Food within reach
Community kitchens, neighborhood markets, and durable local food systems.
Great Lakes region · Established 2008
Regional grants. Shared futures.
We fund community-led work that strengthens food access, restores freshwater, and opens opportunity for young people.
$4.8M committed in 2025Across 41 organizations in six Great Lakes states. Figures from our audited 2025 report.
What we fund
Local knowledge leads.
Freshwater stewardship
Watershed restoration shaped and monitored by the people who live there.
Youth opportunity
Paid pathways into skilled work, public service, and community leadership.
2025 impact ledger
Numbers with a source.
We publish the basis for every headline figure. Download the full methodology and audited statements in our report library.
41
organizations received direct program grants
Source: grants register, Dec. 202587%
of total expenditure went to grants and programs
Source: audited financials, p. 1926
paid youth placements converted to permanent roles
Source: partner follow-up, Q4 2025Selected grants
Work already moving.
A representative selection from our 2025 register. The complete grants CSV is available in the annual report.
Harbor Street Pantry
Cold-storage expansion for a resident-run neighborhood market in Milwaukee.
$125,000Blue Heron Collaborative
Three-year monitoring and restoration of tributaries feeding western Lake Erie.
$210,000Northline Works
Paid building-trades placements for 18–24-year-olds in Duluth.
$180,0002026 open call
Start with fit, not a form.
One-page inquiries are open from September 8 to October 17, 2026.
Read the full guidelinesWe currently consider organizations that:
- Work in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, or Wisconsin
- Have active 501(c)(3) status or an eligible fiscal sponsor
- Request between $50,000 and $250,000 over one to three years
- Place community members in paid or governing roles
Governance
Accountable by design.
Program decisions are made by staff and a nine-member regional board. Conflicts and recusals are published annually.
Amara Reed
Executive director
Community finance and food systemsTomás Velasquez
Board chair
Freshwater policy and public serviceRen Ito
Program director
Youth employment and evaluationPublic record