Best Utah Grants for Nonprofits

The CDC's initiative, 'Holistic and Evidence-Informed Wellness for STI Prevention', addresses the significant public health burden of STIs in the U.S. by promoting a comprehensive approach that emphasizes healthy choices and relationships. By supporting a coalition of sexual health experts, the program aims to enhance STI prevention through strategic resource allocation and the dissemination of high-quality, evidence-based materials, targeting priority groups most affected by STIs. This holistic strategy seeks to reduce STI morbidity and improve overall sexual health.

The Home Visiting Research, Improvement, Sustainability and Evaluation Center (HV-RISE) aims to enhance home visiting services for families. By leveraging research, HV-RISE supports programs in testing and implementing effective practices, thereby improving outcomes. This initiative seeks to identify and expand successful strategies, ensuring that families receive the best support possible through evidence-based home visiting services.

About The Lawson Charitable Foundation

The Lawson Charitable Foundation, created in 2021 by Cathy and Tom Lawson, helps those that are working hard to help themselves and others.

For Grant Seekers

The Lawson Charitable Foundation is committed to supporting organizations that drive meaningful change in our communities. While our primary geographic focus is New England, we welcome applications from organizations, doing extraordinary work beyond the region as well.

We are happy to offer two types of grants to support nonprofit organizations making a difference: Impact Grants and Amplify Grants.

Impact Grant

Impact Grants provide funding for programs and initiatives that closely align with our mission of helping those who are working hard to help themselves and others. These grants are designed to support opportunities that create positive change within our focus areas, ensuring resources are directed toward impactful and mission-driven efforts.

The Lawson Charitable Foundation offers Amplify Grants to support nonprofits in New England and beyond, focusing on large-scale initiatives and fundraising efforts. With grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,000, these funds are intended to inspire additional donations and enhance organizational capacity. Eligible applicants must be registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, aligning with the foundation's mission and demonstrating sustainability beyond the grant period. Priority is given to projects serving New England.

The CAFE Group 

We resource leaders, invest in their genius, and bring people together to reimagine what philanthropy can do.

Founded by Liz and Don Thompson, The CAFE Group is a national nonprofit transforming how change is resourced. 

With a focus on education equity, social capital, and philanthropic transformation, we pair catalytic funding, community-rooted leadership development, and cross-sector collaboration to strengthen the people and institutions shaping a more just future. Everything we do is grounded in relationship, because we believe the way resources move matters just as much as where they land.

The 1954 Project Luminary Award

The 1954 Project Luminary Award celebrates transformational education nonprofit leaders dedicated to serving Black students and communities through powerful investments in their organizations' ability to create lasting change.

The Luminary Experience

Each Luminary organization gets more than funding. Through The 1954 Project, leaders gain a community, a platform, and space to grow with tailored support over the course of the three year journey.​

• $1 Million, Unrestricted: Catalytic funding to expand what’s working.
• Leadership Coaching + Capacity Support: Guidance from peers and experts who are committed to helping you build a lasting, impactful organization.
• National Network: Luminaries join a powerful community of innovators, change-makers, and visionaries driving systemic progress to support students and communities across the U.S.

The 1954 Project’s Impact Areas

We focus on three interconnected areas critical to advancing equity:

• Innovation in Teaching and Learning: Create education models that center Black students through culturally affirming approaches that challenge traditional structures and transform how learning happens, ultimately serving all students. 
• Diversity in Education: Build pathways that increase and sustain Black educators and education leaders who transform where and how students learn.
• Pathways to Economic Mobility: Build pathways to wealth, ownership, and economic power for Black students, families, and communities through innovative educational programming.

