Search Through Social Justice Grants in the U.S.

American Electric Power Foundation

The AEP Foundation focuses on improving lives through education from early childhood through higher education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and by providing support to help meet basic needs such as emergency shelter, affordable housing and eliminating hunger.

The Foundation also supports organizations whose mission and/or programming is committed to positive social justice outcomes. Other Foundation support may be offered to protect the environment, promote healthcare and safety, and enrich life through art, music and cultural heritage.

Focus Areas

The following focus areas will be eligible for consideration by the Foundation:

• Improving lives through education from early childhood through higher education, with an emphasis in the areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
• Providing basic human services in the areas of hunger and housing to assure that people have the necessities to build successful lives.
• Embracing change and equity through sustainable programs that move social justice forward.

Get Funding & Support

We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with social entrepreneurs in support of their vision.

We provide unrestricted grants and strategic advisory support to organizations led by visionary social entrepreneurs to increase their impact, growth, and sustainability. We are committed to meeting the specific and shifting needs of each organization we fund and support.

Through our portfolio investing, we expand access and opportunity in communities that have been consistently and systematically under-resourced. We invest in organizations with a range of impact models that seek to transform the intertwined systems of opportunity in education, economic mobility, and democracy. 

Catalyze Investments

$100,000 unrestricted grants, $10,000 of funding for leadership development, strategic advisory support, and a peer learning community over one year.

Cohort-based support that accelerates the innovations of early-stage organizations

Our Catalyze Investments vehicle is a cohort-based model for social entrepreneurs and organizations working in areas that are critical to expanding opportunity in America, such as democracy, economic mobility, and mental health, and the American legal system.

Cohorts are often made up of leaders who have personal experience with the issues they are addressing – for example, mental health professionals, and justice-impacted individuals. 

Our cohort-based model enables social entrepreneurs to build community with peers and participate in a series of in-person convenings and webinars. This programming is designed to support organizations deepening their impact and scaling their models by tackling key leadership and organizational challenges they face.

Our goal with Catalyze Investments is to equip social entrepreneurs and their organizations with tools and relationships that accelerate their path to success.

Catalyze Benefits

A Peer Learning Community

• We facilitate connections between social entrepreneurs tackling similar issues to share advice, navigate common challenges, and provide support and community to each other.

Unrestricted Funding

• We provide unrestricted funding to offer organizations the flexibility and agency to invest resources where it will be the most impactful in service of their mission.

1:1 Strategic Advising and Leadership Development

• We pair each social entrepreneur with a strategic advisor from New Profit’s Portfolio team and provide a grant for social entrepreneurs to seek additional leadership development support.

Capacity-building Framework and Tools

• We provide a set of tools—informed by learnings over 25 years—that help organizations refine and expand their impact model, strategic capabilities, and scale.

The CS Fund was created in 1981 by Maryanne Mott and Herman Warsh, who together endowed the Warsh-Mott Legacy in 1985. CS Fund and Warsh-Mott Legacy (CSF and WML) are private family foundations that share common program areas, staff, and boards of directors. Proposals to the two foundations are considered collectively, and grants are made by both entities. The boards of directors of CSF and WML also make recommendations to the donor-advised TOP Fund at the Marin Community Foundation.

CSF and WML’s grantmaking is forward thinking and evolves over time, yet is guided by a commitment to consistent, long-term support. Some organizations have received funding from the foundations for three decades. CSF and WML recognize the importance of general support and multi-year grants in building institutional strength and longevity and provide such support when appropriate. Project-restricted grants are also made in order to advance specific foundation objectives.

Program Areas

CSF and WML currently have three grantmaking focuses:

• Fighting False Solutions
• Food Sovereignty
• Rights and Governance

Fighting False Solutions

Stopping techno-fixes and securing precautionary assessment, regulation and oversight.

While technologies now being developed and commercialized may result in useful applications, they can also have serious negative social, environmental, economic and political impacts. 

Emerging technologies must therefore be subject to precautionary assessment, regulation and oversight – especially those that are fast tracked and marketed as “techno-fixes” or “green” panaceas to climate change and other crises, as they are often false solutions that perpetuate harmful systems.

CS Fund focuses on three emerging and converging technologies.

• Geoengineering - Intentional, large-scale climate manipulation through a range of methods, including Carbon Dioxide Removal and Solar Radiation Management.
• Synthetic Biology - The design, manufacture and release of artificially created DNA, including gene drives that force genetically engineered traits through populations for either conservation or agricultural purposes.
• Nanotechnology - The creation and commodification of tiny bits of matter (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter), especially in consumer products, which presents novel toxicity risks to human health and the environment.

Food Sovereignty

Building capacity and power in Indigenous communities, communities of color, and social movements.

Food Sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and to define their own food and agriculture systems.

Food sovereignty is deeply connected to global struggles for a more socially just and sustainable world and necessary for a just transition to a regenerative economy and food system. It is a real solution to the most critical issues facing humanity, including global food and water insecurity, climate change, and environmental degradation.

CS Fund’s grantmaking is grounded in traditional agricultural knowledge and agroecological practices, and focuses on three cornerstones of agrobiodiversity and food system resilience.

• Seeds - Preserving native and traditional seeds.
• Soils - Building healthy and fertile soils.
• Pollinators - Protecting and restoring the populations and diversity of native pollinators.

Just Transitions

Building translocal, transnational, interdependent community-level social and ecological justice.

CS Fund is inspired by movement leaders in environmental justice, worker justice, climate justice, Indigenous Sovereignty, Black Liberation and more in their collective framing of Just Transition: We launched our program at the end of 2023, with a core focus on community power building and community self-determination that transforms our current extractive, supremacist culture to one of justice, joy, belonging and liberation for all living beings. We acknowledge the many visions toward liberation that are grounded in cultures around the world, from Buen Vivir to Ubuntu to Ahimsa, and recognize that a pluralistic view of transformation is needed to build across our cultures. 

Rights & Governance

Protecting and advancing rights, democracy and equity.

The US Constitution never envisioned a multiracial democracy. In order to enact the promise of our Constitution for all people - and for the sake of our planet - we must follow the lead of movements and communities fighting for justice and equity, and help create conditions in which they can thrive.

