Kresge Foundation
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Partnership Building
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Kresge Foundation: the cross-sector economic development and systems framing

The Kresge Foundation funds economic development through cross-sector systems change. Frame your proposal as connecting workforce, housing, transit, and finance systems, not as a single-sector intervention.

David Wilson

Director of Community Development

Detroit Cross-Sector Economic Development Collaborative

33 upvotes

The Strategy

The Kresge Foundation's American Cities program funds cross-sector economic development in US cities. If your proposal is a single-sector intervention (e.g., 'we will train workers'), it is less competitive than one that connects workforce, housing, transit, and finance systems. The cross-sector framing: Kresge funds work that connects systems — workforce development linked to affordable housing, transit-oriented development linked to job access, community development finance linked to small business. Show how your project connects multiple systems. The systems change: Kresge funds systems change — changing how institutions, policies, and capital flows work in cities. Show the specific system you are changing and the intervention that changes it. The city focus: Kresge funds work…

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kresge
american-cities
cross-sector
economic-development
systems-change
community-development

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