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Donor Stories

Ellie Wiener and Maya Wiener Berkowitz

Ellie Wiener and Maya Wiener Berkowitz
As young girls, the cousins divided their money amongst four categories: short-term savings, long-term savings, spending and tzedakah (the Hebrew word for charity). They eventually created a joint donor-advised fund at Headwaters.

Diane Benjamin

Diane Benjamin
"I have many concerns and interests that I'm not involved in personally, but I still care about. This is a way to support a broad range of things I believe in -- way more than I could actively be engaged in at any one time."

Jamie Schweser

Jamie Schweser
I grew up in the punk rock scene. Our slogan was D.I.Y. – Do It Yourself. Since I was young, I’ve known that if we want the world to be a fairer place with justice for everybody, we have to do it ourselves.

Elizabeth Scott

I like to see measurable change not through a survey per se, but through personal accounts where it is trickling down so it is actually measurable in people's lives and you can see it in their lived experience.

Carl Griffin

Economic and social justice are definitely at the top of my list. To me they are really core because they are so interrelated with other issues

Andrew Gokee

What attracted me was the fact that they had identified a couple of very high-priority areas, Native American language preservation and revitalization and Native American land reclamation, which don't normally get enough attention. Whoever was involved with the Fund of the Sacred Circle was very in tune with the issues going on, so that made it worth my time to invest.

Kim Lund

A loyal supporter of Headwaters and other progressive organizations, Kim has consistently and boldly invested her money and time in working to create a just, sustainable world. Her giving and investing is directed to radical social change, addressing the root causes of problems and recognizing that all injustice is interconnected.

Shayna Berkowitz and Phyllis Wiener

Shayna and Phyllis embody donor activism in the fullest sense. They make things happen through strategic philanthropy, daily engagement in community work, seeking creative solutions to societal problems and inspiring and challenging others to invest their talents, energy and financial resources in working for justice.

Kate Nielsen and Ellen Sturgis

Elly and Kate are founding Headwaters donors whose investment and faith in Headwaters helped launch a bold, new form of philanthropy in Minnesota. They continue a long family tradition of giving back to the community and the world, particularly helping to strengthen the local community by supporting emerging, cutting edge issues.

Larry Olds - From Popular Education to Philanthropy

For Larry Olds, education is part of all social movements. That is why he has established a Popular Education Fund at the Headwaters Foundation for Justice.