Youth-Focused Direct Appropriations

Overview

Information about agencies receiving direct appropriations from the Minnesota Legislature for youth-focused activities can be found here.

Overview of Youth-Focused Direct Appropriations - SFY 24-25 (DOCX)

30,000 Feet
30,000 Feet is focused on addressing educational disparities faced by African American students in St. Paul, ensuring that all students are able to achieve their full potential. The legislative direct appropriation primarily focuses on providing individualized services to youth ages 14 through 24 and supports 30,000 Feet’s partnership with Ramsey County to provide job opportunities to youth who have contact with Juvenile Delinquency system.
- SFY 2024 - 30,000 Feet Annual Report (PDF)
- SFY 2023 - 30,000 Feet Annual Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2022 - 30,000 Feet Annual Report (DOCX)
Big Brothers Big Sisters
The Minnesota Legislature appropriated funds to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities to provide work readiness, employment exploration, and skills development for youth ages 12 to 21 in the Twin Cities, central Minnesota and southern Minnesota.
- SFY 2024 Big Brothers Big Sisters Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2023 Big Brothers Big Sisters Report (PDF)
- SFY 2022 Big Brothers Big Sisters Report (DOCX)
Boys & Girls Club of Central Minnesota
The one-time direct appropriation for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota is to fund one year of free full-service programming for a new program in Waite Park and for planning and design for a new multiuse facility for the Boys and Girls Club of Waite Park and other community partners.
- SFY 2024 Boys & Girls Club of Central Minnesota - Annual Report (DOCX)
Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES)
CLUES programming supports the expansion of culturally tailored programs addressing employment and education gaps for working adults and underserved youth by providing new job skills training to stimulate higher wages for low-income individuals, family support systems designed to reduce intergenerational poverty, and youth programming to promote educational advancement and career pathways.
- SFY 2024 CLUES Progress Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2023 CLUES Progress Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2022 CLUES Progress Report (DOCX)
Construction Careers Foundation
The primary goal of the CCP Initiative is to provide year-round educational and experiential learning opportunities for Minnesota youth and young adults, especially females and individuals of color, as they consider, navigate, and prepare for careers in the construction industry.
- Construction Careers Foundation Annual Report to DEED (PDF) - July 2021 to October 2022
- Construction Careers Foundation Annual Report to DEED (PDF)- July 2020 to October 2021
- Construction Careers Pathway Initiative Participant Data Report (PDF) - July 2019 to June 2020
- SFY 2022 Construction Careers Foundation Progress Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2021 Construction Careers Foundation Progress Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2019 - 2020 Construction Careers Foundation Progress Report (PDF)
EMERGE
The direct appropriation supports the operation of the Cedar-Riverside Opportunity Center and its on-site partners to address employment and economic disparities for low-income unemployed or underemployed youth and adults who are primarily East African.
- SFY 2024 EMERGE Annual Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2023 EMERGE Annual Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2022 EMERGE Annual Report (DOCX)
Fortune Relief and Youth Empowerment Organization (FRAYEO)
This project is dedicated to enhancing employment opportunities for East African youth in the Twin Cities by providing them comprehensive workforce development services. The primary goal is to facilitate equitable access to meaningful employment with fair wages, while enabling employers to tap into a skilled workforce for in-demand positions.
- SFY 2024 - FRAYEO Annual Report (DOCX)
Greater Twin Cities United Way
This Direct Appropriation supports the Career Academies initiative at Greater Twin Cities United Way. The program works to unite public education and employment systems so all students have access to purpose driven, wealth-building careers. Strategies include, increasing participation of students of color and students experiencing poverty in dual enrollment and rigorous coursework and eliminating barriers and expanding opportunities for students to engage in high-quality work experiences.
- SFY 2024 Greater Twin Cities United Way Annual Report (DOCX)
Hospitality Minnesota Education Foundation
The direct appropriation helps to increase the number of high schools and high school students participating in the ProStart and Hospitality Tourism Management Program (HTMP) throughout Minnesota. This education program helps young people advance careers in the hospitality industry and address critical long-term workforce shortages in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Inspire Change Clinic
This appropriation to Inspire Change Clinic funds fellowships designed to create pathways to medicine for students interested in pursuing a career in the health care workforce and remove barriers for minority students, foster inclusivity and diversity in the healthcare sector.
- SFY 2025 - Inspire Change Clinic - Annual Report (DOCX)
Juxtaposition Arts