We are especially focused on the areas of:

• Dissent – Protecting and advancing the rights to free speech and assembly.
• Open Government – Making the federal government more transparent, effective, and accountable.
• Rule of Law – Ensuring that US national security policies respect constitutional rights, domestic laws, and international treaties.
• The Constitution and the Courts – Building a progressive legal movement to counter conservative and corporate influence.

In the realm of international governance, CSF and WML have also long funded in the area of:

• Trade – Making the rules of global commerce more democratic, just, and sustainable.

The George and Sarah Buchanan Foundation was born from the shared vision of its founders, George and Sarah Buchanan, who believed in giving back to the community as a testament to their life’s blessings. Focusing on special needs, military, at-risk youth, education, and faith-based initiatives, the foundation aims to create a ripple effect of positive change across communities. The George and Sarah Buchanan Foundation is dedicated to fulfilling our mission of providing help and support to those in need across all five of our focus areas. By providing grants and partnering with 501 c3 charitable organizations, we hope to improve the lives of all recipients.

Our Grants

The Foundation makes Grants to a wide variety of charitable organizations. Programs vary in grant size and funding priorities. Supporting nonprofit and 501c charitable organizations, we award grants to enhance impactful programs and initiatives, foster innovation, and bolster the capabilities of existing systems and organizations. Nonprofits are invited to apply for grants for these programs. The foundation concentrates its giving on several key areas:

• Military

Partnering with charities that provide essential support to military personnel, veterans, and their families during and after service. Charities supporting the Military community focus on aiding active-duty service members, veterans, and their families. These organizations offer a range of support services to address the unique challenges faced by military personnel, including transition programs for those re-entering civilian life, mental health support, and assistance for wounded soldiers. They also provide housing assistance for veterans and gold-star families. Additionally, they provide financial aid, scholarships for education, and family support initiatives to ensure the well-being of military families, honoring their sacrifice and service to the country.

• Special Needs

Charitable organizations within the Special Needs sector are dedicated to serving individuals with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities. These nonprofits work tirelessly to provide a spectrum of services that enhance the quality of life, promote independence, and ensure equal opportunities in all aspects of life. From early intervention programs, therapeutic services, and inclusive education to vocational training and supportive housing, these charities aim to meet the comprehensive needs of those with special needs, advocating for their rights and well-being in society.

• At-Risk Youth

Organizations working with At-Risk Youth are committed to guiding young people who face various challenges, such as poverty, homelessness, family instability, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. These charities offer programs that include mentorship, education and literacy support, after-school and enrichment activities, and career readiness training. Their goal is to provide at-risk youth with the tools and resources they need to overcome obstacles, realize their potential, and build a positive future.

• Education

Charitable organizations in the Education sector strive to ensure equitable access to quality education for children and adults alike. These nonprofits work in diverse settings, from urban to rural communities, providing programs such as early childhood education, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) initiatives, scholarship funds, and teacher training. They aim to close the education gap, foster lifelong learning, and prepare individuals for success in an increasingly complex world through vocational training opportunities.

• Faith-Based Organizations

Faith-based charitable organizations operate on the foundation of Christian values and beliefs, serving communities through a wide array of social, educational, and humanitarian efforts. These charities provide services such as food banks, homeless shelters, disaster relief, and international development projects. Beyond physical aid, they also offer spiritual support and community building activities, aiming to uplift individuals and families.

We believe those most impacted by inequity and injustice are in the best position to develop solutions. Our intent is to achieve a better future for all by providing support to community-based, grassroots organizations confronting social and environmental injustice. We are inspired by Civil Rights icon John Lewis’ admonition, “Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

The National Grassroots Organizing Program (NGO) offers two-year unrestricted, general operating support grants of up to $30,000 per year, with an average grant size of $20,000 per year, to small (budgets under $350,000), constituent-led grassroots organizations throughout the United States and its territories.

Our Approach to Funding

While our broad goals are to further social and environmental justice, our primary purpose is to support the local leadership and grassroots organizing activities of our grant partners rather than any specific issues the organizations are addressing. We are interested in supporting groups that are carrying out activities that build support and collective action to address impacts of inequity and injustice in their communities.

While our broad goals are to further social and environmental justice, our primary purpose is to support the local leadership and grassroots organizing activities of our grant partners rather than any specific issues the organizations are addressing. We are interested in supporting groups that are carrying out activities that build support and collective action to address impacts of inequity and injustice in their communities.We are guided by common principles of community organizing which we look for in proposals. In general these are:

• The organization is led by the people directly impacted by the issues the organization works on, and those people have clear decision-making power.
• A plan with clear goals to gain rights, win collective political power and create positive community change.
• An assessment of the problem being addressed and best tactics to employ.
• Outreach, networking, and ally gaining activities that build support and momentum.
• Educational activities and events that inform and motivate and build support.

We know that organizing can take many forms. Some grassroots organizing activities might include but are not limited to:

Community & ally outreach

Consistent, multi-faceted efforts to recruit and engage people in your work. Examples include sharing information and resources, public forums, canvassing, workshops, tabling at events, phone-banking, and media engagement.

Leadership development of constituents

Investing time, training and resources to cultivate innate leadership assets within people who historically haven’t had access to civic and community engagement opportunities or positions of power.

Constituent empowerment & decision-making

The organization is driven by the people impacted by the problem. Constituents define core values, identify and prioritize issues, and determine the appropriate course of action to solve them.

Popular education

An educational technique, based on the theories of Paulo Friere, designed to raise the consciousness of its participants and allow them to become more aware of how an individual’s personal experiences are connected to larger institutional or societal problems.

Root cause analysis

The practice of continually peeling back the layers of a problem and asking “why?” each one exists until the root cause(s) of the issue can be identified and targeted for change.

Power analysis

The process of identifying which individuals or entities hold the power to make decisions that positively and negatively affect an issue.

Campaign development

A game plan of action including tactics, materials, timelines and their intended audiences and effects.

Mobilizing constituents & allies

Moving people to take specific action toward achieving a common goal. Examples include attending rallies and protests, tabling at events, testifying at hearings, contacting public officials, speaking to the media and phone-banking.

Coalition building

Partnering with other organizations that have allied missions and interests with the goal of creating power in numbers.

Non-violent direct action (NVDA)

Public forms of protest for the purpose of demonstration, obstruction or dissent.

