What does it take for communities of color to thrive across generations?
This is the question at the heart of Rooted to Last.
The answers we’ve found begins with deep listening. We heard:
Relationships, knowledge, and strategies must be woven into tapestries of solidarity where durable, emergent possibilities can take root.
Social justice movements can endure when we remember together, and when we invest in our leaders, organizations and shared strategies. It is a reclaiming of our dreams.
Investments must also be acts of faith in futures yet unseen.
Our vision is not a destination. It is a becoming.
For Minnesota* to become a place where identity never limits possibility, and where movement infrastructure lasts generations so the dreams of communities are realized.
*Minnesota takes its name from a Dakota phrase, Mni Sota Makoce, which translates to “Land where the waters reflect the clouds.“
Where the infrastructure for justice, equity and freedom are not distant dreams, but collective practices we embody each day.
A Clear Call: How We Took Root
Rooted to Last (R2L) emerged not from a single moment, but from many conversations – deep dialogues with social justice leaders across Minnesota who’ve carried the weight and wisdom of our communities for decades across generations and in multiple sectors.
Listening to Lived Realities
We heard stories of hope weathered by disinvestment and worn down by systems that were never built for communities of color.
Witnessing Unwavering Strength
Yet through it all, they persisted with incredible determination, brilliance, and ingenuity.
The Resounding Call
We heard a clear mandate from leaders: stay the course. Build for endurance.
The Seed Was Planted
So we began. Rooted in their wisdom, fueled by their vision.
Why this work,
why now?
The need for enduring infrastructure is overdue. Too often:
More with Less
Leaders and organizations from communities of color are asked to do far more with far less. They are treated as stopgaps, not foundational solutions.
Fleeting Funding
When investments finally come, it often shows up late and leaves too early, hindering long-term strategy, stability, and vision.
Untapped Brilliance
Our communities’ stories, expertise, strategies, and leadership are powerful, but are too often overlooked, sidelined, or chronically under-resourced.
R2L exists to shift this reality
To build the enduring social justice infrastructure that communities of color need now and for the generations to come.
To enhance structures that nourish, sustain, and amplify the inherent brilliance of Minnesota’s communities of color so they can shape a future where we all flourish.
For the right to not just survive,
but to architect our tomorrows.
We are movement weavers.
We are infrastructure builders.
At Rooted to Last, we’re reimagining tools to serve the dreams of our communities.
We follow the lessons a mangrove offers: strong ecosystems that have deep roots grow through collective strength. The mangrove does not ask permission to root and rise. It just does it. This is our practice: tend a living, breathing, remembering, and stretching of movements for endurance and possibility.
Beneath Ground: we root
The Wisdom Circle
Our Heartbeat. An intergenerational group of movement leaders, elders, and visionaries. They share and guide. They are deeply connected, and generously pass on invaluable knowledge, know-how, and stories that movements need to endure.
Fostering Deep Trust
We cultivate relationships rooted in trust and community strength, so that strategies can flourish, leadership can be shared, and collective care becomes a living practice.
Ensuring Knowledge Endures
We create spaces, deliberate and sacred, for cultural and movement knowledge to be transferred, celebrated, and expanded so what was once held quietly can be held collectively and generously nourish movements.
Above Ground: we grow
ImpactxRoots
Strengthening Anchor Organizations. We strengthen key anchor organizations by providing strategic guidance, funding, and holistic support they need to build organizational durability to pursue long-term change.
Shared Futures
Aligning for Impact. We support coalitions, collaborations, and alliances who aim to align their work to unlock resources for communities.
The invitation
Join Us in Cultivating a Future of Generational Flourishing
This work is long-term. It is relational. It requires all of us. Whether you’re a funder, policymaker, movement practitioner, or community worker, there’s a vital place in this ecosystem for you.
Help us ensure that leaders and organizations rooted in Minnesota’s communities of color have what they need to meet this moment, and to ambitiously pursue a future where all communities thrive.
There is ground for you here
Root with us.
Ground yourself in community and purpose.
Learn with us.
Listen deeply, reflect honestly, and grow together.
Imagine and build with us.
Grow a future where care is collective, leadership is shared, and everyone thrives.