Common Grant Application Form

Date of application: September 30, 2019 Application submitted to: Wells Foundation

Organization Information

Name of organization Legal name, if different Move Minnesota St. Paul Transportation Management Organization Address City, State, Zip Employer Identification Number (EIN) 2446 University Avenue W. Suite 170 Saint Paul 41-1906261 Phone Fax Website (651) 767-0298 (651) 789-1001 www.movemn.org Name of top paid staff Title Phone E-mail Linnea House Interim Executive Director (651) 789-1411 [email protected] Name of contact person regarding this Title Phone E-mail application Elissa Schufman Donor & Funder Relations (651) 789-1415 [email protected] Is your organization an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit? X Yes No If no, is your organization a public agency/unit of government? Yes X No

If no, check with funder for details on using fiscal agents, and list name and address of fiscal agent:

Fiscal agent’s EIN number

Proposal Information Please give a 2-3 sentence summary of request: Move Minnesota requests $5,000 in general operating support to continue leading the movement for an equitable transportation system that puts people first. Access to sustainable and public transportation is hugely influential in a host of other connected regional challenges, including housing stability, food security, job access, ability to accumulate wealth, educational attainment, and more. Population served: Geographic area served: MSP -area residents, transit-dependent populations, MSP metro area low-income communities, communities of color Funds are being requested for (check one) Note: Please be sure funder provides the type of support you are requesting. X General operating support Start-up costs Capital Project/program support Technical assistance Other (list)

Project dates (if applicable): Fiscal year end: December 31

Budget Dollar amount requested: $5,000 Total annual organization budget: $1,196,930 Total project budget (for support other than general operating): N/A

Authorization Name and title of top paid staff or board chair: Linnea House, Interim Executive Director

Signature

Move Minnesota Common Grant Application

PROPOSAL NARRATIVE

I. ORGANIZATION INFORMATION

A. Brief summary of organization history, including the date your organization was established. Move Minnesota has a long history of success around advancing walking, bicycling, and transit locally and regionally. We coalesce individual voices into a powerful movement, showcasing support for transportation choices at community, city, county, and regional levels. We use our expertise to help the public see and pull levers in the complex political and governmental processes that determine big and small transportation outcomes.

Move Minnesota draws on decades of experience from its two legacy organizations, Transit for Livable Communities & St. Paul Smart Trips, which merged in 2017. • Transit for Livable Communities, founded in 1996, grew to be the largest transportation advocacy organization in Minnesota, with a strong action network and policy expertise. In addition to their major policy victories, they administered the Bike Walk Twin Cities Federal Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program from 2007 to 2013. • As the designated Transportation Management Organization for the City of St. Paul, St. Paul Smart Trips’ roots were in employer engagement with a focus on behavior change. Founded in 1998, St. Paul Smart Trips gained nationally-recognized expertise by expanding their network to include on-the-ground community engagement. The merger was a strategic response recognizing the increased interrelatedness of community, regional, and statewide work necessary to ensure that people can get around in safe, sustainable, affordable, and healthy ways: walking, bicycling, and transit.

B. Brief summary of organization mission and goals.

For more than two decades, Move Minnesota has been working to ensure that Minnesotans can get around in safe, sustainable, affordable, and healthy ways. As the state’s largest transportation advocacy nonprofit, we work alongside over 10,000 supporters behind the scenes and on the ground, helping Minnesotans tell the stories of how transportation choices impact their lives and the future of our region. Our work connects people to power in big and small ways — from helping individuals testify at the capitol about the state’s transportation budget, to sharing survey results with urban planners working on a neighborhood project. Our focus is on the MSP metro region, with a statewide vision guiding future growth. Move Minnesota’s mission is to lead the movement for an equitable transportation system that puts people first.

C. Brief description of organization’s current programs or activities, including any service statistics and strengths or accomplishments. Please highlight new or different activities, if any, for your organization. Our integrated programs create change over our six core impact areas: build community, shape policy, champion investment, advance equity, improve infrastructure, and change behavior. We engage with cross-pollination principles, and operate on different scales because they’re linked: neighborhood organizing changes city priorities, which feeds into state and legislative decision-making.