Laird Norton Family Foundation

The Laird Norton Family Foundation (LNFF) is a private family foundation in Seattle, Washington, with a mission to honor and reflect the family’s shared values through giving and engage the family in philanthropy as a platform for strengthening family connections.

Primary Grantmaking Programs  

Our grantmaking reflects the values of the Laird Norton family. We give in program areas that reflect the family's shared interests:

Arts in Education

Our Arts in Education grantmaking program supports equitable educational opportunities for students using arts integrated and culturally informed instruction, including sustained professional development for public school teachers. Funding will be directed toward programs that seek to enhance students’ educational outcomes in public Pre-K through grade 12 classrooms rather than to simply increase participation in, or appreciation for, the arts.

• Our current support focuses on organizations that provide: long-term, push-in, professional development opportunities for public Pre-K through grade 12 teachers and schools; programs that aim to serve students furthest from educational justice; and programs with culturally relevant instruction and are focused on the whole child.

Climate Change

Climate change is a global, complex challenge facing our world. The goal of our Climate Change program is to help the planet heal and mitigate adverse impacts of climate change for all people, communities, and the natural world. Grantmaking is centered around carbon sequestration work and recognizes organizations as the experts and stewards to advance climate and environmental justice. Grantmaking is focused in the West Coast of the US.

•  We are focused on supporting work that increased the abilities of forests, coastal ecosystems, and agricultural lands to sequester carbon. Through projects involving healthy forests, blue carbon, and regenerative agriculture, we seek to learn from and follow the lead of communities impacted first and worst as our planet changes. 

Human Services

• Our Human Services grantmaking program supports organizations working directly with youth and young adults (age 12-25) who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, and/or involved with child welfare, juvenile legal or behavioral health systems. Grantmaking is currently only with organizations in King County, WA. 

• Our current support prioritizes organizations that are created and led by the communities they seek to serve, that acknowledge and seek to address racial and social injustice in their work, and that offer programming with the aim of preventing youth and young adult homelessness and creating systems change.

Watershed Stewardship

​Watersheds have social, ecological, and economic significance. The goal of the Watershed Stewardship program is to create enabling conditions for long-term social and ecological health and resilience in places of importance to the Laird Norton Family. Currently, we prioritize work in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as a few key watersheds in the Western United States, consistent with the Laird Norton family's priorities.

We take a long-term view on healthy watersheds and invest in organizational capacity with an eye to future resilience. We encourage our partners to focus not on single-species recovery or restoration to historical conditions as a primary end-goal, but to also consider the potential value of significantly altered — but functioning — ecosystems as we continue to face the impacts of climate change and other natural and human-caused changes into the future.

​We believe the wellbeing of the people who live in a place must be considered alongside ecological goals; understanding the diverse interests and values of a watershed’s human inhabitants is an important component of long-term success. ​

NEO Action Fund

NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, Inc., a 501(c)(4) entity, was established in 2009. Its mission is to promote social welfare and the common good, advance social justice, and advocate for policy reforms. NEO Action Fund works to achieve these goals through a variety of strategies, including supporting efforts to inform policymakers, engaging in direct advocacy, organizing and training members of the public to become active participants on issues of societal concern, and supporting capacity building and strategic direction for advocacy organizations.

NEO Action Fund’s Four Key Strengths

Experience & Expertise

NEO Action Fund brings deep experience and expertise to philanthropy, grantees, and partners. With a decade of experience, NEO Action Fund has longstanding relationships with hundreds of funders, ranging from individual donors to institutions that support 501(c)(4) organizations.

Quick Acting

The movements for social justice can operate at a fast – sometimes frenetic – pace and the NEO Action Fund helps donors keep up. NEO Action Fund can respond quickly to emerging needs while upholding time-tested and diligent grant-making processes. This includes rapid response support and helping fill unexpected funding gaps and crisis management.

Access to Experts

NEO Action Fund helps organizations do their work. NEO Action Fund provides donors and fiscally sponsored projects with access to experts in the field and an array of services provided at a lower cost or more flexible cost than would be possible for these projects on their own. NEO Action Fund offers expertise in financial management and accounting, including regular and transparent financial reporting, so projects can make informed programmatic decisions.

Support & Connections

Through NEO Action Fund, funders can break out of silos and support intersectional work that helps bridge a wide variety of issues. Additionally, the NEO Action Fund helps social justice partners make connections across sectors necessary for deep change.

Our grant-making

We make grants to not-for-profit organisations across the globe that aim to make the world a safer, fairer, and more sustainable place to live.

We partner with organisations that work to advance the foundation’s overall mission and the strategic goals within programmes. Each programme has its own funding criteria, geographic scope, and requirements. The programmes are managed by dedicated staff with deep field expertise and networks.

Our funding principles

In all of our work, we are committed to social justice. To this end, we pursue rights-based approaches, gender equality, and partnership with the organisations we fund. We seek to support innovation, visionary leaders and organisations. We seek to be inclusive, flexible, and to learn from different points of view. We believe that the best grant-making reflects both careful due diligence and the willingness to take risks.

We encourage our partners to work together – we believe that together we are stronger. We fund initiatives that:

• target the root causes of problems;
• are replicable either within a sector or across geographical locations;
• include plans for long-term sustainability, such as co-funding;
• strive to collaborate with like-minded organisations;
• demonstrate good financial and organisational management; and
• value the participation of people (including children) and communities.

Creating long-lasting change

We believe in providing long-term support to our partners to help create long-lasting change. We also believe that our partners benefit from having diverse funding sources to promote resiliency and to achieve the impact they desire. Therefore, we generally fund no more than 50 per cent of any project budget or 20 per cent of organisational budgets. Requests to fund higher levels should be discussed with the programme officer.

Funding

The average award: they range between USD 25,000 to USD 10 million.

We believe in providing long-term support to our partners to help create long-lasting change. We also believe that our partners benefit from having diverse funding sources to promote resiliency and to achieve the impact they desire. Therefore, we generally fund no more than 50 per cent of any project budget or 20 per cent of organisational budgets. Requests to fund higher levels should be discussed with the programme officer.

Guidelines & tips on grant application process and approximate timelinescan be found here.

