Working on this piece for The Minneapolis Foundation was one of those projects that stays with you long after. Lindsey Seavert and I were invited to create a short film about the Fund for Safe Communities , a grantmaking initiative that lifts up youth-led solutions to violence in Minneapolis.
The Fund was established in 2018 to support concrete, on-the-ground efforts that prevent violence, spark systems change, and help people heal from trauma. At the heart of it all is an advisory group of eight young emerging leaders, each personally touched by gun violence, who help decide where every dollar goes. Their lived experience gives the Fund both focus and urgency.
For this project, our Tiny Window team brought a Twin Cities video production approach rooted in journalism: lots of listening and a big focus on real moments. Lindsey led interviews and story structure, while I handled camera, lighting, and editing. Together, our goal was simple: make space for these young leaders to tell their own stories in their own words.
If you’d like to learn more about the Fund, you can read about it on The Minneapolis Foundation’s homepage and their Fund for Safe Communities page , which includes recent grants and stories from community partners.
This project also sits at the center of the kind of nonprofit storytelling I love most: collaborating with local organizations to highlight people quietly doing heroic work.
If your organization is looking for documentary-style storytelling that centers real people and community impact, I’d love to connect.
