Green Partners contracts awarded in 2025
In August 2025, the county awarded contracts for 25 Green Partners environmental education projects totaling $522,400. The community organizations will engage their audiences in learning about and taking action to protect the environment. Together, these projects will engage more than 9,000 people, including more than 6,500 youth, and reach more than 165,000 people with environmental messages.
The program prioritizes environmental education and engagement with audiences that experience disparities.
The program includes three types of projects. Five organizations will work primarily with adult audiences to motivate environmental actions, 10 organizations will work primarily with elementary and middle school youth to educate about the environment and becoming environmental stewards, and 10 organizations engage youth in high school to age 24 in environmental leadership.
Since the program was established in 2012, the county has awarded 286 contracts totaling more than $4.3 million.
2025 Youth Environmental Education projects
Appetite for Change Youth Training and Opportunities Program
Amount: $47,700 over 2 years
Location: Minneapolis
Offer environmental education and build crucial skills for future success through hands-on urban gardening experiences and food harvesting for distribution. Participants will learn how they can help mitigate the effects of climate change through food systems and explore the related skills and science behind organic waste and composting, turning what would otherwise be refuse into a generative part of the food system.
ArtStart Aves Nativas de Minnesota y sus Hábitats/Native Birds of Minnesota & Their Habitats
Amount: $12,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Engage 3rd grade students in a 9-month environmental education experience that includes outdoor nature field trips and classroom-based artist residencies that will educate, engage, and motivate kids in appreciating and protecting native birds and their habitats.
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches LakeStreet Youth Labs (LYL)
Amount: $25,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Reduce environmental education disparities for low-income and BIPOC students who live and attend school in south Minneapolis by increasing youth awareness of critical environmental topics and confidence in pursuing environmental science-based career paths. Topics and activities include waste reduction, natural habitats, Minnesota wildlife, sustainable growing practices, and nature walks around the Midtown Phillips neighborhood.
Midwest Food Connection Youth Food Waste Reduction
Amount: $42,100 for 2 years
Location: Minneapolis
Engage youth in K-8 school classrooms in climate-friendly practices related to food by learning how their actions around food purchasing, packaging, consumption, and waste improve environmental outcomes.
Minnesota Swahili Christian Congregation Project RRR
Amount: $15,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis and surrounding communities
Focus on reducing waste by reusing and swapping resources and recycling items that cannot be reused. Teach and engage young people to be good stewards of environmental resources through the lens of their faith and by engaging congregation members in waste reduction practices and community swaps.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited Streams of Learning: Connecting Classrooms to Local Waterways
Amount: $6,000 for 1 year
Location: Hennepin County/p>
Foster environmental stewardship in students in K-8 classrooms across Hennepin County by connecting classroom learning with local waterways through outdoor education. Students will raise trout from eggs to fingerlings, study aquatic ecosystems, and engage in hands-on outdoor experiences.
Science Museum of Minnesota KAYSC NoMi Pharm Board Challenge
Amount: $12,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Engage elementary school students in learning about environmental and social justice issues impacting their community while building a small model of a sustainable urban oasis (Pharm), with a vegetable garden, a home for NoMi (the North Minneapolis gnome), pollinator gardens, trees, ponds, and more.
Special School District 1 Outdoor Explorers & Expedition Minneapolis
Amount: $10,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Expand environmental education opportunities and field experiences with Minneapolis Park naturalists for youth enrolled in Minneapolis Public School’s Summer Scholars and afterschool programming.
Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation Food Justice Knowledge to Action
Amount: $6,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Engage students in a year-long elective class at Ella Baker School in Minneapolis that empowers middle school youth to become local changemakers through food justice education and youth-led community journalism. Students will explore the intersections of food systems, environmental justice, and community resilience through weekly hands-on lessons, field-based experiences, and journalism-driven storytelling on topics including organic waste, composting, water conservation, native plants, pollinators, sustainability, and climate.
Location: Minneapolis
We All Need Food and Water Green Light Puppets
Amount: $15,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Engage youth and families through environmental participatory performances, hands-on activities to reinforce learning, and making pledges to protect the environment in their daily life.
2025 Youth Environmental Leadership projects
Brooklyn Center Community School Growing Up Growing BC
Amount: $16,000 for 1 year
Location: Brooklyn Center
Formally launch a scope and sequence of classroom and out-of-school-time activities by offering one middle and two high school courses in environmental leadership during the school day. In these courses, students will explore nature appreciation, well-being, and stewardship and experience hands-on learning connected to green careers.
EcoAlpha Zero Waste Youth Ambassadors
Amount: $10,000 for 1 year
Location: Hennepin County
Train youth ages 14–24 to lead public education on recycling, composting, and waste reduction at cultural festivals, county fairs, and community events. Through hands-on learning, multilingual outreach, and peer-led engagement, youth will explore waste systems, zero waste strategies, and the environmental impacts of overconsumption.