Resources Legacy Fund Grantmaking Opportunity

Resources Legacy Fund works to secure a just and resilient world for people and nature by building alliances that mobilize influence, knowledge, and expertise. Connecting philanthropic funding with organizations advancing environmental outcomes, equity, and justice is the keystone of our work.

RLF’s grantmaking seeks to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by directing funds to those who have been marginalized and to build long-term capacity within their communities. We believe that the most effective alliances represent diverse experience and perspectives, and that the most meaningful and lasting outcomes are often co-created with those typically underrepresented in decision-making. With our funding partners, we seek to change how environmental solutions are understood, developed, and implemented. Learn more about our grantmaking approach.

Program Areas

• Climate & Energy
• Healthy & Resilient Communities
• International Conservation
• Ocean, Coast & Fisheries
• Public Funding & Policy
• Social Justice & Equity
• Western Land Conservation & Restoration

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

About Global Community Impact programs and events

At WWT, our culture and values are the key to our success. The impact is felt within our company, customers and partners. In its simplest form, our Global Community Impact (GCI) program was built around serving the community, our business and our employees. We focus on three pillars of impact:

• Career readiness
  • STEM education and workforce development
• Human services
  • Social justice and basic needs
• Health & Wellness
  • Supporting physical and mental health

WWT Foundation Grant Request

The World Wide Technology Foundation strives to support organizations aligned with our values. We understand that you have a busy schedule, so we welcome you to submit an application at any time of the year. 

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

Background 

The H. C. Gemmer Family Christian Foundation was created in 1956 by the philanthropy and vision of Hiram C. and Edith Gemmer, and their son, H. Robert Gemmer. The founders’ convictions and charitable interests focuses on peace, justice, sobriety, and racial harmony. They were also strong supporters of ecumenical and inter-organizations. By the generosity and estate planning of H. Robert Gemmer, the value of the Foundation’s assets grew fourfold following his death in 1992. The Foundation board meets semi-annually, normally the weekend after Memorial Day and the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Primary Areas of Funding

Peace with Justice

• Alternative to Violence, militarism and War
• Conflict Resolution
• Reconciliation and Healing
• Peace Education
• Criminal Justice

Human Rights

• Anti-Discrimination and Protection
• Immigrants’ rights
• Diversity and Intergroup Relations
• Social Justice
• Economic Justice

Visionary Resistance

The emergent fund supports the work of communities under threat to build their own reality: the one that would emerge on the other side of crisis; the work that not only reacts to crisis, but uses the energy of the moment to build powerful new visions for what comes next.

Movements have long relied on creative collective responses to crises as strategic opportunities for visionary organizing. Emergent Fund resources rapid response and emergent organizing led by frontline Black, Indigenous, and people of color with trust-based, no strings attached grants. We explicitly fund work grounded in movement values, power-building and organizing in Black, Indigenous and people of color communities. 

A nationally recognized philanthropy culture disruptor and praxis leader, Emergent Fund challenges power in who we fund as well as with how we fund. Emergent Fund is a queer women of color-led, movement-aligned participatory grantmaker with intersectional, collective liberation values co-created in 2016 by Women Donors Network, Solidaire Network and others. Our grant decision-makers—all women of color and Indigenous organizers—come from directly impacted communities committed to building movement and transforming crisis into change. From family separation to Muslim bans to uprisings against state violence against Black communities, our grantees drive forth change under extraordinary conditions and work to build new worlds where we all thrive.

Grant Criteria For Emergent Rapid Response Organizing

Movements have long relied on creative collective responses to crises as strategic opportunities for visionary organizing. All rapid response work we typically fund is explicitly grounded in movement values, power-building and organizing and represent meaningful investments in movement infrastructure. 

Emergent Fund Rapid Response Grants Support…

• Organizing that supports emergent strategies that help communities respond to time-sensitive, rapidly changing conditions. This includes resisting new or amplified threats, building power to move a proactive agenda, and creating communities and cultures of care
• Organizing that leverages “moveable” or “pivotable” moments to disrupt, heal, and build towards long-term social justice and economic justice in a political and social climate that seeks to dismantle such efforts.
• Organizing that explicitly seeks to dismantle, abolish, and replace systems of oppression and harm, driven by a clear intersectional power analysis and vision for collective liberation

The mission of CREATE ACTION is to amplify the efforts of local organizations through funding, storytelling, and collaboration with Sony. We believe:

• The challenges and solutions in underserved communities are best understood by the leaders living there. By empowering the leaders, we empower the community.
• Inspiring stories create a collective narrative for a community to rally around. This is where the whole becomes greater the sum of the parts and you change the community's trajectory.
• Within the community, everyone is a stakeholder. The organizations who best serve their communities understand this fundamental concept. We rise together with our community.

CREATE ACTION grants are designed to make a long-lasting impact for local social justice organizations and the communities they serve. Selected organizations will receive direct funding, Sony Electronics products and a custom-created promotional film, as well as many other opportunities for collaboration, partnership and marketing support.

The Impact Fund awards recoverable grants to legal services nonprofits, private attorneys, and small law firms who seek to confront economic, environmental, racial, and social injustice. Since our founding in 1992, the Impact Fund has made more than 800 recoverable grants totaling more than $10 million for impact litigation. We award grants four times per year, most within the range of US$10,000 to US$50,000.

Social Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants and legal support to assist in human and civil rights cases. We have helped to change dozens of laws and win cases to improve the rights of thousands. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Texas and North Carolina, incarcerated people with mental health disabilities are forced to remain in jail despite being found not guilty and unable to proceed with a criminal trial.
• In Orange County, California there are currently 13 gang injunctions under effect, which disproportionately affect young men of color.
• In Chicago, Illinois, the city’s homeless shelter program is inaccessible to people with disabilities.
• In Springfield, Oregon, the city and its police department used excessive force against Black Lives Matter protesters.
• In West Virginia, the state fails to protect children in foster care from abuse and neglect. 
• In Montana, voter suppression laws disadvantage young adults and give priority to gun owners.
• In Gary, Indiana, a gun manufacturer negligently marketed and distributed its guns, leading to an epidemic of gun violence in the city. 
• In Vancouver, British Columbia, the police perpetuate systemic discrimination against Indigenous people through bureaucratic measures.

