Opus Foundation®

The Opus Foundation is guided by eight core principles that serve as the philosophy, values and lens from which we work.

1. We believe grants supporting opportunities for people to become well-educated or self-sufficient lead to healthier communities and greater individual success.
2. We seek to partner with organizations that are entrepreneurial in their approach and creative, proactive, innovative and results-oriented.
3. We actively embrace and support diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our culture and our work to amplify our connection to and impact in the communities we serve.
4. We value listening to and learning from our communities and partners and seek to use their input to improve our practices and organizational polices to ensure we are responding equitably.
5. We value organizations that leverage funding and volunteer talent to achieve their objectives and maximize our collective impact.
6. The majority of our grants are awarded in communities in which Opus does business. On occasion, national grants may be made that benefit individuals and communities across the country.
7. Our grants support the involvement of Opus associates in their communities because we believe these local investments provide important time and talent of our associates to meet their community needs, while also, building leadership and empowering them to live organizational and individual values.
8. We encourage collaboration, teamwork and team-building among Opus associates and between associates and our community partners.

We are committed to improving the conditions that disproportionately affect historically underinvested individuals and communities.

We are addressing racial equity in an authentic, intentional way. Our long-term approach to challenging racial disparities and influencing systemic changes is informed by our partners and communities.

Not only did we elevate racial equity as a priority, but it also serves as a foundational principle that influences all of the Foundation's work. As part of these efforts, we have updated our guiding principles (listed above), streamlined processes and revised internal structures, expanded funding criteria and welcomed more diverse members to the Board of Directors.

The Foundation will continue to advance racial equity with the following actions:

• listen and learn from partners, community leaders and other stakeholders
• deepen intentional efforts within focus areas — increasing access, decreasing barriers and addressing disparities
• grant more multi-year funding to address systems change (like the grant to the University of St. Thomas' Real Estate Studies Program)
• engage in collective impact opportunities (the grants we made to Better Futures Minnesota and the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity's Digital Learning Fund came to us through these opportunities)
• support the work of the DEI Champions

The Opus Foundation has made a number of grants to advance racial equity, including the following:

See All Opus Foundation News & Blog Posts