Best Social Justice Grants in Utah

Nonprofit organizations, community-based groups with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, and Sovereign Tribal Nations in Utah can seek funding for projects improving health equity and social justice. Focused on mental health, access to care, food security, and related social determinants of health, CommonSpirit Health supports program, operating, and capacity-building work near its facilities.

Utah 501(c)(3) organizations working on social justice, human rights, and related community services can apply for the Joan and Tim Fenton Family Foundation’s broad charitable grants. Funding may support programs for disenfranchised populations, domestic violence survivors, abused children, families, youth, community development, and other efforts that enhance quality of life and opportunity.

The AES Hawaiʻi Foundation Grant supports communities near AES Hawaiʻi’s renewable energy projects, focusing on social justice, education, environmental stewardship, and community health. Preference is given to nonprofit organizations in these areas, but statewide entities may also apply. Successful projects should align with the Foundation’s impact pillars, demonstrate measurable community benefits, and address unmet needs, ensuring long-term positive effects on the local community.

The WWT Foundation Grant aims to empower organizations aligned with the foundation's values, focusing on community service, employee engagement, and business impact. Key areas of support include career readiness, STEM education, human services, and health and wellness. Eligible organizations must be located in the U.S. and registered as 501(c)(3). Applications are accepted year-round, allowing for flexible engagement and support for impactful community initiatives.

The AJ Muste Foundation's Rapid Response Grants support U.S.-based organizations engaged in grassroots activism for social justice. These grants, up to $5,000, are aimed at addressing immediate needs of groups fighting for equality and liberation. The funding is designed for unexpected opportunities and emergencies, promoting powerful organizing efforts. The foundation prioritizes groups lacking traditional funding sources and those focused on systemic change rather than individual support.

The HRE USA 2025 Edmonds Summer Fellowship honors the legacy of Kirby Edmonds by offering young leaders hands-on experience in human rights education. This fellowship provides mentorship and learning opportunities to engage youth in creating human rights-friendly schools and communities. Supported by the Dorothy Cotton Institute, it aims to nurture future leaders committed to human rights advocacy. Eligible candidates must be 18 or older, reside in the U.S., and commit to 100 hours of work between June and August 2025.

The Alexandra Hallock Capacity Building Grant for Small Nonprofits, established in 2024, honors the legacy of Alexandra Hallock by supporting small nonprofits focused on human rights, women's empowerment, and LGBTQ+ causes. This grant offers a one-time $20,000 unrestricted funding along with pro-bono capacity building support. It aims to strengthen organizational infrastructure and governance, ensuring impactful community engagement. Eligible organizations must be 501(c)3 nonprofits with revenue under $400,000, operating for at least one year, and based in the U.S.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations working on civic participation and voting rights in Utah can seek support for year-round voter engagement and on-the-ground organizing. Park Foundation funds state-based and national groups educating, motivating, and mobilizing voters, protecting voting rights and election integrity, and countering efforts to suppress democratic participation, which may benefit social justice and human rights initiatives.

Utah youth leaders ages 13–23 can access funding through Riley's Way Foundation to launch or grow social impact projects rooted in kindness and connection, with awards up to US $5,000. Projects may address social justice, environmental justice, food insecurity, homelessness, education equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, animal welfare, or arts for social change, with 12 months of leadership development support.

U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits and fiscally sponsored projects with statewide or multi-region reach can seek partnership funding for empathy-building work, including social justice and human rights. Focused on storytelling, human-animal connection, exploratory empathy research, and related initiatives, Acton Family Giving invites aligned organizations to introduce their work, which may include Utah-serving programs.

Doctoral students at U.S. institutions conducting dissertation research on social justice–related social science topics can receive up to US $15,000 for data collection, analysis, and writing, including projects benefiting Utah communities. Grants from Russell Sage Foundation support work on inequality, race and ethnicity, immigration, workers’ rights, and educational access focused on improving U.S. social conditions.