Youth apprentices, aged 14-21, receive college-level creative and technical training, gain professional experience through work on client projects and internships, and positively impact the built environment of North Minneapolis. Participants are employed as apprentices in JXTALabs, the organization’s creative workforce development program.
- SFY 2023 Juxtaposition Arts Annual Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2022 Juxtaposition Arts Annual Report (DOCX)
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB)
Teens and young adults work for the MPRB in jobs focused on the outdoors, immersed in parks and nature, with exposure and a path to green careers, including employment with the MPRB and other agencies. Funds expand and enhance Youth Employment and Training Programs including Teen Teamworks, Mississippi River Green Team, Garden Crews, Power Crews, Youth Design Team, and pilot a new program for ages 18 to 24, Minneapolis Park Corps.
- SFY 2024 - Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Annual Report (DOCX)
Minnesota Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs
The Minnesota State Legislature appropriated funds to the Minnesota Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs to administer a statewide project of youth job skills and career development. The project, which has career guidance components including health and life skills, is designed to encourage, train, and assist youth in: early access to education and job-seeking skills; work-based learning experience including career pathways in STEM learning, career exploration, and matching; and first job placement through local community partnerships and on-site job opportunities.
Minnesota Grocers Association
The Minnesota Legislature appropriated funds to the Minnesota Grocers Association Foundation (MGAF) for “Carts to Careers” (CTC), a statewide initiative to promote careers, conduct outreach, provide job skills training and grant scholarships for persons interested in pursuing careers in the retail food industry.
- SFY 2021 Minnesota Grocers Association "Carts to Careers" Progress Report (DOCX)
Minnesota Technical Association
SciTechsperience is a statewide internship program that connects college students in STEM majors (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) with paid internships in small to mid-sized Minnesota companies. SciTechsperience provides qualified employers with a 50 percent match on the intern’s wages in the form of a one-time reimbursement of up to $2,500 per intern.
Pillsbury United Communities
The Pillsbury United Communities Career Pathways program prepares underserved students for successful careers in Minnesota’s future workforce. Programming is designed to provide students, ages 16-24, with the occupational, academic, and higher-order thinking skills needed to function effectively in a globally competitive marketplace and an information-based economy.
- SFY 2024 Pillsbury United Communities Annual Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2022 Pillsbury United Communities Annual Report (DOCX)
Project Restore Minnesota
Project Restore Minnesota provides youth with a pathway program for careers in the culinary art.
- SFY 2024 - Project Restore Annual Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2025 - Project Restore Annual Report (DOCX)
Sanneh Foundation
The Sanneh Foundation’s Workforce Development Program for Youth combines career exploration with local employers, tangible work experience, social capital building developmental relationships, and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into a comprehensive year-round youth workforce development program, benefiting diverse youth and emerging adults and increasing their employability and opportunities.
- SFY 2024 - Sanneh Foundation Annual Report (DOCX)
Ujamaa Place
Ujamaa Place delivers its “Theory of Transformation” gender and culturally specific program within a community environment that assists African and African American men (18 -30 years of age) with stable housing and re-engagement with their families, work, and life skills essential to self-sufficiency with a strong focus on education and work-entry programming, specific employment skills training, employment retention, and personal management curriculum.
- SFY 2024 Ujamaa Place Legislative Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2023 Ujamaa Place Legislative Report (DOCX)
- SFY 2022 Ujamaa Place Legislative Report (DOCX)
White Bear Center for the Arts
White Bear Center for the Arts Studio Repose Internship Program is an artist-centered, paid internship program for high school students. Through this internship, students will learn the importance of leadership, teamwork, and critical thinking while obtaining critical and marketable job skills in a creative and supportive arts environment.
- SFY 2024 - White Bear Center for the Arts - Annual Report (DOCX)
YMCA of the North
Through this Direct Appropriation the YMCA of the North will address employment disparities and increase equitable outcomes for underrepresented youth and young adults via high-quality employment readiness services, workforce trainings, post-secondary and career exploration/planning, and support services to put youth on a path towards in-demand, high growth employment and careers.
- SFY 2024 YMCA of the North Annual Report (DOCX)
Youthprise: East African Youth

Funds for the East African Youth Economic Development Grant project, appropriated to Youthprise, are to "give grants through a competitive process to community organizations to provide economic development services designed to enhance long-term economic self-sufficiency in communities with concentrated East African populations."