📻 Project Optimist and KZYS get Press Forward MN funds for partnership

ST. CLOUD - Expect a set of solution-focused stories that feature the central Minnesota Somali community this year.

Project Optimist and St. Cloud Somali Community Radio (KZYS) will collaborate with the support of a $40,000, Press Forward Minnesota grant.

Press Forward Minnesota is working to "re-center local journalism as a force for community cohesion, civic participation, and government accountability, with a focus on racial equity," according to its website.

Stay tuned in coming weeks for details about the collaboration between KZYS and Project Optimist. It will include community journalism training, several co-reported stories, cross-publishing articles in English and Somali, and more.

The collaboration is among 13 news organizations to share $520,000 in this first round of Press Forward Minnesota grants. The funding is meant for smaller news outlets that produce original reporting and serve underserved communities.

Press Forward Minnesota plans to raise $10 million dollars to reinvest in local news over the course of five years. It's a chapter of the national Press Forward movement.

Project Optimist was among the first recipients of a $100,000, national Press Forward grant in October 2024. The funding pools and grants are different for the national initiative and regional chapters.

Press Forward Minnesota funds come through the Minnesota Council on Foundations. Funders include the McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation, the Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Taylor Family Farms Foundation.

"We are incredibly excited to support these outstanding organizations that are vital to the health and well-being of their communities," said May Yang, senior manager of policy and partnerships at the Minnesota Council on Foundations and staff lead for Press Forward Minnesota, in the grant announcement.

The other grantees are: 

• Access Press, Ltd.
• BLCK Press
• Eden Prairie Local News
• Hmong Broadcasting Company LLC
• Iron Range Today
• Lakeland News
• Minnesota Women's Press
• Mshale Communications, Inc. 
• Pillsbury United Communities (North News)
• Root River Current, Inc.
• Steele County Times
• ThreeSixty Journalism at the University of St. Thomas

“These organizations are providing a vital service, helping to inform and connect diverse communities that have been affected by the local news crisis. At the same time, we know local journalism needs more support from more funders, businesses, and readers alike, to match the scale of the challenge. We look forward to building on this important first step to strengthen a local news ecosystem that serves all Minnesotans,” said Tim Murphy, program officer at the McKnight Foundation, in the grant announcement. 

Project Optimist and St. Cloud Somali Community Radio will kick off their collaboration with a free training on basic journalism and solutions journalism that will be open to the public. 

If you or someone you know is interested in this training in the St. Cloud area, reply to the newsletter or email jen@projectoptimist.news.