2024 Frontline Fund Grantmaking Report
The Midwest Frontline Fund
WHAT: The Midwest Frontline Fund provides multi-year, flexible, general operating grants to grassroots and frontline organizations. In 2024 we granted $1,650,000 to 60 orgs across the region.
WHY: The Frontline Fund was started to stabilize funding streams for frontline groups, with the goal of building their long term capacity to respond to community needs and changing political contexts. Recent studies have shown that only 1.3% of philanthropic dollars in the US go to environmental justice-focused organizations (2022). MWEJN is actively working to change this.
WHO: MWEJN’s Frontline partners are rooted in low-income communities and historically disinvested communities of color, which are hit first and worst by environmental crises and are often resourced least and last.
GRANT MAKING TIMELINE
6 grants: $60,000
$10k each
12 invited: $96,000,
$8k each
24 invited: $200,000
$8k each
24 invited: $240,000
$10k each
50 invited: $700,000
53 invited: $1,656,000
49 invited: $1,320,000
60 invited: $1,650,000
SECTION 1
CONTEXT
MIDWEST REGION
The Midwest is home to a powerful Environmental Justice movement that has collectively held industries, regulators, elected officials and philanthropy accountable to people, planet, and future generations.
The region is also at the forefront of our most important environmental struggles. With twenty percent of the world’s fresh water, unique grasslands, swamp and forest ecosystems, and a quarter of national agricultural output, the Midwest is defined by its beauty and precious resources. But it’s also home to four of the highest emitting states in the country.
Like frontline communities globally, Midwestern communities are facing increasing climate catastrophe – from flooding in Detroit and poor air quality due to forest fires in the north, to drought in Iowa and increasing severity of storms and high heat events across the region. In addition to the loss of life, health and economic impacts, climate chaos is changing entire ways of life.
“Because of climate change, we are seeing very warm winters and temperatures not cooling enough to make the [maple] trees sleep and then wake up during spring. It is affecting the flow of sap, and we are growing concerned that there will come a day that the maple trees will not flow. Our ceremonial cycle is directly aligned with our environment, and so when the climate shifts, so does the timing of our ceremonies. No sap could lead to no ceremony. This can mean we can no longer give thanks and then no longer have our traditional ways, traditional language... and when that happens, it is said that we will no longer exist as a people.”
-Dr. Rosa King,
Executive Director of Skanikulat, Inc.
Oneida women-led partner organization in Wisconsin
Despite the impacts of the climate crises in our states, the Midwest has also experienced climate migration. Immigrants arriving in Midwestern communities are often on the frontlines of environmental injustices in this country.
Another outcome of the accelerating crises and the region’s history of unjust policies is the unequal rising cost of energy and utility shut-offs. Low income and communities of color face higher energy burdens and reservations experience higher energy insecurity and pay more per kilowatt hour compared to off-reservation communities.
In addition to shaping strategy and leading campaigns, frontline leaders must build and sustain organizations, which requires management and administration skills that are stretched in our current system.
Organizations are facing pressure on a number of fronts:
Uncertain political landscapes at all levels of government
Increasing costs and supply chain disruptions
Divestment and instability of philanthropy - the promises of increased funding to BIPOC-led organizations after the racial uprising in 2020 are on the decline
Competitive hiring market, increasing wages, and difficulty retaining staff due to burnout and underpay
ORGANIZATION OPERATIONS
SECTION 2
MIDWEST FRONTLINE FUND 2024 GRANTEES
The Midwest Frontline Fund grantees are located in 12 states across the Midwest. MWEJN’s grantmaking is grounded in principles of participatory grant-making - based on the belief that those closest to the problem are best positioned to develop the most effective and sustainable solutions.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
Organizational Types
2024 Projected Budgets
Primary Focus Areas
ISSUE AREAS
Midwest EJ Network asks organizations to identify the primary and secondary issues they are working on. While there is a wide diversity of issues that fall within each of these categories and they are closely intersecting, we summarized the work into the following issue areas:
Food Justice/Sovereignty
Just Development
Air Pollution & Cumulative Impacts
Energy Democracy & Infrastructure
Water Protection & Drinking Water
Tribal Sovereignty
SECTION 3
ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES
Frontline organizations are deploying a comprehensive and diverse set of strategies to achieve environmental justice across our region.