Key Initiatives and Programs • TRANSPORTATION FORWARD: Move Minnesota leads a statewide coalition of over 50 partner organizations and thousands of supporters calling on the legislature to increase funding for bus, rail, bicycling, and walking, along with keeping roads and bridges in good repair. • CONNECTING COMMUNITIES ACROSS I-94: Move Minnesota is collaborating to host important dialogues around I-94 and what it represents to people, both literally and figuratively. Our joint project hosts activities for community stakeholders to spark conversations about the impact I-94 had and still has on the physical and emotional well-being of the Rondo community. Page 2 of 7 Move Minnesota Common Grant Application

• SHARED MOBILITY COLLABORATIVE: Move Minnesota is at the forefront of efforts to increase innovative, shared transportation options in the Twin Cities metro. We recently collaborated with national and local partners on an action plan to dramatically improve mobility, and as a result, take 50,000 cars off the road by 2027. • RIVERVIEW CORRIDOR: The Riverview Corridor connects , the MSP Airport, , and the neighborhoods in between. The corridor is growing and evolving, with major population growth on the way. We have been working to help residents voice their desire for high-quality transit improvements and the walking and bicycling connections residents need. • EAST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH: Move Minnesota works with neighborhood residents to tackle transportation issues in their own communities. Through on-the-ground relationship building and local partnerships, we are currently focused on better connecting neighborhoods on Saint Paul’s East Side, including Eastview, Conway, Highwoods, and Battle Creek. Together, we find sustainable solutions to the barriers that disconnect East Siders from the resources and opportunities around them. • NEIGHBORHOOD BIKE RIDES: Move Minnesota partners with community groups to organize slow-paced, beginner-friendly community bike rides in Saint Paul’s Frogtown, Rondo, and East Side neighborhoods. With routes planned around cultural landmarks and ending with a shared meal catered by local restaurants, these rides bring residents together to comfortably explore and experience their neighborhoods by bike. • ZAP TWIN CITIES: ZAP Twin Cities rewards and incentivizes biking by offering prizes, tracking rides, and building a community among people who bike. Bicycling changes our relationship to health and wellness, reduces environmental impacts, and reconnects us to our neighborhoods. Through ZAP Twin Cities, and over 50 ZAP Reader Stations around Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Move Minnesota is getting more people biking, more often. • COLLEGES AS MOBILITY HUBS: Colleges and universities play a unique role in shaping the future of our region: they are poised to show the next generation what leadership looks like. Move Minnesota works with Twin Cities colleges to transform their organizations/campuses into regional transportation leaders. • SUPPORT FOR WORKPLACES: Move Minnesota has years of experience connecting employers of all sizes with sustainable transportation options. We provide valuable expertise and scalable solutions to help workplaces improve walking, biking, and transit trips for employees, clients, and customers.

Move Minnesota’s current on-the-ground focus is in the MSP metro region. Our current strategic plan grounds us in the dense urban core, where communities of color are growing exponentially and economic disparities deeply impact wide swaths of residents. We also see the way transportation disparities will ripple out across the state as rural Minnesota communities struggle to age in place, and seek investments that will allow us to expand our reach across the state.

D. Your organization’s relationship with other organizations working with similar missions. What is your organization’s role relative to these organizations? As the leader of the Transportation Forward coalition, Move Minnesota partners with over 50 organizations across a breadth of industries and focus areas including healthcare, active living, housing, racial justice, job access, labor, disability, environment and sustainability, food insecurity, and land use. Move Minnesota is the region’s largest transportation advocacy nonprofit, and uniquely approaches transportation as a cross-sector, cross-issue concern. We partner with other smaller organizations, whose advocacy is more focused on a single mode, to ensure that our broader message both amplifies local concerns and ensures our collective goals operate in tandem, rather than in competition. In addition to our work on the Transportation Forward coalition, Move Minnesota works to build strong, lasting, and trusting partnerships with organizations.

