Note: The Alphawood Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications. Interested parties are invited to review the following guidelines that describe their current areas of interest. If you believe that your organization or mission matches one or more of their grantmaking priorities, you may provide your information using the form at the bottom of this page. 

Mission Statement

Alphawood Foundation is a Chicago-based, grant-making private foundation working for an equitable, just, and humane society. Each year we award grants to organizations, primarily in the areas of advocacy, architecture and preservation, the arts and arts education, promotion and protection of the rights of LGBT persons and people living with HIV/AIDS, and other human and civil rights.

Areas of Interest

Funding is focused in the following areas:

Arts Empowerment

Alphawood Foundation Chicago funds organizations using the arts as a way of overcoming barriers to access and advancement; and those empowering communities through artistic development and expression.     

LGBTQ+ Health and HIV Prevention

Alphawood Foundation Chicago funds organizations expanding and improving LGBTQ+ affirming health care and those working to treat and prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

LGBTQ+ Rights and Education

Alphawood Foundation Chicago funds organizations working to secure the rights and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities; and organizations enhancing the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community.  

Empowering Communities of Color

Alphawood Foundation Chicago funds organizations founded by, for, and with communities of color using effective mechanisms—including advocacy, organizing, and the arts—to lift up and empower traditionally marginalized groups.  

Legal Services & Advocacy 

Alphawood Foundation Chicago funds legal services organizations working to provide access to justice, alleviate poverty, expand the rights of immigrants, and promote social change; and organizations whose advocacy activities advance responsive and accountable policies and institutions.

Preserving the Built Environment

Alphawood Foundation Chicago funds organizations whose primary mission honors, promotes, and sustains the built environment, including those promoting the preservation and protection of historic resources through advocacy, education, fund raising, and/or stewardship.  

General Interest

Alphawood Foundation Chicago values a safe, just, and equitable society; equal access and opportunity; healthy and sustainable communities; and a vibrant creative arts sector. Our funding supports organizations furthering these values.  

Our General Interest funding includes support for an extensive Southeast Asian art history program at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, including scholarship funding for over 100 students from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia to pursue diploma studies and masters degrees at SOAS.    

Archaeology 

Alphawood Foundation Chicago supports Maya archeological research with a primary focus on fieldwork in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico.

We care about the communities in which we live and work. Amcor Cares (formerly the Bemis Company Foundation) was founded as our principal tool in the United States to serve our Amcor Flexibles communities. From volunteer work to monetary donations and community support, Amcor Cares donates several million per year to charitable organizations.

Community Support Grants

Encourage

• Fighting Hunger & Homelessness
• Supporting Disaster Relief

Empower

• Expanding STEM Education
• Building Life Skills
• Improving Health & Wellness

Elevate

• Promoting Arts & Culture
• Funding Amcor Scholarships

Types of support:

• Non-profit Organization Programs
• Non-profit Organization Operating Support
• Capital Campaigns
• STEM Programs

NOTE:  The application deadline has been  extended to December 1, 2023.

About School-Based Healthcare Solutions Network (SBHSN).

Utilizing a unique framework of funding systems offered by the Department of Health and Human Services, managed care organizations, health insurers, and private donors, SBHSN promotes a system of care model (Coaching Model℠) offering a mix of evidenced-based intervention, prevention, and care coordination services to children in grades K-12. The Coaching Model aims to expand quality mental healthcare access on public school campuses and improve children's social, emotional, behavioral, family, and wellness outcomes.

School-Based Mental Health Implementation Grant

In response to the growing number of students who need mental health counseling, the School-Based Healthcare Solutions Network (SBHSN) is accepting applications from Local Education Agencies (LEA), Public and Private Universities, State and local Colleges, Charter School Management Companies, Public Schools, Charter Schools, and Non-Profit Organizations (501c3) to implement and expand mental health program services on local school campuses. Grantees will receive direct funding and reimbursement to support the following activities: 

• Expanding access to School-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).
• Coordinating mental healthcare services with school administration and staff. 
• Delivering mental healthcare services and coordinating academic-support activities to students with a history of attendance, behavior, and poor academic performance.

FUNDING

5-Years, renewable based on meeting performance goals 5-year award ceiling is $5,500,000.

Our History

For over 20 years, we’ve been committed to, connected with, and invested in communities across the country. Through our signature Healthy Generations program, the Foundation has focused on creating a healthier generation of Americans.