DEFENDING
Fighting polluting industry and racist laws and policies
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Organized public interest presence at hearings
Community education through canvassing, community meetings, events, tabling, phone banking, SMS campaigns
Advocating for community accountability mechanisms
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Campaigns that champion clean energy over corporate interests in fossil fuels
Filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
Local monitoring initiatives such as truck counts, air pollution monitoring, and nuclear plant monitoring
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Legal interventions: influencing permitting, regulatory, and legislative processes
Advocacy for the Rights of Nature
BUILDING
Building community-controlled solutions across systems and infrastructure
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Local, state, regional, and national collaborations
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Environmental Career Worker Training Program and Solar Energy Education Program
Aquaponics work
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Food and gardening projects
Resilience kits
Community-scale solar solutions
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Resilience hub building
Indigenous food sovereignty centers
Urban farms supporting sustainability and food sovereignty
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Acquired land for public and cooperative uses
GPAS Land Back Work: permanent protection of MHA ancestral lands off-reservation from fracking, lobbying for a national monument in the North Dakota Badlands
Rebuilt Black intergenerational wealth and food security for Black growers
BRIDGING
Lifting up the narratives of a new, regenerative system for people and planet
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Book initiatives
Theatre productions
Storytelling and advocacy through art and film
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Healing justice programs centering the lived experiences of Black women through art and healing modalities
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Collaboration across sectors (e.g., housing, tribal sovereignty, environmental justice)
SECTION 4
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Despite historic disinvestment & immense challenges – Frontline organizations are defending, leading and winning major victories.
Tribes and Indigenous communities are leading highly effective, varied, and geographically diverse campaigns against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and the pollution of our water, air, and soil.
Accountability of resource flows and increased control over decision making and their communities has been a cornerstone environmental justice. Recent federal and state policy actions, while providing historic funding to communities, have also accelerated false solutions to climate injustice that we have to defend against.
CASE STUDIES
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Location: Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota
“Colonization forced our ancestors on to what is now Cheyenne River, removing them from our traditional foods like buffalo, which were vital to their health, security, and identity, stripping us of our food sovereignty. In 1944 with the Pick-Sloan Plan, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation flooded thousands of acres of our most fertile lands along the Missouri River to make Lake Oahe. Our people were forced to relocate to less productive ground, reducing their ability to gather and grow their own food.”
For 25 years, CRYP has cultivated the Winyan Toka Win (Leading Lady) Garden, a 3+ acre pesticide-free learning laboratory rooted in Lakota values like generosity, spirituality, wisdom, respect, courage, honesty, and patience.In 2024, CRYP acquired 39 acres near Mato Paha (Bear Butte), a sacred site, to host Lakota Culture Camps and Internships. These programs immerse teens in traditional teachings and ways of life. This land offers a powerful opportunity to heal our youth, reconnecting them with traditional practices of living, eating, praying, and being a good relative. For the first time in over 100 years, they will freely use this land, reclaiming it as stewards of their heritage.
Learn more
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Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Little Earth, a 9.4-acre, 212-unit HUD complex in Minneapolis' East Phillips neighborhood, is the only Indigenous preference Section 8 community in the U.S. Founded in 1973 through grassroots activism, it lies in a neighborhood deeply affected by environmental racism, with Minnesota's highest rates of asthma hospitalizations and lead poisoning.
The Little Earth Residents Association (LERA) is pursuing environmental justice on multiple fronts. Years of advocacy led to the U.S. EPA overruling Minnesota regulators, citing Clean Air Act violations by a nearby iron foundry and asphalt plant, both now slated for closure.