Environmental Justice

The Impact Fund provides grants to support local litigation for environmental justice. These grants are for cases aiming to help people or communities who are affected by environmental harm or who lack access to basic environmental needs, such as clean water, clean air, adequate waste treatment, and green spaces. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Centreville, Illinois, the city’s failure to maintain its sewer system has caused raw sewage to flood peoples’ homes, endangering the property and health of a predominantly Black community.
• In Fresno County, California, the California Department of Transportation approved a highway expansion project that would increase air pollution and traffic in one of the state’s most environmentally burdened communities.
• In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the proposed expansion of a highway would divide the region's Black, Asian, and Latine neighborhoods and cause pollution and ill health.
• In North Dakota, the five-month closure of a highway in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests disproportionately affected the livelihoods and health of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe members.
• In Ontario, Canada, mercury contamination of the English-Wabigoon river system causes catastrophic environmental and health impacts for the Grassy Narrows First Nation.
• In Sacramento, California, the county government and Sacramento Area Sewer District violated the Clean Water Act by discharging raw sewage into nearby rivers.
• In the Eastern Coachella Valley in California, 1,900 residents of the Oasis Mobile Home Park suffer from arsenic-laced drinking water, wastewater contamination, and overcharging for utilities.

Economic Justice

The Impact Fund provides financial and other forms of support to cases fighting for economic justice. From workers' rights to consumer protection for vulnerable populations, impact litigation is a powerful tool to hold corporationss and the government accountable. The cases we are funding allege that:

• In Brooklyn, New York, a prominent mortgage lender engaged in predatory practices, leaving homeowners of color at risk of losing their homes. 
• In Washington, live-in caregivers are unconstitutionally excluded from the state’s wage-and-hour protections.
• In Ravalli County, Montana, the county has created a “modern-day debtors’ prison” by incarcerating people unable to afford pre-trial fees. 
• In San Diego, California, vehicle ordinances target unhoused vehicle owners even when no adequate housing alternative exists.
• In New York, a federal immigration detention facility is violating minimum wage and forced labor laws by forcing detainees to work for just a dollar a day. 
• In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the city and county destroy the property of unhoused individuals and conduct forced evictions from public spaces. 
• In Miami, Florida, insurance companies discriminate against a nonprofit community development corporation renting to tenants with Section 8 rental subsidies.

Sparkplug provides grants to start-up organizations and new projects of established non-profits in the following three areas:

Education

Sparkplug funds projects to educate or support communities, including but not limited to school-age students, that move beyond traditional classroom instruction. In keeping with our justice-oriented framework, we fund education projects that engage excluded students in new ways, projects that restore knowledge that has been marginalized through racism or colonialism, and projects that rebuild community and collective problem-solving.

We're especially interested in supporting critical and investigative thinking, and projects that address race, gender, and class disparities in education. We do fund community-based education and social justice curriculum development, For example, we have funded the development and sharing of curriculum that explores connections between Palestine and the US/Mexico border region to teach students to think critically about the impact of militarized border zones on youth, families and the environment.

Some examples of education projects that we have funded in the past include:

• A program using digital tools to educate consumers on how they can support farmworkers rights.
• A youth-led education campaign exposing and opposing militarization in their community.
• A digital platform to preserve the archives of a local black community.
• A year-long program bringing together social and environmental justice organizers to train new organizers and develop joint community projects.

Community Organizing

Sparkplug funds work by members of a community for their community -- work that aims to create justice by making systemic change and/or shifting power. Or in other words, we fund projects that are created, run by, and meet the needs of people with shared lived experience who face the same types of oppression, discrimination, violence, or barriers, who live in the same area, or who have a shared vision and aspirations for the future.

For example, We DO fund projects created and led by LGBTQ youth to change policies that affect them.

Some other examples of community organizing that we have funded in the past include:

• A farmworker-led campaign against deportations and for access to drivers licenses for undocumented people.
• Training community members as housing organizers as part of a campaign to build their leadership capacity and win local housing justice.
• Support to frontline communities in energy democracy organizing.
• A COVID-19 related mutual aid and advocacy project by and for people experiencing homelessness.

Music

Recognizing the critical importance of music in bringing communities together and building collective creativity, Sparkplug supports emerging musicians in developing new work, sharing existing work with a wider community through events or media, bringing together musicians to collaborate on creating or performing pieces, or facilitating new workshops that bring music to oppressed communities. Applicants for music grants will be asked to submit a sample of their music with their Letter of Intent form.

Some examples of music projects that we have funded in the past include:

• A music and other media production of a multi-ethnic Ottoman world, drawing on the stories and songs of Sephardic women.
• Commissioned compositions and the production of CDs in selected genres.
• The development of a musical program, using historical materials, memorializing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911.
• A multi-media, semi-staged performance based on the life and poetry of the celebrated Italian Renaissance poet, Torquato Tasso.

Versacare Foundation

We are an independent foundation which has been serving Seventh-day Adventist ministries and a select few other humanitarian efforts with financial grants since 1990. We are a self-funded lay organization, and our board is comprised of both lay Adventists and present and former Adventist church employees, all committed to furthering the Kingdom of God and to restoring the “image of God” in those in need. 

Versafund Grant Program: Impact Grant

The Versafund Grant Program offers three levels of potential funding.

• Impact Grant: $40,001 to $100,000

The Impact Grant is offered by invitation to applicants implementing proven successful practices as well as organizations demonstrating creativity and innovation in the delivery of services that meet the needs of individuals or groups.

Project Priorities: Versacare Foundation funds projects that address the following needs:

• Church community engagement
• Disadvantaged or underserved communities
• General education and science education
• Health and wellness
• Humanitarian efforts
• Social justice
• Women and children’s efforts
• Youth and young adults

About

The Growing Justice Fund is a collaborative effort aimed at advancing equity in the food system by investing in the leadership and solutions of Tribal, Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, and immigrant communities. Through grants of $25,000 to $250,000, we support organizations working to strengthen food value chains, build local wealth, and promote good food procurement.

