Green Partners contracts awarded in 2024
In August 2024, the county awarded contracts to 27 Green Partners environmental education projects totaling $777,900 to community organizations to engage their audiences in learning about and taking action to protect the environment. Together, these projects will engage more than 9,400 people, including more than 8,100 youth, offer green job employment and training to more than 70 youth, and reach more than 116,000 people with environmental messages.
The program prioritizes environmental education and engagement with audiences that experience disparities.
The program includes three types of projects. 6 organizations will work primarily with adult audiences to motivate environmental actions, 17 organizations will work primarily with youth on learning about the environment and becoming environmental stewards, and 4 organizations will offer green jobs education, training, and employment.
Since the program was established in 2012, the county has awarded 259 contracts totaling more than $3.5 million.
Environmental action projects
Joint Action for Diversity and Engagement (JADE)
Sustainability in Cultural events
$12,000 to educate volunteer leaders to engage 200 people and vendors in recycling, organics recycling, and waste prevention to reduce trash at communal events in the Asian community.
Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota
AAPI Green Team
$39,900 over two years to engage 150 Lao and Hmong young adults and adults in recycling and waste reduction through outreach at community events and by educating their friends and family.
Lyndale Neighborhood Association
Preventing Waste in Lyndale
$12,000 to engage 250 participants in education and activities to reduce waste by educating on where to buy used items and reducing the stigma around purchasing used items by going with others to shop in a group. Participants will increase their use of sustainable transportation by knowing how to repair simple bike problems.
Northeast Minneapolis Tool Library
Overcoming Barriers to Repair
$12,200 to engage more than 450 participants in learning a variety of repair-focused trade skills that will reduce household waste through repair at home and in their community.
Off the Blue Couch
It’s time to start Anew
$25,000 to engage 150 residents in recycling, give away free recycling and organics starter kits to residents in Minneapolis, engage residents to recycle their waste and properly dispose of household hazardous waste, host community clean-ups to pick-up litter and clean out storm drains, and encourage residents to have conversations about climate change.
Resilient Cities and Communities
Corcoran Phillips Home Weatherization Outreach
$50,000 over two years to engage, incentivize, and support 150 households in Corcoran and Phillips in signing up for Home Energy Squad visits to find opportunities for home insulation, air sealing, home electrification, recommended actions they can take at home, available financial incentives and qualified contractors.
Youth environmental education projects
Appetite for Change Inc.
Youth Training and Opportunities Program
$25,000 to teach 150 youth about topics related to urban agriculture, including organic farming, aquaponics, conventional farming, vertical farming, and urban farming.
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches
LakeStreet Youth Labs
$12,000 to engage 150 youth in pursuing environmental-science based career paths, increasing student awareness of critical environmental topics, and providing youth with hands-on, environmental STEAM-based learning experiences by exploring plant life cycles, food systems, and restorative growing practices through hands-on activities which will be incorporated into existing programming.
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre
Puppets Show Up for the Earth
$50,000 over two years to engage 750 youth in learning about water conservation and pollinator preservation through puppet shows, activities, and study guides created by two high school youth apprentice artist-researchers and experienced artists who will guide and support the youth apprentices.
Metro Blooms
Youth and Environmental Justice
$50,000 over 2 years to engage 305 youth in Sustainable Land Care training to learn green infrastructure practices, stormwater and hydrology, Best Management Practices (BMPs) for water, soil and soil filtration, plant morphology and identification, inspections and record keeping, and other relevant topics.
Midwest Food Connection
Youth Food Waste Reduction Project
$24,000 to engage 750 4-8th graders in climate-friendly practices of food consumption, including learning how the food they don’t consume, and the leftover packaging, affect the environment, and what actions they can take to improve climate outcomes.
Minneapolis Nature Preschool
School-wide Forest Stewardship
$19,600 to engage 700 elementary and middle school students in observing, learning about, and stewarding the school forest consistently throughout all seasons through the framework of science class.
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Nature from the Inside Out at Kroening Nature Center
$50,000 over two years to engage 625 youth in high quality experiential environmental education for students during the school day throughout the school year and expand their existing program to include 2nd graders at Jenny Lind, Cityview and Bethune Elementary Schools.
Minnesota African Women’s Association
Engaging Pan-African Youth in Environmental Action
$50,000 over two years to engage 150 African youth participants in intensive educational curriculum, youth leadership development activities, and taking action on environmental behaviors related to recycling, reducing waste, removing toxics in the home, and promoting organics composting in restaurants.
Minnesota Swahili Christian Congregation
Project Reuse-Reduce-Recycle
$20,000 to will engage 50 youth and members of their congregation in learning about and promoting environmental behaviors related to waste.
Phyllis Wheatley Community Center
Mississippi Summer Exploration
$12,000 to engage 200 youth in learning about the cultural, environmental, and industrial factors that have shaped the Mississippi River that we see today and encouraging youth to view the river as a recreational space by fostering a love of nature.
Pollinate Minnesota
Expansive Pollinator Education
$25,000 to engage more than 1300 students in discoverable experiences with live bees and host 20 teachers workshops to increase confidence in teaching with pollinators, teaching outdoors, and infusing STEAM into their curriculum.