Early-career social science faculty researching U.S. economic mobility, opportunity, or systemic inequality, including those based in Utah, can seek US $35,000 - US $50,000 for one-year projects from the Russell Sage Foundation. Funding supports diverse, methodologically rigorous studies on topics like income and wealth, criminal justice, education, labor markets, immigration, and racial or gender equity.

Local governments, public schools, and 501(c)(3) nonprofits in Utah can apply for Safe Routes to School National Parternship mini-grants of US $500 - US $1,000 to host Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day events. Funding supports student-led activities promoting activism, anti-racism, anti-bullying, and walking or rolling to school, with priority for first-time, middle, and high school celebrations.

501(c)(3) organizations working on education or social justice in Utah can apply for Baskin Family Foundation support to advance forward-thinking programs. This national funder backs U.S.-based initiatives, so Utah nonprofits promoting human rights, equity, or educational opportunity may be competitive applicants.

Kauai graduate students in Hawaii pursuing full-time master’s or doctoral degrees in social justice, public or human service, education, or health can apply for Hawai'i Community Foundation’s Inspired to Serve Scholarship Fund. Eligible students must show financial need, maintain a 3.0 GPA, and may study at colleges in Hawaii or on the U.S. mainland.

State and local education affiliates in Utah working on racial justice in K–12 education can apply for National Education Association Staff Organization’s CRSJ Racial Justice in Education Grant, with awards from US $5,000 - US $75,000. Funding supports awareness, capacity-building, and action projects advancing racial equity, leadership of people of color, and organizational transformation.

Utah social justice and education-focused organizations can seek funding to support K–12 student achievement, especially for students of color, and deepen community engagement. National Education Association Staff Organization provides grants to initiatives that mobilize community partners, expand parent involvement, build union roles for engagement, and advance racial justice and educational equity; Utah-based efforts may be eligible.

Focused on social justice and educator development, campus and state Aspiring Educators organizations in Utah can seek up to US $2,000 for projects that strengthen AE programs and partnerships. Funding from National Education Association Staff Organization can support educator quality, community engagement, political action, or culturally responsive social justice initiatives.

Recent PhDs in the humanities or interpretive social sciences authorized to work in the U.S., including Utah, can pursue two-year Leading Edge Fellowships supporting social justice work with nonprofit organizations. Focused on humanities-based social justice projects, the American Council of Learned Societies offers more than US $142,000 in stipend and relocation support over the fellowship term.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and eligible public entities working on social justice, STEM education, or basic needs may be eligible for grants benefiting Utah and other AEP service areas. Grants from American Electric Power Foundation help support social justice initiatives, hunger and housing services, and education programs from early childhood through higher education in STEM fields.

Nonprofit organizations working on social justice, human rights, legal services, or reentry programs in Utah may be eligible for support from the Indigo Oak Fund’s Equal Justice Under the Law program. With a mission to recognize and advance individual potential, this Colorado-based foundation backs fairness in the justice system and related civic engagement and education efforts nationwide.

The BJA FY 2026 Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act Program aims to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting civil rights offenses that resulted in death before December 31, 1979. This funding opportunity is part of the DOJ's broader commitment to enhance public safety, protect civil rights, and ensure justice for victims of violent crime. Applications are due on November 20, 2026.

Barbara McDowell Social Justice Center Inc.

The Barbara McDowell Social Justice Center litigates, educates, advocates, and provides grants to nonprofits to eradicate social injustices. 

We pursue litigation through our own efforts as well as funding others in the following fifteen issue areas: Access to Benefits, Children’s Rights, Disability Rights, Discrimination, Domestic Violence, Due Process, Environmental Justice, Healthcare, Homelessness, Housing, Native American Rights, Prisoners’ Rights, Refugee and Immigration Rights, Voting Rights, and Veterans’ Rights.

Barbara McDowell Social Justice Center Grant

We make grants to organizations that undertake systemic social justice litigation across fifteen issue areas. The Center funds litigation matters that are consistent with our namesake Barbara McDowell’s past legal efforts and her beliefs regarding social justice.

