The Time is Now to Reinvest Midwest
New initiative launches to build movement infrastructure in the region
Contact Information Midwest Environmental Justice Network
Gabriel Jones, Resource Mobilization Director
Release Date: September 4th, 2025
For Immediate Release
[Minneapolis, MN] - The Midwest Environmental Justice Network (MWEJN) is proud to announce the launch of Reinvest Midwest- a transformative vision to generate resources for a more just, healthy, and vibrant region. Reinvest Midwest is a five-year, ecosystem-oriented initiative that will revitalize the frontline organizing landscape of the Midwest by defending the long legacy of grassroots solutions to regional environmental issues and building critical backbone infrastructure.
The Reinvest Midwest initiative builds on the Midwest Environmental Justice Network’s fifteen-year history as a trusted, grassroots-accountable intermediary and capacity builder. Created in partnership with peer donors throughout the region, Reinvest Midwest catalyzes the experience we have of diversifying regional funding through federal programs, moving money quickly to the frontlines, and lifting up the transformative work of environmental justice communities and grantee partners.
The Midwest holds deep cultural, economic, political and environmental significance nationally and globally, but is often overlooked when it comes to health and environmental solutions. Yet, the Midwest has long been home to a powerful environmental justice movement. Made up of a multi-racial, cross-class coalition of organizers, environmental justice in the Midwest has been responsible for some of the most innovative and equitable solutions to key environmental issues.
Today, we are facing some of the most critical environmental challenges of our time as increasing federal hostility towards environmental protections and climate-related disasters continue to accelerate. The Midwest environmental justice movement is uniquely poised to meet these challenges by tackling root causes of these issues, putting those most impacted by issues at the forefront of the solutions, and ensuring that all communities can benefit from the transition to a green economy.
To learn more about the Reinvest Midwest initiative get in contact with our Resource Mobilization Director Gabriel Jones.
Now, MWEJN is leading the charge on reinvesting more dollars and resources into frontline communities across our region. Through key partnerships with philanthropy over the past few years, we have substantially increased our grantmaking to groups across urban, rural, and tribal communities. As a result, MWEJN was called upon by partners in 2023 to support the EPA Region 5 Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program. The experience, relationships, and information that MWEJN has built and collected through this process allows us to pivot to deeper engagement as our communities face the uncertainty of federal funding losses and declined enforcement of environmental policies.
In its first few years, Reinvest Midwest will deploy rapid response dollars to frontline groups across the region and strengthen donor collaboration on environmental justice issues. As resources flow to stabilize immediate needs, we will simultaneously design equitable and enduring capital, policy, and narrative solutions for frontline communities to use. Our new five-year initiative focuses on four key areas below:
Organize Capital: Environmental justice organizations and frontline communities in the Midwest need access to reliable funding sources, deeper connections with philanthropy, and different types of capital to sustain transformative work over the long term.
Support Movement Sustainability: Strengthening movement leadership requires holistic support that keeps organizations connected on shared issues, cultivates new leadership, and ensures staff are well-supported through investments in internal organizational infrastructure.
Build Power to Shift Policy: To advance environmental justice and secure healthy futures for all, we must build lasting policy power at the regional level, where decisions often shape entire communities.
Change the Narrative: We need to change the story around environmental justice in the Midwest so that people know that we can drive national systemic change through support for place-based, community-driven strategies.
We are excited to embark on this five-year vision with our grantee and funding partners. We invite you to join us in our campaign to Reinvest Midwest. To learn more about how to get involved, reach out to our Resource Mobilization Director, Gabriel Jones.
