Culturally Powered Communities

Collaborators 

Lead Organization: United Way of Olmsted County

Contact: TBD ; Email: TBD ; Phone: TBD

Known/Likely Collaborators: Boys and Girls Club of Rochester ; Damascus Way ; Diversity Council ; Ethiopian Community of Rochester ; Family Service Rochester ; IMAA ; Intermix Project ; Listos Preschool and Childcare ; Mayo Clinic ; Next Chapter Ministries ; Pamoja Women ; Sports Mentorship Academy (SMA) ; United Way of Olmsted County ; Zumbro Valley Health Center

Potential Collaborators: Community Mobilization Resource Coalition (CMRC) ; Diversity Council ; IMAA ; Rochester Area Family Y ; Rochester Area Foundation

Related Projects

Beam Up DEI Actions for Area CBO's ; Build Back Better Request for Proposal ; Building Out Community Mobilization Resources Coalition ; Collider Inclusion Open Entrepreneur Ecosystem Navigator ; Developing and Executing on Cradle to Career Plan ; Digital Equity IT ; Intercultural Center, Rochester (Creating a 21st Century Community Space) ; Non-profit Consortium Buildout

Impacts 

Major Impact:  Diversity and Inclusion

PlanScape Impacts :

Level 1: Best Practice, Diversity and Inclusion, Technology Enablement

Level 2:

DMC Impacts:

Community Health Impacts:

Type of Project

Programming  

Background

Culturally specific organizations (CSOs) are the best advocates for their communities because they understand the cultural norms, beliefs, and traditions of the people they serve; effectively engage community members; recognize and remove barriers to accessing services; and bridge norms between communities and institutions. These strengths of CSOs are often challenges for established mainstream organizations seeking to better serve a diverse cross-section of the community. At the same time, a lack of resources often keeps CSOs from developing capacities in areas such as data management, fundraising, technology, HR, or board development.

As communities know and research verifies, CSOs play a vital role in communities’ wellbeing. Studies indicate that people of color, Native Americans, and immigrants often prefer to interact with organizations that reflect their culture and traditions. However, these organizations are less likely than their mainstream counterparts to receive grant funding and tend to be smaller in size.

Culturally Powered Communities is principally designed to support CSOs through significant funding, individualized organizational and professional development, peer learning, and strengthening networks of leaders and organizations. The program also supports mainstream organizations with project-based mini-grants, support and training in organizational development to improve equity, and peer learning.

Build Back Better

LEARN MORE

Read our supporting research about inequities in our Olmsted County community and how we can create a thriving community where all people reach their full potential. 

Here's what our staff are reading these days:

• Belonging, Support, and Trust: Racial Equity at Work from Bain & Company
• Building supportive ecosystems for Black-owned US businesses from McKinsey & Company
• Navigating Race and New Leadership in a Time of Upheaval by Michelle Rhone-Collins
• Obstacles and Opportunities in Addressing the Nonprofit Racial Leadership Gap from the Building Movement Project
• On the Frontlines by the Building Movement Project
• Racial Equity and Philanthropy by The Bridgespan Group
• Transformational Capacity Building by April Nishimura et al
• Who Leads in Minnesota? From Minnesota Compass and the Bush Foundation

Sponsorships

Culturally Powered Communities is an equity strategy made possibly through a collaboration between United Way of Olmsted County and Mayo Clinic.

CPC is powered in partnership with Otto Bremer Trust.

We appreciate the support of our partners at Cradle 2 Career, The Diversity Council, Emmright Consulting, Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Rochester Area Foundation, Sports Mentorship Academy, and Zumbro Valley Health Center. 

Investing in Community-Led Solutions Centering Black Voices through Participatory Grantmaking

CMRC pausing public activities and investment potential white paper availability announcement.

Sept. 16^th: Workshop: Finding your First Customers and sell without being salesy; Sept 21^st: Workshop: Financial Literacy; Sept. 28^th: Workshop: How to Start a Business from Scratch (Part 1); Oct. 5^th: Workshop: How to Start a Business from Scratch (Part 2);

2024-08-12 PB Reporting GRAUC leads project to build prototype sim center The Southeast Minnesota Community Healthcare Simulation Center is set to open in downtown

Rochester by mid-October

Racism, Anti-Semitism and the Fight Against Hate

"Abolishing racism, hate crimes, and white supremacy isn’t a problem for one group to face alone; it’s a shared burden that requires a strong and unified response."

August 2024 Report : Age-Friendly Olmsted County (AFOC) activities implementing the Age

Friendly Olmsted County 2022-2025 Action Plan since our annual report in February 2024.

3Q2024: July 2024 Admin Message and Reports

Newsletter Highlights:

Systems Change Designation; Data Updates; Network Updates; Contributors

Home Ownership Creation Program - Prairie Ridge: "NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Common Council of the City of Rochester, MN hereby approves the contribution of $4,000,000 to the Prairie Ridge development to support the creation of 201 for-sale homes via the Home Ownership Creation Program.

The framework defines structural racism as the “totality of ways in which societies foster racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, health care and criminal justice.”

2Q 2024: June 2024; May 2024 - Admin Message, TBE Report; April 2024 - Admin Message, TBE Report

1Q 2024: Feb 2024 - Admin Message, TBE Report; Jan 2024: Admin Message, TBE Report

Special callouts: Women in Construction; City of Rochester Equity in Development 

June 24, 2024 City Council Study Session: Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Audit per Goodenough 

Departmental Audit reports of: Human Resources; Rochester Public Library; Parks & Rec 

SASSA to receive $1M from MN to train workers for high-demand employment. 

The funding is awarded under the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Targeted Populations Workforce Competitive Grant Program.

"Example of careers they are interested in include radiology, artificial Intelligence, surgery, aeronautical engineering, psychology, sports, business administration and many more!"