Our Selection Criteria

We seek out extraordinary applicants who embody our values and vision across three categories:

Leader: We look for leaders whose influence and vision contribute to the collective well-being and advancement of the Black community. These leaders:

• Are Visionary: They demonstrate a strategic and pragmatic mindset, articulating a transformative vision for significant, positive change.
• Show Demonstrated Commitment: They embody steadfast dedication to your cause, inspiring and influencing others, and galvanizing community involvement.
• Are Adaptive: They assertively tackle challenges, turning setbacks into opportunities for innovation, while maintaining humility and thoughtfulness in problem-solving.

Organization: We look for organizations that drive significant change, anchored by a deep love for people and driven by the genius within communities of color. These organizations: 

• Have a Defined Problem: They clearly identify the issue they are addressing and explain in detail how your organization tackles root causes. 
• Take a Strategic Approach: They have clear, measurable, and achievable organizational goals with a well-defined strategy informed by thorough analysis. 
• Show Demonstrated Impact: They have a tested model that has produced positive results, incorporating continuous learning and iteration. 
• Have a Transformation Plan: They present a clear plan for using the $1M award to advance your organization's mission, vision, and long-term goals. 
• Embrace Collaboration: They use collaborate to build partnerships based on trust, love, and common goals. 

Radical Imagination: We seek leaders who challenge and redesign societal norms to build a just and equitable future. They demonstrate:

• Community-Rooted Leadership: They maintain and cultivate genuine community ties, integrating professional expertise and personal commitment to drive visionary, impactful strategies. 
• Long-Term Commitment: They are in it for the long haul, committing to sustained impact across generations and prioritizing long-lasting solutions over short-term gains. 
• Collectivism: They embody the philosophy of "I am because we are," actively engaging in collaborative networks and fostering community-reflective solutions. 

The 2026 National Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Cost Share Grant Program aims to tackle economic, health, and environmental issues in communities through innovative tree resource utilization. By transforming wood from various sources into valuable products like lumber and biochar, this initiative promotes local economies and enhances community resilience. Projects should align with community forestry plans, adhere to safety standards, and provide job creation opportunities, ultimately fostering sustainable urban forest management and utilization.

The Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program (HTPCP) aims to enhance access to essential preventive clinical and public health services for children through community-driven initiatives. Funded by the US HHS: Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), this program focuses on empowering local communities to implement effective strategies that improve children's health outcomes and promote overall well-being. Projects funded under this initiative will play a vital role in ensuring healthier futures for children.

The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) program aims to enhance maternal health outcomes by providing technical assistance across all U.S. states and territories. This initiative focuses on implementing best practices to improve safety during childbirth, ultimately saving lives. By supporting jurisdictions and birthing facilities involved in AIM, the program seeks to promote quality improvements in maternal health care, ensuring safer births and better health for mothers and infants.

About Patient Advocate Foundation

Patient Advocate Foundation is the nation’s most comprehensive nonprofit dedicated to helping patients navigate, access, and afford the care they need—while improving the healthcare system for all.

Who we are and our impact

Patient Advocate Foundation provides financial assistance to help patients afford treatment and cost of living needs, personalized case management to navigate complex healthcare and social needs challenges, and a wide array of resources to empower people to take charge of their health. Since our founding in 1996—and joining forces with the PAN Foundation in 2026—we have helped 3.8 million patients navigate and access care, granted over $7 billion in financial assistance, served 350,000 people through personalized case management and elevated the patient’s voice to drive improvements in the healthcare system.

Eosinophilic esophagitis

Help with healthcare costs for eosinophilic esophagitis

This TotalAssist fund helps you pay for out-of-pocket healthcare costs, including medication copays, coinsurance, and deductibles, health insurance premiums, and other expenses.

About the disease

Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is a disorder of the esophagus and is increasingly recognized as a major cause of swallowing difficulties in children and adults. It is a chronic disease of the immune system and can be triggered by a food allergy, acid reflux, or an airborne allergy. An allergic trigger causes the immune system to overact which causes many white blood cells, or eosinophils, to collect in the esophagus. This causes the esophagus to become inflamed and not contract properly. The esophagus can also narrow and develop rings or abscesses. This condition can become worse over time.