Regents of the University of Minnesota
4-H Environmental Learning and Capacity Building
$50,000 over two years to engage 150 youth in environmental education and continue to develop the capacity of program partners to carry out the 4-H Environmental Club (“E-Club”) model in the areas of climate change and food systems, plastic pollution, and environmental advocacy and awareness.
Reuse Minnesota Inc.
Reuse for the future: Youth reuse education
$25,000 to engage 450 youth in reuse education and practice by bringing Club Mend to schools, offering opportunities for students to learn new skills, and build on what they learn over the year, and provide more opportunities for youth through camp-based programming.
Spark-Y
Green Campus Expansion: Youth Environmental Education at PYC Arts
$22,800 to engage 200 youth in green campus initiatives and establish a sustainable, long-term environmental education program within the school curriculum by creating weekly programming that integrates environmental education seamlessly into the school's educational framework and the green campus infrastructure.
Wilderness Inquiry Inc.
Connecting Minneapolis Youth to Nature-Based Education and Exploration
$19,400 to engage 150 underserved and underrepresented Minneapolis students at Escuela Bilingue Green Central and youth from the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in culturally inclusive outdoor education and recreation experiences.
YMCA of the North
Camp Ihduhapi Environmental Education Curriculum Update and Scholarships
$50,000 over two years to engage at least 1,700 youth at Camp Ihduhapi for school-year environmental programming by providing more support to schools, with a focus on schools with students who face disparities and update environmental education curriculum to align with state science standards.
Youth Farm
Youth Farm Northside
$12,000 to engage more than 290 young people in north Minneapolis in food justice work - supporting and participating in local food systems; gaining knowledge about a diverse range of topics from food and plant sciences to climate resilient urban agriculture to community organizing; and increasing food access and security in their own communities and beyond.
Youth green jobs projects
East Side Neighborhood Services
Youth Green Jobs Pathways: Education, Employment, and Green Workforce Training
$20,000 to collaborate with Spark-Y to deliver a hands-on Career and Technical Education program focused on green jobs and sustainability for 30 youth at Menlo Park Academy.
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Creating Future Leaders in Outdoor and Environmental Leadership
$30,000 to provide green jobs programming for 50 youth will be provided through a partnership between North Hennepin Community College, five school districts, and outdoor organizations to increase outdoor and environmental education, leadership, internship and career exploration and opportunities for underrepresented college and high school students.
Minnesota Renewable Now
Green Career Forum
$30,000 to engage 20 youth in learning about opportunities in green careers through training, mentorship, peer networking, and exposure to professionals working in local green careers.
Restoration Incorporated Ministries
Living the Green Life Project
$30,000 to engage 15 black, Indigenous, and youth of color in solar jobs training, soft skills training, and mentoring for justice involved youth, in partnership with solar companies that will provide support.
Green Partners contracts awarded in 2023
In August 2023, the county awarded contracts to 28 Green Partners projects. A majority of the projects have wrapped up as of August 31, 2024. The following six projects will continue through August 31, 2025.
Environmental action projects
Community Power
Community-owned Affordable Solar and Efficiency
$25,000 over two years to engage 500 low to moderate income renters, homeowners, tenants of affordable housing in accessing energy efficiency programs, including joining a cooperatively-owned community solar garden in their community and receiving support to take the next step on weatherization and energy efficiency including direct installs of LED light-bulbs and low-flow faucets and shower heads.
Mississippi Park Connection
BIPOC in the Outdoors
$50,000 over two years to engage 150 Black, Indigenous, and people of color from across Hennepin County in connecting with the Mississippi River through outdoor experiences and education about its cultural and environmental significance. This project centers the experiences of BIPOC community members and their relationship to nature, land, and each other.
The Richfield Foundation (Altlawns of Richfield and Bloomington)
Creating Habitat with Sustainable Landscaping
$50,000 over two years engage 200 homeowners and renters in Richfield, Bloomington, and surrounding cities in adding container gardens and replacing existing lawns with native plants to support wildlife, protect water, improve air quality, and reduce the heat island effect.
Youth environmental education projects
Bancroft Neighborhood Association
Beloved Community Minneapolis
$50,000 over two years to engage 100 youth in hands-on, neighborhood-based projects that connect them with neighbors and the natural environment and contribute to community wellness and vibrancy. Through the Beloved Community Minneapolis project, youth spend most of their time outdoors on green projects, including growing and providing neighbors with locally-grown food in areas where fresh food is not easily available, bee keeping, learning to extend the growing season and how to cook the food they grow, and hosting community meals to share what they have grown and learned.
MIGIZI Communications
Indigenous Pathways – Green Tech Institute
$50,000 over two years to engage 120 high school youth learning about Indigenous practices and green tech through activities such as wild ricing, Sugar Bush science and sugaring practices, field testing and analysis of water and air quality, environmental forensics, and education on topics of environmental pollution, treaty rights and food sovereignty, and environmental justice.
The Highpoint Center for Printmaking
Creative Clean Water Stewards Project
$37,400 over two years to engage 200 students from Burroughs Community School, Nellie Stone Johnson Community School, Whittier International Elementary School, and Ella Baker Global Studies and Humanities School in the study of rain gardens, clean water initiatives, recycling, preventing waste, pollinators, and protecting local bodies of water through outdoor education sessions, hands-on printmaking activities, poetry writing, and art exhibitions.