The program has targeted specific, preventable health concerns while addressing the disparities and social drivers that affect them. By using innovative social-mapping technology and by analyzing public-health data, we’ve been able to gain a snapshot of the major health issues affecting each state. This has allowed us to drill down to the zip-code level and target initiatives positively affecting the conditions that matter most. We’ve called this “putting science behind the art of grant making.”

Elevance Health Foundation Commitment

Over the next three years, the Elevance Health Foundation will invest up to $90 million in partnerships and programs that address health inequities by demonstrating measurable and positive change in four key areas:

• Maternal and Child Health
• Food as Medicine
• Substance Use Disorder
• Disaster Relief

Substance Use Disorder Grant

The Foundation is emphasizing programs that promote equity in mental health, particularly for people with substance use disorders. We are focusing on programs that include prevention, crisis response, and harm-reduction strategies and reduce barriers to trauma-informed approaches.

Background

As an organization committed, connected, and invested in our communities, Elevance Health and the Elevance Health Foundation are striving to improve the health of humanity by reducing racial injustice, strengthening our communities, and addressing health inequities in America.

The Elevance Health Foundation recently refined its strategy to underscore this commitment. Anchored by our vision of improving the health of the socially vulnerable through strategic partnership and programs in our communities, the strategy is rooted in demonstrating measurable impact in priority focus areas.

At Elevance Health, we know that to meaningfully improve the health of our members and communities, we must take a broader, more holistic view. This means we have the data and resources that enable us to understand and address the physical, behavioral, and social drivers of health. As a result, we are well-equipped to champion this holistic, wholehealth approach. One in five Americans experience mental health conditions and concerns in a given year, yet 56% of those individuals will not receive treatment. Many adults have co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder. Addressing the array of care and service options from prevention and early intervention to screening and treatment for mental health and substance use disorder leads to better quality of care and advancing health equity.

As a key pillar of this refined strategy, the Elevance Health Foundation will build on its work around Substance Use Disorder by investing up to $30 million over the next three years to support programs that address the array of care and service options, including Prevention & Early Intervention, Crisis Response & Interventions, Long-Term Intervention, and Community Resources & Recovery Supports.

We are inviting qualified nonprofit organizations with a history of proven, programmatic community initiatives to join us in these efforts. In an effort to ensure our funding reaches the communities where it is needed most, we are placing an emphasis on programs specifically working to prevent and treat mental health and/or substance use disorders, improve access and reduce barriers to trauma-informed approaches rooted in equity, and implement harm reduction strategies to reduce the morbidity and mortality of substance use disorder.

Grant Program Goals

• Prevention & Early Interventions: Promote positive youth and family development of protective factors and reduce risk factors that lead to depression and substance use through evidence-based programs. Examples of such programs include, but are not limited to, social-emotional learning (SEL) assessments and Strengthening Families Program.
• Treatment: Crisis Response, Post Crisis Intervention & Long-Term Intervention to reduce the impact of mental health and substance use disorder.
• Community Support & Recovery: Create more access and reduce barriers to trauma-informed approaches rooted in equity and implement harm reduction strategies to promote lifelong recovery.

Charles W. Kuhne born in 1864 in Iowa City, Iowa and was educated in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1887. He practiced law in Allen County, Indiana with a specialty in real estate and probate matters. Mr. Kuhne died in 1942.

Mission

To support public, educational, charitable and benevolent uses and purposes that assist, encourage and promote the well-being of mankind and primarily the inhabitants of the City of Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana.

Program areas

• Education 
• Environment, animals 
• Health 
• Human services 
• Public/society benefit

The Gladys Brooks Foundation was created under the will of Gladys Brooks Thayer of New York. 

Its purpose is to provide for the intellectual, moral and physical welfare of the people of this country by establishing and  supporting non-profit libraries, educational institutions, hospitals and clinics.

Scope of Grants Considered

The Foundation will consider major grant applications for innovative projects in the fields of libraries, education, hospitals and clinics.

Grants for Libraries 

Grant applications will be considered generally for resource Endowments (print, film, electronic database, speakers/workshops) capital construction and innovative equipment. Projects fostering broader public access to global information sources utilizing collaborative efforts, pioneering technologies and equipment are encouraged.

