News
See the latest news and announcements from Sundance Family Foundation, plus articles related to Earn & Learn and impact investing.
Sunrise Banks: Our Community Impact Investing Partner
Sunrise Banks is a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) that promotes financial inclusion and economic development among poorer communities. With a local focus, CDFIs like Sunrise Banks seek out those communities that are underserved by the traditional banking sector.
Sundance Family Foundation holds assets in Sunrise Banks providing the capital needed to impact development in our communities. See an example of the type of results this produces.
SROI: Measuring Community Impact
Nonprofits have always been asked to calculate their cost savings, their financial savings, or their economic impact by creating a Social Return on Investments (SROI). These calculations are complex, and so the Sundance Family Foundation with the help of Ecotone Analytics, set about trying to discover the SROI on it’s new Earn and Learn program by the 2020 grantees.
For every $1 contributed to an Earn & Learn program, there is a projected $3.50 social return on investment (SROI).
Measuring Earn & Learn’s success using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
In 2020, the Sundance Family Foundation created Earn & Learn from its evidence-based Youth Social Entrepreneurship (YSE) to accelerate pathways that connect young adults to short-term training programs and sustainable 21st century middle-skills careers. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) provide a framework to identify and map the indicators to measure Earn and Learn’s success.
Sundance Family Foundation Engages in Shareholder Advocacy
See how Sundance Family Foundation, through Trillium, engaged in shareholder advocacy campaigns to bring about positive change regarding carbon emission reductions for local communities in Michigan and Louisiana where Marathon Petroleum operates. Plus, learn how Sundance pushed Tractor Supply Company to increase diversity in the executive leadership team at the company.
A Trip To Design Ready Controls
The Sundance Team gathered with youth from several YSE organizations to tour Design Ready Controls, a control panel and wiring harness manufacturer headquartered in Brooklyn Park.
See how Sundance Family Foundation is helping connect employers like Design Ready Controls with job seekers.
Youth Training Wage Update
Executive Directors and Leaders of nonprofits and foundations created Youth Training Wage recommendations to the Citizens League which then brought them to Minneapolis and St. Paul. The pathway to a sustainable wage as currently implemented in Minneapolis has unintended consequences on youth training programs. The problem resulted from putting the duration of the youth programming into the ordinance itself. As a result it can not be easily amended without voting on the entire ordinance.