Graves Ventures is a new initiative of the Graves Foundation, designed to invest in Minneapolis's innovative community leaders.
A Ventures partnership isn’t a traditional grant. It is a long-term collaboration focused on developing a solution to an issue faced by youth in Minneapolis. Communities know what they need. Community leaders live on every block. We empower those leaders with resources, staff capacity, and networks to create solutions specific enough to make a difference.
New ideas require incubation and investment. Ventures partnerships allow projects and leaders to evolve and take shape, growing into mature and effective agents of social change.
2022 Graves Ventures Launches & Leaders
Graves Ventures Leader: Alondra Cano, Director of Cultural Innovation and the Creative Economy for LISC Twin Cities
After the Minneapolis uprising in response to George Floyd’s murder, Alondra Cano worried that gentrification and instability threatened to erase the Latin American community from Lake Street. Alondra, a grassroots organizer and former Minneapolis City Councilmember, has long been passionate about ensuring that policy-making is driven by grassroots organizing that includes local artists and musicians who can promote racial healing and drive economic sustainability.
Graves Ventures Leader: Kristy Snyder, Co-Lead of the Opportunity Youth Network
“Young people are cut out of systems that align with what they need. They are disconnected from school and work because adult-designed systems often operate without youth voice, and there are barriers that prevent them from accessing these systems,” noted Kristy. Both Snyder and her co-lead Quincy Powe envision a world where all youth are equipped to design their lives and to thrive.
2021 Graves Ventures Launches & Leaders
Graves Ventures Leader: Carla Godwin, Executive Director of the PERIS Foundation
Having a safe and comfortable place to live is a luxury that many adults take for granted. But for youth who are aging out of foster care, it’s a challenge to find housing that provides them with both a safety net and a launching pad for their future adult lives. A unique living solution is now in place at Minneapolis’ PERIS Hill, an intentional affordable housing community that provides supportive housing for youth who have aged out of foster care. Developed by the PERIS Foundation, PERIS Hill opened in November 2021.
Graves Ventures Leader: Kenneth Eban, Executive Director of the Advancing Equity Coalition
Kenneth believes that public education should matter to every single person. Even if you don’t have children in the Minneapolis Public Schools, the success of the district should matter to everyone who wants this city to be a great place to live. “There are so many issues today, like public safety, housing and climate change, and we’re going to need our young people to be well educated so they can help us solve these pressing problems,” says Kenneth Eban, Executive Director of the Advancing Equity Coalition (AEC).