Applications must be for a specific social justice legal case, including the filing of an appeal. Grant funds are to be used only for attorney time charges and litigation expenses related to the specific case for which an organization is applying to be funded. 

About NIF

Advancing Equality for All Israelis

The New Israel Fund (NIF) helps Israel live up to its founders’ vision of a society that ensures complete equality to all its inhabitants. Our aim is to advance liberal democracy, including freedom of speech and minority rights, and to fight the inequality, injustice and extremism that diminish Israel.

From Israel’s first rape crisis centers, to fighting discrimination, NIF-funded organizations have driven positive social change and furthered justice and equality. NIF has provided over $350 million to more than 950 organizations since our inception in 1979.

Naomi Chazan Global Activism Fellowship

Want to travel to Israel/Palestine while advancing equality, democracy, and peace for all?

The New Israel Fund’s Naomi Chazan Global Activism Fellowship offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to visit Israel/Palestine, meet frontline Israeli and Palestinian activists, and learn about issues of war, peace, and inequality by seeing the reality on the ground. 

Fellows will visit Israel/Palestine on November 3-10, 2026.

This trip is a great opportunity to learn alongside peers and friends (ages 21 – 35). NIF is based on the simple idea that those of us who share a commitment to Israel/Palestine and to progressive values can join together to work for equality, freedom, and human rights. You will join a cohort of participants from the U.S. and Canada building relationships across borders to be sustained for years to come.

Following the trip, participants are expected to organize at least two NIF events in their home communities, with support from NIF staff. These events could look like a report-back highlighting the participants’ learnings from the trip, educational programs featuring NIF grantees/partners, or something else entirely that is tailored to the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs of the fellow’s communities.

The program is subsidized by generous donors in the NIF community. All “on-the-ground” costs—your hotel accommodation and almost all meals—will be covered by NIF. Participants are responsible for purchasing their own airfare and travel/health insurance. If the cost of airfare is a barrier for you, please apply anyway. Limited airfare subsidies may be available.

The Baugh Foundation supports progressive, inclusive, nonprofit organizations that reflect the love of Christ by providing assistance to those in need, enriching the lives of children and youth, keeping faith communities informed and engaged, and guarding the wall of separation between church and state.We welcome applications from progressive, faith-based organizations. At this time, the vast majority of our funding goes to progressive Baptist organizations or initiatives, and organizations that work to guard the separation of church and state. We believe that a free church in a free state is dependent upon a functioning democracy.Funding Priorities: 

• Social justice and advocacy
• Progressive faith-based journalism
• Meeting basic human needs
• Progressive faith-based post-secondary education
• Inclusivity initiatives
• Arts and enrichment

The Amy Adina Schulman Memorial Fund

The Amy Adina Schulman Memorial Fund is a Princeton, New Jersey-based endowment fund providing grants to individuals, young adults who volunteer or intern for progressive social action projects or programs in an area of their interest and commitment. The Amy Adina Fund also sponsors a lecture each year on a relevant and timely topic related to its educational mission.

The Amy Adina Schulman Memorial Fund was started in 1987 one year after Amy Adina, 20, died suddenly while a student and activist at Rutgers University. It is a realization of her family and her communities’ desire to celebrate her life, to fulfill her dreams and her potential. Since its inception, almost 1,500 grants have been awarded for work in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States—nearly $1,000,000 in total. The Amy Adina Schulman Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

About Our Grants

Small grants (depending on length of service), are awarded to as many applicants as possible rather than giving larger amounts to fewer individuals. The number of awards has grown each year thanks to annual contributions as well as to gifts sent to the Fund to honor special occasions and life cycle events.

The Richard L and Freda K Flerlage Foundation

Our Mission

Working to empower underserved populations through small grants in support of literacy, healthcare, reduction of poverty, and the promotion of social and environmental justice.

We are a small family foundation, when possible we aim to support organizations with relatively small operating funds where our small grants will have their greatest possible impact.

Our average grant is $3,800.