Headwaters Foundation for Justice

Headwaters Foundation for Justice (HFJ) is a social justice community foundation that invests in grassroots organizations across Minnesota. We aim to be upstream of the issues impacting society—investing in organizations that set out to change laws, minds, and systems.  

In 2024, Headwaters is celebrating our 40th year of boldly funding movement organizations. We were founded to resource the creativity, imagination, and self-determination of Minnesotans fighting for a more just future. Today, we continue to fight for and believe in what’s possible when we build collective power for liberation. 

At Headwaters, we use the power of relationships to raise and move money, supporting action that leads to change: 

• Our network of donors gives at all levels, and we build relationships with them because we know that moving money is a part of movement work
• Philanthropy can do a better job, so we use our position as a community foundation to push putting decision-making and money into community hands
• We center the work of Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color because we know this work is underfunded and underestimated
• Collective decision-making builds democracy, so we champion community-led grantmaking in our own funds and to other grantmaking organizations