Examples of some of our partners include Minnesota Housing Partnership, Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, MN350, Sierra Club North Star Chapter, Frogtown Neighborhood Association, and ReConnect Rondo. We recognize partners through sharing of funding and resources, and prioritize paying partners from marginalized communities for their work and time. Page 3 of 7 Move Minnesota Common Grant Application

E. Number of board members, full-time paid staff, part-time paid staff and volunteers. Move Minnesota has 11 board members, 10 full-time staff, and 50+ volunteers.

II. PURPOSE OF GRANT

1. The opportunity, challenges, issues or need currently facing your organization. The Twin Cities metro is at a fork in the road: our region will crumble under the weight of its own growth if we continue to rely primarily on cars. 675,000 personal vehicles will overwhelm our region by 2040, generating impassable congestion, accelerating climate change, stifling our region’s economic growth, and degrading our environmental and community quality of life. Tens of thousands of Minnesotans make this choice not because they want to, but because our region has prioritized cars over people. Challenges continue to impede our progress in Minnesota:

• Regional governmental bodies responsible for walking, bicycling, and transit are slow to respond to shifts in demands, and in some cases actively oppose them. In 2017 the not only planned to underfund the transit budget, but proposed funding cuts that would have resulted in a 40% loss of service and collapsed the metro-area transit system. Similarly, the City of St. Paul passed a 30-year comprehensive plan in 2010 that did not include any vision for walking or bicycling. • Transportation policy and funding are partisan issues in Minnesota. These issues face significant opposition at the legislature, despite widespread concerns from aging communities across Minnesota, where many are worried about a loss of independence and damaged quality of life as people can no longer safely drive. • The MSP metro has some of the starkest racial disparities in the nation. At the same time, we face a growing shortage of workers, worsened by the fact that 94% of people can't reach area jobs by walking or taking transit (MSP Regional Indicators Dashboard). People of color experience poverty at three times the rate of white people in Minnesota, and are more likely to depend on transit to access jobs (Minnesota Compass, 2016).

Further complicating progress are the connected and overlapping responsibilities of government agencies, which create a tendency toward confusion, incremental change, and stagnation. These complications are invisible to Minnesotans, who experience frustration and dissonance when moving across city, county, or regional boundaries — and yet have had no single funnel that can leverage their concerns and help drive effective communication to these agencies.

2. Overall goal(s) of the organization for the funding period. Move Minnesota is growing a movement of people ready to make a better choice for themselves, for their neighbors, and for the sustainability of our region. Our efforts are helping to expand transit and bicycle networks, improve pedestrian access, and create demand for shared mobility. In 2019, Move Minnesota continues its work to support policy and funding change that advances transit, active transportation, and equity so that Minnesotans can get around in safe, accessible, sustainable, affordable, and healthy ways. The core of our work is to leverage our movement to grow and improve walking, bicycling, and transit.

Our approach addresses many issues impacted by transportation policy and land use:

• Environment: Transportation accounts for 27% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. 83% of those come from vehicles typically used by individuals during daily activities such as commuting, errands, etc. (EPA). Through increased transit funding at the legislature and local advocacy, our work creates opportunities for people to use other modes. TLC-Smart Trips successfully advocates for increased statewide transit funding, including in 2017 when we fought back a proposed budget cut that would have resulted in a 40% loss of metro-area transit service. • Health: Automobile-dependent communities have high levels of poor air quality and transportation-related fatalities and minimal opportunities to be active, compounding related Page 4 of 7 Move Minnesota Common Grant Application

health issues. We encourage active lifestyles and choices through outreach: our programs help people learn how to use transit, incentivize employers to create workforce changes, and provides hands-on education for new cyclists. • Racial inequities: The Minneapolis/St. Paul metro (MSP) is an increasingly diverse region but has some of the starkest racial disparities in the nation. At the same time, we have a growing shortage of workers, worsened by the fact that 94% of people can’t reach area jobs by walking or transit (MSP Regional Indicators Dashboard). People of color can’t afford cars at disproportional rates, resulting in severe economic disadvantage. Through focused outreach and building a diverse staff and board, we give voice to people whose interests have historically been ignored. Our work in the Riverview Corridor, connecting downtown St. Paul and the MSP airport/Mall of America, helped overcome the project’s first major hurdle. This is significant given that prior transit improvement projects have been stopped by a vocal minority opposition, while people of color and low-income communities in the corridor desperately desire improved service.