Grants for Educational Institutions

Grant applications from universities, colleges and secondary schools will be considered generally for:

• educational endowments to fund scholarships based solely on educational achievements, leadership and academic ability of the student; 
• endowments to support fellowships and teaching chairs for educators who confine their activities primarily to classroom instruction in the liberal arts, mathematics and the sciences during the academic year;
• erection or endowment of buildings, wings or additions thereto of buildings, and equipment for educational purposes;
• capital equipment for educational purposes.

Grants for Hospitals & Clinics

Grant proposals from hospitals and clinics where the proposal addresses a new health need, an improvement in the quality of health care or reduced health costs with better patient outcomes will be considered generally for:

• endowments for programs;
• erection or endowment of buildings, wings of or additions to buildings;
• capital equipment.

Our Mission...

The mission of The Needmor Fund is to work with others to bring about social justice. We support groups of people who come together to organize their community, build power, and challenge the social, economic, or political conditions that bar their access to participation in a democratic society.”

Our Vision...

Our work is informed by a vision of democracy and justice:

We strive to engage those whose participation in our democratic society has been systemically denied, because we believe our nation will operate most equitably when all of its people are actively involved in crafting the vision, values and policies that affect their lives. This includes, but is not limited to, those who have traditionally been marginalized – i.e., low- and moderate-income communities, people of color, the disabled, immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community.

We seek a just society in which all persons are treated with dignity and assured their fundamental rights, including equal access to the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, safety, health care, education, livable wages, and a clean environment.

We work to build a nation in which all citizens are free to exercise their rights regardless of race, ethnic origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, economic status, or religious persuasion.

We believe in the power of community and its ability to collectively determine the best strategies for improving the lives of its members.

Our Values...

Our work together is guided by the following beliefs:

• Every individual has inherent worth and has the right to have his or her voice heard.
• Community organizing is one of the most effective means to engage and lift the voices of those whose participation in our democratic society has been systematically denied.
• Equality, equity, and inclusion of the diverse voices of our society are central to responsible deliberation and decision-making, within both our institutions and society-at-large.

Core Grants

Needmor’s Core Grants Program provides general operating support to groups engaged in the work of community organizing. Grantees funded through this program are eligible to receive funding for up to three years, after which an organization may not apply for at least two years.

The Fund’s Core Grants Program will focus on supporting community organizing in the Midwest – specifically an eight state region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Basic Criteria

While Needmor embraces the opportunity to fund emerging organizations, our commitment remains to funding strong, effective community organizing. We thus seek to support groups that:

• Organize primarily low- and moderate-income people, as evidenced by demographic/ statistical data indicating social and economic distress.
• Have a multi-issue agenda that reflects an intersectional approach to addressing issues associated with race, economic justice and equality.
• Demonstrate a commitment to long-term base building and effectively link issue work to building organizational power.
• Are democratically run and consist of a dues-paying membership base, with deep member engagement and a process for both developing and regenerating a strong cadre of leaders over time.
• Have developed a power analysis and a clearly defined plan for challenging/altering the dynamics of power within their communities.
• Engage in direct action and have demonstrated the ability to win concrete victories of increasingly larger scale.
• Have a vision to continually build and aggregate power, enabling them to take on bigger policy issues and expand its base of allies to increase its impact over time.
• Are well managed, engage in strategic planning, and have a sound budget and diversified fundraising plan.

Additional Screens

In addition to meeting the above basic criteria, Needmor is interested in funding groups that:

• Organize across lines of race, class, and gender; and, promote the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Are linked to and leverage the power of faith, labor, and community into powerful organizations.
• Demonstrate a willingness to work collaboratively for the purpose of building collective power to achieve systematic change at the regional, state, and national level. 
• Are connected to larger organizing networks that are working to implement new, broad, and creative public policies that address systemic issues facing low- and moderate-income communities.
• Integrate voter engagement strategies and the expansion of democracy into the building of powerful community organizations.
• Demonstrate the ability to develop an agenda that frames issues of relevance to both urban and rural constituencies.
• Recognize and address the impact of global corporatization as it relates to issues of economic and environmental justice.
• Have potential for attracting the interest and support of other funders.

Our History

For over 20 years, we’ve been committed to, connected with, and invested in communities across the country. Through our signature Healthy Generations program, the Foundation has focused on creating a healthier generation of Americans.