EMERGE Community Development Urban Landscape Technologies & Youth Green Jobs
Amount: $25,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Implement a year-round youth development project with curriculum and support from the University of Minnesota that engages a core group of youth leaders with internships, afterschool programming and education, hands-on projects, and community outreach at the intersection of environmental protection and emerging technologies.
Environmental Initiative Roots for the Future
Amount: $20,000 for 1 year
Location: Hennepin County
Equip youth from historically underrepresented communities in the Twin Cities with the education, skills, and connections needed to pursue careers in environmental fields through a 4-year program serving BIPOC youth aged 14-18. Youth gain field experience, workforce training, mentorship, and networking while learning about environmental topics.
Independent School District No. 272 Threads4Change
Amount: $5,000 for 1 year
Location: Eden Prairie
Implement a youth-led project that combines creative fashion with environmental education. Through hands-on upcycling workshops, clothing repair events, and sustainability-focused giveaways, students will learn about the environmental impacts of textile waste and take action through sustainable clothing choices to reduce waste.
Juxtaposition Arts Healing Futures: Outdoor classrooms + youth ecology lab
Amount: $12,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Activate their Healing Pavilion and Garden as a youth-led outdoor classroom and regenerative ecology lab and engage youth apprentices in a year-long program of workshops and hands-on projects. These projects will build skills in composting, pollinator planting, seed saving, ecological monitoring, sound ecology, and water-conscious design.
MIGIZI Communications Green Tech Institute
Amount: $25,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Expose youth to numerous professional career experiences, equipping them with tools and knowledge to launch a specialized career in the STEM/energy and green construction sectors by providing youth with awareness and hands-on experiences in sustainable and eco-friendly solutions needed amidst global climate change.
Spark-Y Daily Science Instruction at Volunteers to America High School
Amount: $50,000 for 2 years
Location: Minneapolis
Provide students with daily science classes connected to environmental education and Minnesota Science Standards. The classes will offer students project-based learning for academic credit in Chemistry, Physics, Physical Science, and Life Sciences. Youth will explore environmental topics and design real-world solutions for waste reduction, water protection, green chemistry, composting, climate impacts, and sustainable systems.
Urban Strategies Green Garden Bakery Youth Eco-Enterprise
Amount: $49,600 for 2 years
Location: Minneapolis
Engage youth in the Heritage Park neighborhood of Minneapolis in gaining professional development skills for green-focused jobs and investing in their community through green initiatives. Initiatives include creating and operating a lending library, adopting 10 rain gardens, and advocating for greener development in their neighborhood.
Zintkala Luta Growing Growers North Leadership Program
Amount: $12,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Implement a collaborative effort between Zintkala Luta and GrowUs LLC to expand the impact of existing youth development programs, urban agriculture initiatives, and green construction projects while inspiring the next generation of environmental justice leaders with young adults.
2025 Environmental action projects
Amanah Recreational Project Hijabie Thrift
Amount: $12,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Provide Muslim women with opportunities to reduce waste through secondhand shopping within their own community.
League of Women Voters Minneapolis Organics Recycling Campaign
Amount: $7,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis and surrounding communities
Engage their membership in organics recycling in single-family homes, multi-unit condos, rentals, and co-ops using existing meeting structure and communication tools to provide members with regular updates, tips, and reminders to keep our members informed and engaged.
Lyndale Neighborhood Association Reducing Wasted Food
Amount: $23,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Engage renters and homeowners in the Lyndale, Kingfield, and Tangletown neighborhoods in reducing wasted food and recycling organic waste. Activities will include events, door knocking, and outreach.
Mississippi Park Connection Connecting Northside to the Mississippi River
Amount: $25,000 for 1 year
Location: Minneapolis
Connect underrepresented communities to the North Mississippi Regional Park through experiential programming that includes bird watching, stargazing, and interpretive nature programs, learning about the river ecosystem and environmental stewardship, and practicing health and wellness in nature.
The Richfield Foundation, Altlawns Richfield-Bloomington Creating Habitat with Sustainable Landscaping
Amount: $50,000 for 2 years
Location: Bloomington, Richfield, Minneapolis and surrounding communities
Engage residents in creating biodiverse native habitat in place of lawns. Reduce barriers to accessing native plants by providing community education, winter seed sowing, and community building.
Green Partners contracts awarded in 2024
In August 2024, the county awarded contracts to 27 Green Partners projects. A majority of the projects wrapped up August 31, 2025. Seven projects will continue through August 31, 2026.
2024 Environmental action projects
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.
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.
2024 Youth environmental education projects
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.
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.
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.
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.
