Bush Foundation Fuels Ojibwe Teachers, Black Homebuyers

A foundation started by a 3M executive and his wife seven decades ago is changing lives across three states in ways most people never see.

The Bush Foundation gives grants throughout Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and 23 Native nations in the region. Since 1953, it has funded projects that matter to real people building better futures.

The foundation's reach is remarkable. It's training the next generation of Ojibwe language teachers, helping preserve a vital part of Native culture that was nearly lost. It created a loan pool specifically designed to help Black families buy homes and build generational wealth.

Latina entrepreneurs launching childcare businesses get support too. So do farmers restoring duck habitats in South Dakota and rural Minnesotans starting new ventures.

Through its Bush Fellowship program, the foundation invests directly in emerging leaders who have big ideas but need resources to make them happen. These aren't token grants. They're serious investments in people who want to transform their communities.

Jen Ford Reedy has led the foundation as president since 2012. She previously helped create GiveMN.org and Give to the Max Day, platforms that have channeled millions of dollars to Minnesota nonprofits.

The Ripple Effect

When a foundation funds an Ojibwe language teacher, it doesn't just help one classroom. That teacher trains students who become fluent speakers, who raise bilingual children, who keep an entire culture alive for generations.

When Black families secure home loans through foundation-backed programs, they build equity that funds college educations and small businesses. One loan ripples into opportunity after opportunity.

The childcare businesses launched by Latina entrepreneurs serve working families who can stay employed, knowing their kids are safe. Those parents contribute to their communities in countless ways because someone invested in a solution.

This is what strategic philanthropy looks like. It identifies gaps, backs people with solutions, and trusts communities to know what they need.

The foundation focuses on problems that government programs miss and markets ignore. It takes risks on ideas that might fail because transformative change requires trying new approaches.

Foundations like Bush prove that private wealth, when directed thoughtfully, can tackle systemic problems and create lasting change in ways that government spending alone cannot achieve.

Seven decades after Archibald and Edyth Bush started their foundation, their investment in possibility continues creating opportunities for thousands of people who are building the future they want to see.