The program has targeted specific, preventable health concerns while addressing the disparities and social drivers that affect them. By using innovative social-mapping technology and by analyzing public-health data, we’ve been able to gain a snapshot of the major health issues affecting each state. This has allowed us to drill down to the zip-code level and target initiatives positively affecting the conditions that matter most. We’ve called this “putting science behind the art of grant making.”

Elevance Health Foundation Commitment

Over the next three years, the Elevance Health Foundation will invest up to $90 million in partnerships and programs that address health inequities by demonstrating measurable and positive change in four key areas:

• Maternal and Child Health
• Food as Medicine
• Substance Use Disorder
• Disaster Relief

Maternal and Child Health Grant

The Foundation is emphasizing programs that specifically work to create equity in maternal healthcare by addressing racial disparities, biases, barriers to care, and health-related social needs. The programs should drive specific, measurable maternal/child health outcomes.

Background

As an organization committed, connected, and invested in our communities, Elevance Health and the Elevance Health Foundation are striving to improve the health of humanity by reducing racial injustice, strengthening our communities, and addressing health inequities in America.

The Elevance Health Foundation recently refined its strategy to underscore this commitment. Anchored by our vision of improving the health of the socially vulnerable through strategic partnership and programs in our communities, the strategy is rooted in demonstrating measurable impact in priority focus areas.

As a key pillar of this strategy, the Elevance Health Foundation will be investing up to $30 million over the next three years to support programs that aim to ensure women and their babies can achieve optimal health and well-being. We are inviting qualified nonprofit organizations with a history of proven, programmatic community initiatives to join us in these efforts.

In an effort to ensure our funding reaches the communities where it is needed most, we are placing an emphasis on programs specifically working to create equity in maternal healthcare by addressing racial disparities and biases, addressing health-related social needs and removing barriers to care and that drive to specific, measurable maternal/ child health outcomes.

Grant Program Goals

• Reduce preterm birth rate
• Reduce maternal morbidity and mortality
• Reduce primary C-section rates

Ms. Foundation for Women

The mission of the Ms. Foundation for Women is to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all. We achieve our mission by investing in, and strengthening, the capacity of women-led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural and economic change in the lives of women. Ms. has six grantmaking initiatives, one of which is the Birth Justice Initiative.

Birth Justice Initiative

Our Birth Justice Initiative aims to:

• advance equitable birth outcomes and experiences;
• strengthen the capacity, organizational infrastructure, and financial stability of grassroots Black, Indigenous and women of color-led birth justice organizations; and
• expand the frame of birth justice to support intersectional movements and strategies that recognize the full spectrum of experiences and identities in birthing, parenting, and family building.

We believe that Black, Indigenous, and women of color (including trans women and non-binary people) are key experts and should be decision-makers in shaping policy and culture change around birth justice. By investing directly into organizations led by and for women and girls of color, we are ensuring that the movement to address racial based disparities in healthcare, including birth outcomes and experiences, is led by those who are impacted most. Strengthening the collective power of communities of color is critical to addressing the root causes of these disparities and advancing birth justice for all.

The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates of all developed nations and Black women die at three to four times the rate of white women in birth – one of the widest racial disparities in women’s health. Systemic racism, implicit bias, and anti-Blackness all contribute to the significant disparities in birth outcomes among Black, Indigenous and birthing people of color. Moreover, the spectrum of intersectional issues that comprise birth justice and the ability to have children and parent with dignity, are not only limited to the birth process.

As such, the Ms. Foundation’s Birth Justice Initiative invests in organizations who represent the full spectrum of birth experiences including–but not limited to–preconception health, mental health and wellness, infertility, abortion access and abortion care, comprehensive sex and sexuality education, non-racist culturally affirming and gender expansive healthcare, access to birth workers of color, access to lactation support and services, postpartum health and wellness, grief and loss care and support, and sexual assault prevention and survivor support services. Organizations supported collectively utilize a range of movement building strategies to advance birth justice—such as narrative change, policy and systems change, advocacy, leadership development, direct service among others. And finally, they work at the intersection of birth justice and other movements, such as disability justice, youth justice, LGBTQIA+ justice, environmental justice, economic justice, and criminal legal reform.

Funding

During this cycle, Ms. will provide one-time grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 to selected organizations not currently receiving funding from Ms.’ Birth Justice Initiative. The grant period will comprise two years.