Fund Values

• Health and Equity & Racial Justice will be achieved when all people can participate and prosper in a just, fair and inclusive society and race is no longer a factor that determines who has the opportunity to reach their full potential for mental, physical and social wellbeing
• Economic Equity & Worker Justice will be achieved when all people and communities can access opportunities for safe, dignified work; participate in business ownership; and build the economic stability necessary to achieve and sustain wealth and prosperity
• Environmental & Food Justice will be achieved when all people and communities can access, shape and benefit from good food and food systems that address environmental racism, promote food worker rights, utilize regenerative agriculture practices and advance food sovereignty
• Collective Action & Partnership are the building blocks essential for transformation, since we go farther together than alone, and make better and more equitable changes when we listen to and leverage the wisdom of the collective

Fund Vision

Growing Justice envisions a future in which Tribal, Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian and immigrant people engaged in food markets as suppliers, producers, distributors, workers, & eaters at community-serving institutions are economically and physically thriving thanks in part to efforts by large community institutions to prioritize equitable good food procurement.

Funding Details

The Growing Justice Fund offers grants ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 to support community-led initiatives that advance equitable food procurement. These grants empower Tribal, Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, and immigrant (BIPOC+) communities engaged in food markets to secure institutional contracts and gain economic viability. Through large-scale procurement opportunities with community-serving institutions—such as schools, hospitals, and elder care centers—these grants foster equitable access to food buying revenue and help build wealth in historically marginalized communities.

Planning Grants (up to $25,000) help organizations in the early stages of project development by funding strategic research, stakeholder engagement, partnership building, and project planning. These grants lay the groundwork for future implementation by strengthening leadership and preparing for sustainable initiatives.

Implementation Grants (ranging from $50,000 to $250,000) are designed for fully developed projects ready to scale. These grants focus on building infrastructure for equitable food procurement, supporting BIPOC+ producers, food hubs, cooperatives, and policy advocacy, ensuring that these communities thrive as key players in institutional markets.

Nathan Cummings Foundation

We are a multigenerational family foundation, rooted in the Jewish tradition of social justice, working to create a more just, vibrant, sustainable, and democratic society. We partner with social movements, organizations, and individuals who have creative and catalytic solutions to climate change and inequality.

Our Approach + Focus

From our grants, to our investments, to our voice we are using all of our resources to advance our mission. We are committed to changemaking, not just grantmaking.

• Investing in Bold Leaders: Our partners are courageous leaders willing to work in innovative ways, forge powerful alliances, and push breakthrough ideas that make the “impossible” possible.
• Using All of Our Assets: We use a ‘totality of assets’ approach, meaning we leverage the full power of the foundation’s financial and non-financial assets for impact.
• Leveraging Our Voice: We leverage our voice and influence to amplify the voices and goals of our partners.

We believe the dual crises named in our mission (inequality and climate change) cannot be addressed without first addressing their root causes and oppressive manifestations. That’s why we are focused on the long-term and interconnected goal of advancing racial, economic, and environmental justice (REEJ).

Environmental Justice

Environmental justice is the right of all people and communities to a clean, healthy, and safe environment. It promotes equal environmental protection under the law and in fact. It empowers all communities to make informed decisions and fully participate civically and economically in the creation of environmental solutions.

Focus Areas

To advance environmental justice, we support organizations that address the following focus areas:

• Environmental Harms: BIPOC and low-income communities are disproportionately harmed by environmental hazards. We focus on efforts to prevent and repair these environmental disparities and ensure the affected communities can meaningfully engage in forging solutions.
  • We will prioritize work that:
    • Provides frontline communities with actionable data they can use to both inform decision-makers and mitigate the environmental harms they face 
    • develops and implements long-term solutions that protect both ecosystems and public health
    • holds polluters financially and/or legally accountable for environmental impacts caused by their operations
• Inclusive Participation in the Green Economy: A Green Energy transition is well underway, but the economic opportunity that goes along with it is not distributed equitably. We focus on efforts to ensure that BIPOC-led environmental organizations and diverse companies can fully take advantage of the investments, benefits, and opportunities of the Green Economy.
  • We will prioritize work that: 
    • Measurably increases jobs, investments, and/or wealth-building opportunities in the Green Energy Transition for companies and individuals from marginalized backgrounds 
    • Increases capital to support, replicate, and/or scale solutions led by frontline communities that advance the transition to a green economy  
    • Demonstrates and amplifies models of economic inclusion in climate adaptation, mitigation or resilience
• Regenerative Economic Models: Achieving environmental justice and addressing climate change requires a shift from extractive to regenerative economic models. We focus on social entrepreneurs and innovators who are building regenerative projects and models based on sustainability, ecological restoration, and community wealth-building and resilience.
  • We will prioritize work that: 
    • Creates economic and political incentives to transition or restore agricultural, forest or other lands and watersheds damaged by pollution 
    • Increases investments to organizations and social entrepreneurs that help them to scale innovative alternatives to extractive and/or polluting processes, practices, and products. 
    • Demonstrates and amplifies effective regenerative economic models and their impact on local economies, ecosystems and public health 

We anticipate that a majority of funding for new partners will support work happening in or focused on the U.S. South.

Racial Justice

Our vision for racial justice is the removal of structural barriers and hierarchies based on race. It seeks to reimagine political, economic, and social systems in ways that allow all people to thrive, regardless of their racial identity.

Focus Areas

To advance racial justice, we support organizations that address the following focus areas:

• Civic Engagement: BIPOC and other marginalized communities face long-standing and concerted efforts to restrict and suppress their participation in the public sphere, especially in civic processes. We support efforts to ensure these communities have the access and capacity to participate freely in shaping the policies, practices, and institutions that impact their everyday lives.
  • We are particularly interested in hyper-local civic engagement work in the U.S. South in the areas of school board reform, preemption, and voter suppression.
• Racial Wealth Gap: As a product of centuries of policies and practices, extreme racial wealth inequality persists in the United States, especially among Black communities. We support efforts to repair this harm, build wealth, and address the root causes of the racial wealth gap.
  • We are particularly interested in system interventions that help lower barriers to home ownership and business ownership, especially in the American South. 
• Racism + Oppression: White supremacy is at the root of our society’s most unequal systems, institutions, and policies. We support efforts to build the infrastructure and capacity necessary to create systems that are free from oppression and allow us all to thrive.
  • We are particularly interested in in data transparency and technological interventions in the American South that undermine societal biases and structural inequities.

Economic Justice

Economic justice means that everyone has opportunities to participate and thrive in the economy, including those who are marginalized by our current economic systems. The principles of economic justice create a stronger economy because prosperity and equity go hand in hand.

