Minnesota Youth Council

Social Justice Through the Humanities (Youth Voice in Action) Mini Grants

August 26, 2021
The service grant offers young people in the state of Minnesota the opportunity to showcase their ongoing youth-led advocacy and organizing efforts centering the humanities.
Social Justice Through the Humanities (Youth Voice in Action) Mini Grants

At the core of the Minnesota Humanities Center is the Absent Narratives Approach– a values-driven framework for community engagement and collaboration. These values include: learning from and with multiple voices, building and strengthening diverse relationships, recognizing the inequity or dangers of a single story, and amplifying community solutions for change. This approach put relationships with people at the center of community change-making and center diverse voices statewide — especially those left out, marginalized, or otherwise absented from our education and public awareness.

In collaboration and partnership with youth, the Roseville Area School district, Youth Service America, the Minnesota Youth Council,  Minnesota Alliance With Youth, and the Minnesota Humanities Center are offering grants seek to expand youth leadership on issues of social and racial justice and amplify youth-led solutions. The service grant offers young people in the state of Minnesota the opportunity to showcase their ongoing youth-led advocacy and organizing efforts centering the humanities.

Click here to learn more about the mini grant and the application process.

Grants will be awarded in amounts ranging from $50- $350 to implement youth-led projects that address some of the most critical issues facing our young people and leverage the humanities to spark change in communities.  Special consideration may be given to classrooms or communities working on larger or long term projects for requests in the range of $500-$1000.

What do we mean by the humanities?

The humanities help us express, examine, and learn what it means to be human. They include our cultures, languages, ethics, civics, stories, religions, laws, philosophies, histories, and more. Humanities can refer to these disciplines as well as the activities and actions – reflecting, making meaning, connecting, questioning, etc.—that help us learn about our humanity and the human experience.

Priority will be given to projects that include:

  • Use of humanities practices and/or subjects to address a bigger idea or mission
  • Alignment with the meaning of humanities and the Absent Narratives Approach™
  • Elevation of youth voice and leadership
  • Emphasis on youth community engagement
  • Use of strategic partnerships with youth development organizations and school-based initiatives
  • Presentation of a model for other Minnesota school districts around youth-led advocacy, within and outside of education

Click here to apply for a Social Justice Through the Humanities Grant today! 

Applications are due depending on the project timeline selected:
Deadline 1 Application has passed. 
Deadline 2 Application has passed
Deadline 3 Application due by 11:59 on May 20, 2022 (note new deadline!)

The Social Justice Through the Humanities grant opportunity is presented by: The Minnesota Youth Council, Minnesota Alliance With Youth, Youth Service America, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and Roseville Area Schools.