The Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota

Contact Information

615 First Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413

(612) 623-1652

Focus Areas

Community & Nonprofit Development
Economic Security
Education & Youth

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Year Founded 1944
Legal Form 501c3

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The mission of The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota is to honor the legacy of its founders by supporting efforts that address the unmet human and social needs of individuals, families, and communities that have the least access to resources.

Our vision is based on the legacy and example of our founders, Jay and Rose Phillips, whose generosity and commitment to building a stronger community for all continue to guide our work. We envision:

-A community where all have the opportunity to lead productive lives, provide for themselves and their families, and participate fully in community life.
-A community that celebrates diversity, eliminates discrimination, and offers a hand up, not a handout, to those in need.
-A community where those with the least access to resources find clear pathways to education and skills, to jobs that provide a living wage, and to safe, affordable housing.
-A community where people, organizations, and institutions work together to tackle persistent challenges, create opportunity, and achieve results.

This vision shapes both what we do and how we work. Read More

About Us
The Phillips VISTA Program will build the capacity of community based organizations striving to create economic opportunity and quality education in the Twin Cities. To accomplish our goals, Phillips will work in partnership with the Pohlad Family Foundation and Twin Cities LISC. Each funder is participating in this project to align VISTA resources to key areas of its grantmaking.

Phillips will place VISTAs in organizations working to connect low income students, especially of color, to high quality schools with a proven ability to help them achieve greater academic success. By helping these schools grow their enrollment, these VISTA members will help advance a critical strategy to close our region’s educational disparities.

The Pohlad Family Foundation’s Youth Advancement Program provides significant support to organizations that help opportunity youth (ages 16-24) re-engage in education, earn industry-recognized credentials and attain employment. Pohlad is partnering with the Phillips VISTA Program to align VISTA members to its grantees and other organizations serving opportunity youth. VISTAs will support efforts that are part of a growing movement to reconnect young adults before their futures are dimmed by criminal histories, poor work histories, bad credit and other barriers to success.

Finally, through its Bridges to Career Opportunities program, Twin Cities LISC is supporting the capacity of community based organizations to provide a bundled set of interventions designed to help low-income individuals start and progress along a career pathway. The Phillips VISTA Program is collaborating with TC LISC to match members with organizations implementing the Bridges to Career Opportunities model.

We bring a unique racial equity and social justice lens to our VISTA program by engaging with nonprofit and philanthropic leaders and offer an in-depth and high-quality professional development curriculum with these leaders through our biweekly meetings. Additionally, we have developed the following programs and resources aimed at supporting the VISTAs throughout their year and leveraging their year of service:

-Weekly Professional Development Newsletter
-Monthly one on ones through the VISTA Leader and peer mentoring
-Alumni Mentoring Program
-$400 Professional Development Budget
-Monthly transportation assistance (gas card or bus card)
Our Impact
Our AmeriCorps VISTA members serve to enhance the operational effectiveness and efficiency of community based organizations. Usually VISTA activities fall within these four categories:

1. Recruitment and management of volunteers
2. Partnerships with community members and organizations
3. Marketing and promotion
4. Increase and diversification of resources

As of December 2015, our VISTAs have already developed 38 new systems and business enhancements at their sites and developed 14 new partnerships for their organizations. Additionally, each VISTA member has had 45 hours of professional development from our bi-weekly meetings alone. This is not including additional training at their site or that they would have received through their professional development budget. Ultimately, VISTA service results in greater academic success of students, more individuals who are employed and/or receiving professional certifications, and disconnected youth becoming re-engaged in education and employment.