3. Objectives or ways in which you will meet the goal(s). To advance our work around improving transportation, Move Minnesota has identified three core objectives for our work in the short-term: • Grow a movement of Minnesotans who can continue to demand funding and policies that create meaningful change for marginalized communities in our state. Our decades of experience in transportation advocacy have demonstrated that pulling policy levers alone is not enough: significant shifts in public engagement are needed to create the pressure needed for meaningful and transformative progress. All our community engagement work ties into this process, connecting people to the broader goals of our movement. • Engage and expand the Transportation Forward coalition, building a diverse cross-issue membership that centers Black voices, Indigenous voices, and the voices of people of color (BIPOC). Historically, people in positions to influence transportation funding and policy have been white, male, cisgender, and wealthy. Move Minnesota is actively working to shift these norms within its spaces and relationships to create a space where diverse perspectives are foundational to the work. Currently the coalition boasts over 60 endorsing members, with a • Disseminate a values-based narrative that supports meaningful transportation shifts. The 2017 legislative session was dominated by widespread attacks on transit, a peak after decades of chronic under-investment in walking, bicycling, and transit. In response, Move Minnesota convened partners to discuss how to combat the state’s dominant narrative about transportation, which centers divisiveness and automobile use, and discourages innovation and people-focused decision-making. This negative narrative underlies the assumptions of individuals and legislators, creating hostility toward walking, bicycling, and transit and directly influencing decision-making. Move Minnesota led the creation of a new positive transportation narrative. Widespread dissemination of this narrative will take years, and is one of the most critical pieces to creating a climate in which individuals and legislators understand how transportation fits with their values, and can easily say yes to the transportation system Minnesotans need and deserve. • Mobilize our supporters in support of walking, bicycling, and transit priorities at city, county, and/or state levels. Move Minnesota’s team of transportation

4. Activities and who will carry out these activities. Activities will be led and carried out by Move Minnesota staff members. Key activities for the above objectives include: • Leading and convening the Transportation Forward coalition, including: hosting and facilitating bi-weekly meetings throughout the year, maintaining regular communication with partners, identifying 10+ potential coalition partners, cultivating relationships with current and potential partners, and engaging partners on legislative priorities. • Engage the 2020 legislature to advance transportation, including: identifying stances on funding bills and advising legislative allies, holding meetings in key districts with elected officials and

Page 5 of 7 Move Minnesota Common Grant Application

constituents, and hosting strategic conversations with stakeholders to define advocacy stances for the 2020 legislative session. • Building grassroots support and engagement, including: leading action alerts and volunteer nights to build advocacy support leading up to and during the 2020 legislative session, hosting Transportation Day on the Hill to connect constituents with legislators, coordinating earned media (letters to the editor, op-eds, and other coverage), and sending action alerts to mobilize the existing base. • Disseminate the positive values-based transportation narrative to “open but unengaged” individuals through creation of additional educational resources such as handouts and templates, development of a presentation for prospective partners and community groups, and pursuit of video and audio projects that expand statewide digital presence.

During the course of the named activities, Move Minnesota will identify its advocacy goals around funding, policy, and infrastructure. We use the input from our Transportation Forward coalition, as well as our on-the-ground supporters, to determine these goals. We prioritize input especially from cross- sector partners, who work on related issues such as homelessness and public health, to amplify our collective impact and ensure our work is aligned with related issues.

5. Time frame in which this will take place. Move Minnesota will complete the activities listed in this proposal between October 2019 and September 2020.

6. Long-term funding strategies. To ensure that we can secure long-term revenue with multi-year commitments, we have increased our development team from 1 to 1.5 FTE and have cultivated relationships with contract development professionals that can be called on if needed. Additionally, our focus on individual relationships and giving for 2019 has increased and we are moving toward a membership model that will provide the broad, deep donor base that can support the long-term nature of our work. Long-term, Move Minnesota has made it a priority to build our individual donor base and grow our capacity around major donors, an important resource that stabilizes the organization. We will also increase earned revenue by growing our employer consulting services, which help businesses provide employee education and create strategies to encourage multi-modal commuting choices. Recent clients include the University of St. Thomas, Ramsey County, and Augsburg College.