Focus Areas

To advance economic justice, we support organizations that address the following focus areas:

• Economic Security: Economic security is a necessary baseline for people to survive and thrive, especially amidst conditions of rising inequality. We support efforts that systemically mitigate economic precarity and secure a path to a more stable future for poor and low-income people.
  • We will prioritize work happening in or focused on the U.S. South that: 
    • Increases workers’ power and their ability to negotiate for fair pay and good benefits  
    • Addresses the high cost of housing for renters and/or homeowners 
    • Contributes to the development of alternative economic models and strategies that improve conditions for poor and low-income people 
    • Addresses the problem of state preemption
• Access to Capital: Generations of discriminatory lending and investment practices have prevented BIPOC and women from accessing the capital required to bring their innovative ideas to the marketplace and profit from them. We support efforts to provide more access to capital for historically excluded entrepreneurs and to cultivate an ecosystem in which they can prosper.
  • We will prioritize work happening in or focused on the U.S. South that:  
    • Increases capital controlled and allocated by women and people of color 
    • Expands Black, Indigenous, and other people of color’s ability to secure competitively priced private and public capital, including loans, lines of credit, and investment dollars  
    • Shift perceptions of risk and bankability and advances fair underwriting standards  
• Monopoly Power: Monopoly power drives many of the corrosive and pressing problems in our political, economic, and social systems. We support efforts to decrease corporate power and create a level playing field for workers, marginalized communities, and small businesses.
  • We will prioritize work happening in or focused on the U.S. South that: 
    • Increases competition in key industries (i.e., energy, agriculture, healthcare, and retail) and dismantles consolidated corporate power 
    • Ensures enforcement of regulations that keep corporate power in check  
    • Increases transparency about corporate influence in our political system

Nathan Cummings Foundation Grant

Grant Types

We believe that social change takes time and requires long-term investments. We also see immense value in supporting new, innovative, and exploratory work. To reflect this, we have a range of grant types: 

• Venture Grants (Up to $100k for one year) - These grants are short-term and designed to provide expedited support to social entrepreneurs with breakthrough, emerging, and innovative solutions. They serve to mutually explore new relationships and partnerships. 
• Advancement Grants (Up to $250k annually for up to two years) - These grants are designed to provide two-year support to project-based work and/or help scale organizations and promising solutions. 
• Enterprise Grants ($250k+ annually for more than two years) - These grants are designed to provide multi-year, unrestricted funding to partners that have deep alignment across our REEJ focus areas and offer the most opportunity to use all our financial and non-financial resources to support their solutions. 

Funding

Most of our grants range from about $50,000 – $250,000.

• Our budget for funding economic justice work is $3,900,000.
• Our budget for funding environmental justice work is $3,400,000.
• Our budget for funding racial justice work is $3,900,000.

We are an independent foundation which has been serving Seventh-day Adventist ministries and a select few other humanitarian efforts with financial grants since 1990. We are a self-funded lay organization, and our board is comprised of both lay Adventists and present and former Adventist church employees, all committed to furthering the Kingdom of God and to restoring the “image of God” in those in need. 

Versafund Grant Program: Venture Grant

The Versafund Grant Program offers three levels of potential funding.

• Venture Grant: $10,001 to $40,000

The Venture Grant is designed to assist projects and programs in reaching clearly stated goals and objectives. It is also intended to help projects and programs become self-sustaining. Venture Grant applicants are expected to provide information based on objective assessments of their programs. 

Project Priorities: Versacare Foundation funds projects that address the following needs:

• Church community engagement
• Disadvantaged or underserved communities
• General education and science education
• Health and wellness
• Humanitarian efforts
• Social justice
• Women and children’s efforts
• Youth and young adults

Versacare Foundation

We are an independent foundation which has been serving Seventh-day Adventist ministries and a select few other humanitarian efforts with financial grants since 1990. We are a self-funded lay organization, and our board is comprised of both lay Adventists and present and former Adventist church employees, all committed to furthering the Kingdom of God and to restoring the “image of God” in those in need. 

Versafund Grant Program: Catalyst Grant

The Versafund Grant Program offers three levels of potential funding.

• Catalyst Grant: $2,500 to $10,000

The Catalyst Grant is Versacare Foundation’s smallest grant. It is designed to give programs and projects a financial boost as needed. It is also for applicants not accustomed to applying for grants who may find the information required by the typical grant application process daunting.

Project Priorities: Versacare Foundation funds projects that address the following needs:

• Church community engagement
• Disadvantaged or underserved communities
• General education and science education
• Health and wellness
• Humanitarian efforts
• Social justice
• Women and children’s efforts
• Youth and young adults

What we do

Since its inception, LOF has donated almost $6 million to support social justice and humanitarian causes across the US and globally, providing vital funding for disaster relief aid, protection for children and families in war torn countries, food insecurity programs, racial justice, incarceration prevention, and self-defense workshops for marginalized communities. 

With an average donation of $25 per campaign, we are able to send funds to organizations making a difference on the ground worldwide.

Our Values

Community

We are fueled by the spirit of our fans and donors and reciprocate that energy back into communities around the world.

Tenacity

We believe it is our job as artists to generate awareness about issues and injustices in our world, and we are on a constant quest to grow our support base and create change.

Music

We are bound by our shared passion for music and it serves as a vehicle for the impact we aim to deliver.

Grants to Charities:

Grants to organizations are made to tax-exempt public charities under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Program interests include, but are not limited to: LGBTQIA2S+ support, disadvantaged youth, public health, women, the environment, the arts, the hungry and the unhoused. The Looking Out Foundation generally does not support: endowment programs, fund raising events, annual appeals of well-established organizations, scholarships, or grants to individuals. 

Please note that the Looking Out Foundation receives far more requests each grant cycle than it can support. The average grant allocation is between $5,000 and $25,000. Organizations who have already previously received grants from the Looking Out Foundation, are strongly encouraged to diversify their funding base and develop alternative sources of support. The need is ever changing, therefore so is our focus. 