The community also continues to address arsenic contamination from a former insecticide plant. Efforts include soil cleanup and plans for a 20,000 sq. ft. year-round aquaponics facility, which will also serve as a hub for LERA’s Youth Workforce Development Program, reclaiming cultural traditions through food.
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Location: Detroit, Michigan
The Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network (DBCFSN) champions Black self-determination in Detroit through key community infrastructure initiatives:
Detroit Food Commons
A 31,000 sq. ft. development led by DBCFSN, funded with $22 million from multiple sources. The space features the Detroit People’s Food Co-op—a Black-led, community-owned grocery store—alongside shared-use kitchens, a banquet hall, and office space.D-Town Farm
Established in 2008, D-Town Farm is Detroit's largest urban farm, spanning over seven acres in Rouge Park. It grows 30+ fruits, vegetables, and herbs annually using sustainable, regenerative methods.Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund
A mutual aid fund addressing racial disparities in land ownership, helping Black growers build intergenerational wealth as well as secure land and farm infrastructure access.
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Location: Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (RST) established Rosebud Energy Service Company (RESCo) in 2023, following over a decade of efforts to create a Tribal utility rooted in Lakota culture and beliefs.
Despite pursuing renewable energy for over 20 years, progress was hindered by entrenched fossil fuel interests. Meanwhile, electricity costs have outpaced inflation. RST’s energy team secured over $2 million in funding for RESCo, supporting community education on clean energy, its alignment with Lakota values, and the opportunities it offers. In recent years, RESCo has received multiple federal awards for its innovative approach.
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Location: Chicago, Illinois
Getting Grown Collective (GGC) is a key partner in the Farm, Food, Familias (FFF) mutual aid meal distribution program, launched in 2020 to address widespread food insecurity. Over four years, FFF has provided 50,000 free meals and evolved into a proactive initiative preparing for future crises. Current programming includes virtual and in-person cooking classes and a kitchen training cohort of five community members who prepare weekly meals.
GGC also hosts Chicago’s first solar-powered community refrigerator, located in their community garden on a residential block. The 24/7 accessible fridge is stocked with donations from grocery stores and produce from local growing sites.
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Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi is advancing two major development projects grounded in their Environmental Justice framework:
Consultation and Consent (Mnícịyapi k’a Iyówiƞyaƞpi): Ensuring meaningful, timely inclusion of all stakeholders, with special attention to historically neglected communities. Consent involves documented permission to proceed with activities.
Engagement of Marginalized Stakeholders (Oyáte Wónathapi): Prioritizing participation from historically excluded groups, including elders, youth, low-income residents, and Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color at every decision-making level.
Projects:
Waḳaŋ Ṭípi Center: A 7,500 sq. ft. cultural and environmental interpretive center designed as an intergenerational gathering space honoring the sacred Waḳaŋ Ṭípi cave and burial mounds.
Phalen Creek Restoration: A four-mile waterway historically connecting Lake Phalen to the Mississippi River, buried in the 1930s for development, holds cultural significance to the Dakota people. In 2022, WTA secured state funding to restore the first 1/4 mile.
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Location: Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota
The Fort Berthold Reservation, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, is heavily impacted by pollution from thousands of oil and gas wells. Flaring, the burning of waste gases like methane, poses significant health risks to the community. Fort Berthold POWER is advocating to uphold EPA and BLM methane rules to regulate these emissions.
POWER’s air quality advocacy recently gained national attention. Their efforts led to a $241 million settlement—the largest ever for Clean Air Act violations—between the Department of Justice, the EPA, and Marathon Oil for intentional VOC and methane releases on the reservation.
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Location: Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin
The Bad River Band has long faced threats to tribal sovereignty and their watershed, including land theft, mining, and oil pipelines.
In 2018, the tribe discovered a 40-foot stretch of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline exposed on reservation land, with part of the steel conduit suspended in the air. A failure would have caused oil to spill into the Bad River watershed and Lake Superior. The tribe has fought Enbridge through legal action and storytelling, including a documentary highlighting Indigenous resistance. In 2022, a federal court ruled Enbridge had trespassed on tribal land and ordered the company to pay $5.1 million.