In addition to these focus areas, Move Minnesota will continue to work with foundations whose priorities align with our work in order to amplify our impact. As the designated Transportation Management Organization for the City of St. Paul, we also continue to receive federal funding that further diversifies our income streams and stabilizes our work.

III. EVALUATION

A. Please describe your criteria for success. What do you want to happen as a result of your activities? You may find it helpful to describe both immediate and long-term effects. In the long-term, Move Minnesota looks for major shifts in culture and practice that align with our strategic vision: our state is more connected, everyone is able to access the places they need to go in their lives, and walking, biking, rolling, and transit are commonplace and easy choices. In the short-term, Move Minnesota will track the success of our work by measuring whether we have met short-term policy and organizing goals, aggregate number of engagement points with our base, the growth of the Transportation Forward coalition, and evidence of traction toward long-term policy and organizing goals.

B. How will you measure these changes? Move Minnesota has spent several years working with regional expert the Wilder Foundation to develop durable, mainstreamed evaluation materials, and to build our capacity for internal evaluation. We use a

Page 6 of 7 Move Minnesota Common Grant Application mixed-method approach to evaluation, which is more culturally appropriate for many communities in the metro region. Combining qualitative and quantitative evaluation provides a more complete picture of our successes and challenges. Annual evaluation tools include surveys, facilitated discussions, staff observation, tallying, group interviews, 1:1 interviews and conversations, and informal discussions.

C. Who will be involved in evaluating this work (staff, board, constituents, community, consultants)? Staff will take the lead on evaluating the success of this work, with input from the board of directors as to the success of key deliverables. We also maintain constant feedback loops with partners in our Transportation Forward coalition and other work to ensure we have outside accountability.

D. What will you do with your evaluation results? Evaluation results are analyzed by staff and presented to internal decision-makers, such as staff and/or board leadership, and used to inform future program strategies and changes. We also make specific efforts to prioritize feedback from partners, and incorporate their feedback into our strategic decision-making to ensure we are responding to successes and challenges as perceived by partners.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Cover sheet 2. Proposal narrative 3. Audited financial statements 4. Organization budget for current year including income and expenses 5. List of additional funders 6. List of board members and their affiliations 7. Brief description of key staff 8. IRS determination letter

Page 7 of 7 St. Paul Transportation Management Organization DBA Move Minnesota 2019 ORGANIZATIONAL BUDGET

INCOME Source Amount Revenue Individuals, Corporate Giving, Matching Grants, and Sponsorships $41,750.00

Foundations Programmatic and General Operating Foundation Support, including release of time restricted funds $174,000.00

Contracted Services Federal, county and city contracts, foundation and community programmatic contracts $646,794.00

Other Revenue Interest Income, User Fees, Miscelleneous $5,450.00

Release of Board Designated Funds Planned release of board designated funds $328,936.00

Total Income $1,196,930.00

EXPENSES Item Amount Salaries, Payroll Taxes, and Benefits $884,168.00 Consultants (ongoing and one time rebranding related) $53,385.00 Conferences, Seminars and Meetings $5,000.00 Computer and Internet Fees $3,750.00 Dues and Subscriptions $20,700.00 Insurance $3,500.00 Postage and Printing $15,400.00 Professional Fees $38,500.00 Professsional Development $6,440.00 Program Materials $23,500.00 Promotion and Outreach $23,800.00 Rent $70,417.00 Supplies $3,950.00 Telephone $12,050.00 Travel $1,000.00 Miscellaneous Expenses $14,570.00 Depreciation $16,800.00

Total Expense $1,196,930.00

Net $0.00 Move Minnesota 2019 Additional Funders

Funder Amount Status Notes Blue Cross Blue Shield Center for Prevention $ 100,000.00 confirmed City of Minneapolis $ 2,500.00 confirmed City of Saint Paul $ 25,000.00 confirmed Federal Highway Administration $ 290,466.00 confirmed Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality Improvement Program McKnight Foundation $ 125,000.00 confirmed Metro Transit $ 10,000.00 confirmed In-Kind $ 32,000.00 confirmed 2014 regional solicitation - funding for 2019 project year Metropolitan Council $ 105,000.00 confirmed 2016 regional solicitation - funding for 2019 project year Metropolitan Council $ 82,061.00 pending 2018 regional solicitation - funding for 2019 project year Minnesota Pollution Control Agency $ 6,500.00 confirmed In-Kind Wells Foundation $ 5,000.00 pending