Grant-making Philosophy

The Peace Development Fund makes grants to community based organizations working for social justice. We believe that the change in values needed to establish a more just and peaceful world can come about only if it is strongly rooted in local communities that value the importance of building movements to create systemic social change. These are communities that view everyone, especially young people, as a vital force in the transformation of society. We recognize young people’s ability to reshape our society, not only politically, but also spiritually and culturally.

The Peace Development Fund is committed to supporting organizations and projects that recognize that peace will never be sustained unless it is based on justice and an appreciation of both the diversity and unity of the human family. We understand peace to be a consequence of equitable relationships—with our fellow human beings and with the natural environment of which we are a part and on which we depend.

What We Fund

Organizing to Shift Power

• Groups that are creating a power base that can hold leaders accountable to the people who are affected by their decisions.
• Groups that let their membership or constituents take the lead in collective action-planning and decision-making.
• Groups whose leadership comes directly from the people who are most affected by the issues you are organizing around.

Working to Build a Movement

• Groups that organize in the local community, but make connections between local issues and a broader need for systemic change.
• Groups that provide a space for members to develop their political analyses at the same time as taking action for change.
• Groups that break down barriers within the progressive movement, by building strategic alliances between groups of different cultural or class backgrounds or different issue areas.
• Groups that explore the root causes of injustice and have a long-term vision for the kind of social change they are working for.

Dismantling Oppression

• Groups and projects that are proactively engaged in a process of dismantling oppression, confronting privilege and challenging institutional structures that perpetuate oppression (both internal and external to the organization).
• Groups that are proactively making connections between the different forms of oppression (racism, heterosexism, sexism, ageism, classism, ableism, etc.), and its connections with injustice.

Creating New Structures

• Groups that have alternative organizational structures that allow power to flow “from the bottom up.”
• Efforts to create new, community-based alternative systems and structures (economic, political, cultural, religious, etc.) that are liberating, democratic, and environmentally sustainable and which promote healthy, sustainable communities.

General Support vs. Project Support

The majority of grants awarded by PDF are for general support. We believe that the people on the ground know how best to spend the money. However, if an organization’s mission is not within PDF’s priorities but the organization has a program or project that is within the priorities, i.e. if the organization is a direct service organization, but has an organizing component, then we would recommend that groups apply for a specific program or project.

Our cohort-based program is designed to help emerging nonprofit founders create sustainable growth and measurable impact in our communities.

If you are a nonprofit founder, you've probably realized by now that running a nonprofit isn't easy!

Besides the specific legal requirements of running a 501c3, this work requires you to understand how a nonprofit board works, how to fundraise for your nonprofit, stay in compliance, and how to market your work, among SO MANY other things. That can be overwhelming.

After many years of working with nonprofits at different stages, we've designed the Nonprofit Incubator Program to teach founders how to run scalable nonprofits that make a difference. During the eight weeks of the program, our team will guide you step-by-step through the process of growing an organization, navigating the world of nonprofits, and securing the funds you need to realize your mission. 

We partner with Givebutter to provide 20 nonprofit organizations with the tools and resources they need to grow. Thanks to Givebutter, selected organizations will receive a full scholarship to participate in the program and the opportunity to apply for up to $4,000 in grant funds after completion of the incubator. 

Our Program Includes:

• Eight (8) live workshops on nonprofit management, including one workshop from our partner, Givebutter, to help with attracting and engaging individual donors on their platform.
• Review of your fundraising campaign by the Givebutter team.
• Access to our Fundraising Challenge and the opportunity to receive matching funds from Mockingbird Nonprofit Incubator.
• Lifetime discounted access to all our additional events in nonprofit management and development.
• Recordings and extra resources are available on our Teachable digital learning platform.
• Access to our network of expert nonprofit professionals and founders and our growing incubator cohort alumni group.
• One of our participants will have the opportunity to win our $3,000 seed grant after completing the program.How much does it cost?

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Sociological Initiatives Foundation Grant

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation supports social change by linking research to social action. It funds research projects that investigate laws, policies, institutions, regulations, and normative practices that may limit equality in the U.S. It gives priority to projects that seek to address racism, xenophobia, classism, gender bias, exploitation, or the violation of human rights and freedoms. It also supports research that furthers language learning and behavior and its intersection with social and policy questions.

The Foundation supports research that focuses on improving services and systems and increasing positive social and physical conditions through:

• Policy development
• Placement and shaping of the policy agenda
• Policy adoption or implementation
• Policy blocking
• Increasing advocacy capacity and political influence
• Shaping public sentiment
• Addressing challenges related to language and literacy

Language issues include literacy, language loss and maintenance, language policy, language and national security, bilingualism, language and gender, language and law, language disabilities, language and health, language and education, different language cultures, and second language acquisition.

In the context of social and racial inequality dating back centuries, the Foundation supports projects that address institutional rather than individual or behavioral change. It seeks to fund research and initiatives that provide insight into sociological and linguistic issues that can help specific groups and or communities expand opportunities and challenge injustices.

Grant sizes normally range from $15 to $25,000. We look for projects that have an explicit research design and a concrete connection to public or community impact. It is not enough to just write a report or add a focus group to a social change project. The research should build an organization or constituency’s potential to expand public knowledge, impact policy, and create social change.

Mission

The mission of the Sociological Initiatives Foundation is to foster social change by funding projects that reflect a partnership between academia and community-based organizations that seek to create a more just and equitable society by defending and protecting people against powerful political, economic and other interests that undermine and impede the eradication of social injustices, discrimination.

It addresses laws, policies, institutions, regulations, and normative practices and conditions that limit equality in the United States and its territories. In recognition of historic systemic social and racial inequality, the Foundation focuses on institutional rather than individual problems. Moreover, SIF promotes collaborative research based on democratic processes of problem definition and consensual development of methods and dissemination.

The Foundation dedicates its work to projects that address racism, xenophobia, classism, gender bias, exploitation, violations of human rights and freedoms along with research on the role of language in society, including but not limited to literacy, bilingualism/bidialectism, language loss and maintenance and the impact of language diversity in our legal, education and healthcare systems.

Our overarching mission is to support reforms in all relevant societal structures and to heighten understanding and disseminate knowledge of complex social issues in local and national struggles for equality and justice.

Some examples of desired applicants are:

• community-led academic partnerships
• advocacy or community groups that conduct research that can withstand challenge in academic and policy arenas
• academics allied with a constituency through their research