The mission of the Northwest Area Foundation is to support efforts by the people, organizations and communities of their eight-state region to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity. The eight-state region consists of: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

Although the eight states are contiguous, history, more than bonds of population or geography, bring them together into the Northwest Area Foundation’s service area. These eight states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, James J. Hill’s son Louis W. Hill established the Northwest Area Foundation.

The Foundation operated as a traditional grant-maker its first 50 years. In the late 1990’s, it spent over a year reviewing operations and probing key stakeholders to explore how it might achieve greater impact. In 1998, the president and board of directors decided to focus on a single mission – reducing poverty long term. They also decided to work directly with communities by providing financial resources and technical assistance.

The Foundation’s board of directors reconfirmed its commitment to the focused mission in late 2007, and it determined to take a next step in the application of foundation assets for increased impact. Based on lessons learned and evaluation of programs, as well as conversations with key stakeholders, going forward the Foundation would strive to realize its mission by supporting the work of proven or promising organizations across its region.

The Northwest Area Foundation sponsors the Community Vitality Project to help understand poverty and economic trends in its region and to help identify critical policy actions that could help reduce poverty through analysis of levers arising from interrelationships among economic, social, cultural, and environmental conditions.