Proposals for 2019 funding that have yet to be submitted are not included in this list. Move Minnesota 2019 Board of Directors

First Name Last Name Position Affilitation Kim Beggren Member Brooklyn Park Economic Development Authority; City of Brooklyn Park; Brooklyn Park Development Corporation Patricia Fitzgerald Secretary Hennepin County Sarah Ghandour Member Metro Transit; Metropolitan Council; American Planning Association Laura Greteman Member Quality Bicycle Products Patrick Martin Member Children's Cancer Resarch Fund; City of Bloomington, Minnesota Noah McCourt Member Minnesota State Committee on Children's Mental Health; Minnesota Governor's Council on Development Noel Nix Member Ramsey County Angela Peterson Member Andersen Corporation Ben Rabe Treasurer Fresh Energy Ken Rodgers Chair Minnesota Department of Transportation Sarah Sevcik Member School of Public Health; TerraLuna Collaborative Darwin Yasis Vice Chair TKDA Move Minnesota Key Staff Biographies

Jennifer Harmening Thiede, Director of Advancement Jennifer Harmening Thiede, Director of Advancement, leads all strategic communications, marketing, and brand building at Move Minnesota. She also oversees our fundraising and member engagement team. She brings a decade of nonprofit experience in multi-channel communications, editing, writing, media outreach, website management, design, social media, and event planning. Previously, Jennifer worked in marketing, publicity, and sales for Milkweed Editions, and served as an editor and writer for Do It Green! Minnesota. Jennifer holds a B.A. in English from the University of St. Thomas. She loves her bike commute and her walkable neighborhood, and always looks forward to reading a good book on the bus.

Linnea House, Interim Executive Director Linnea House brings fifteen year of experience within the nonprofit community, ranging from direct service to arts to advocacy oragnizations, to her role as Interim Executive Director. In addition to managing the day-to-day finances of the organization, Linnea oversees grants management and provides organizational support to board and staff members. As a former executive director, she has a wealth of experience and expertise in nonprofit management, advocacy and grassroots organizing campaigns, and development. Linnea holds a B.A. in English and Women’s Studies from St. Olaf College, and a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University. As the parent of two active children, she loves living near park trails with easy access to walking, running, and bicycling.

Finn McGarrity, Community Organizer Finn, a life-long Twin Cities transit rider, is excited to join the Move Minnesota team where they can bridge their lived experiences with years of organizing and advocacy work to effectuate change around multi-model transportation here in Minnesota. Before joining the team, Finn spent several years organizing here at home in Minnesota and on the east coast on reproductive rights and safe drinking water. Outside of work, Finn enjoys going to concerts, cooking, and spending quality time with their cats Puck and Moonpie.

Theresa Nelson, Program Manager Theresa Nelson, Program Manager, oversees community engagement programming at Move Minnesota. Theresa has over fifteen years of experience with community engagement, coalition building, and pedestrian and bicycle program implementation. She served as a program manager for the Midtown Greenway Coalition for twelve years where she led numerous community engagement programs, projects, and events. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and African Studies from the University of Minnesota and began her career in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis as a community organizer and youth program manager. Most recently, she assisted Community Design Group, a local urban planning consulting firm, with community engagement focused on bicycle, pedestrian, and transit projects. Theresa is dedicated to planning and programming that leads to healthy, active, and livable communities. She enjoys daily walks, biking, yoga, and gardening in the summer.

Theresa Thompson Nix, Field Manager Theresa Thompson Nix brings several years of advocacy, planning, community organizing, and campaign management experience to her role as Field Manager. Theresa is active in community conversations about equity, organizational change and pedestrian safety. Born and raised in Crystal, MN, Theresa is a member of Black Girls Run Twin Cities and loves going on walks with the crew. 1