discussions, research was compiled by former Otto Bremer Foundation Human Rights and Philanthropy Fellow, Zainab Hassan ('04-05). On November 30, 2005, on the eve of World AIDS Day (recognized on December 1), the Otto Bremer Foundation and the Jay and Rose Phillips Foundation shared their research via a Minnesota Council on Foundations briefing at Clare Housing, an organization that provides shelter, services and compassionate care to persons living with HIV and AIDS in the Twin Cities, with interested parties.

The PDF is available at http://www.phillipsfnd.org/documents/FinalHIVAfricanReport.pdf

Dream Fund
The Minnesota Dream Fund is a collaborative initiative by the Minnesota philanthropic community in response to a Ford Foundation matching grant to help regional groups end the need for affirmative action by the year 2030. The initiative, established in 2005, represents a collaborative effort to ensure equal opportunity for achievement.

Democracy! Fund: A Partnership for Political Participation
The Democracy! Fund was formed to support and advance the legal, non-partisan, political activity and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. The Democracy! Fund is designed to promote the inherent connection between democracy, political power, community organizing, nonprofit advocacy and public policy.

Nonprofit organizations play a critical role in the development and implementation of public policy and the advancement of democracy. The Democracy! Fund is an ongoing resource to support electoral engagement as one aspect of a larger nonprofit organizing and advocacy strategy through activities such as electoral reform/voting rights, political resources and tools, political participation of youth, connecting immigrant groups to political power, voter engagement, and electoral organizing.

The Democracy! Fund is committed to a society that is deeply democratic, grounded in social justice and in which all its members have the capacity and opportunity to be active and full participants in civic life and governance. The Democracy! Fund is a collaborative effort among Headwaters Foundation for Justice, the Women's Foundation of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Foundation and the Otto Bremer Foundation.