The Council of Independent Colleges

Founded in 1956, the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils, and higher education affiliates that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society.

CIC is the major national organization that focuses on providing services to leaders of independent colleges and universities and state-based councils. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility.

NetVUE Grant Programs

NetVUE offers a variety of grants to member institutions, supporting programming for students and professional development for faculty members and staff. Grants support projects ranging from one to four years in length. Grant programs are tailored to differing circumstances among member institutions, including their particular areas of interest, their bandwidth and capacity for administering projects, and the depth of their previous engagement with vocational exploration and discernment. NetVUE grants are administered by the Council of Independent Colleges, with generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc.

NetVUE Professional Development Awards

Colleges and universities that are members of NetVUE are committed to campus activities that encourage vocational exploration by students. Many NetVUE campus leaders have observed, however, that supplemental funding at even modest levels to support opportunities for the professional development of staff and faculty members would enable their institutions to strengthen vocational exploration programming. In an era of careful institutional budgeting, institutional operating funds are not always available for such professional development opportunities. NetVUE Professional Development Awards seek to address this need.

NetVUE Professional Development Awards may be requested for use over one year for professional development activities that enhance the knowledge, skills, and expertise of faculty and staff members who play important roles in undergraduate vocational initiatives. The purpose of this grant is to develop campus conversations about vocation and to deepen the capacity of those who lead vocational exploration efforts at NetVUE member institutions. A special initiative within this grant, focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion, allows for proposals of up to $25,000.

Funds may be used for a range of purposes, but not to substitute for faculty and staff costs that the institution is presently providing for its vocational exploration activities. Grant funds could, for example, support reading groups, faculty/staff retreats, or bringing speakers to campus; funds may be used to provide materials, pay expenses for travel and/or meals, and offer modest stipends.

Theresa Alessandra Russo Foundation Inc

The Theresa Foundation honors the memory of Theresa Alessandra Russo by touching the lives of children with special needs and their families. The Foundation fosters each child’s unique abilities by supporting programs focusing on art, music, dance, drama, and recreation.

The Theresa Foundation has a vision of the world where artistic expression and physical recreation are just as important to adults as they are to children. We believe in a world where every child, regardless of ability or challenging conditions, is free to communicate through and participate in every art or recreational activity. A society without art is a society without soul. Art enables us to express our inner thoughts, fears, joys, and sadness.  

The Theresa Foundation Grant Program

The Theresa Foundation Grant Program is committed to providing financial support for programs in art, music, dance, drama, or recreation that are designed specifically for children with special needs in order to ensure that no one is excluded from these activities. 

We believe that every individual should have the opportunity to participate in art, music, dance, drama or recreation if they so choose. Our grant program works to provide direct funding for the success of these activities, while also promoting an environment of acceptance and inclusiveness where all can take part without judgment or fear. 

As of 2026, the Theresa Foundation has provided over $3,300,000 in grant funding for over 200 programs in 29 states throughout the country and 4 international grants. With your help we can continue to make a difference in the lives of those with special needs by providing them access to enriching experiences that would otherwise be out of reach. 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is launching the PROSPECT Program to enhance education in critical technologies, targeting an investment of up to $100 million. This initiative aims to develop a skilled workforce across the critical minerals and materials sector, supporting the entire value chain from resource extraction to recycling. By fostering collaboration among academia, industry, and national laboratories, the program seeks to strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and energy security.

The Rural Health Value Program aims to fund one recipient to provide essential analysis and technical assistance for rural stakeholders. This initiative helps them navigate the value-based care landscape in rural healthcare settings. By supporting rural providers, the program seeks to enhance their participation and success in innovative payment and delivery models that emphasize quality care and value-driven strategies. This funding opportunity ultimately aims to strengthen rural healthcare systems.

The Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program enhances rural healthcare access by establishing sustainable residency programs for physicians. Focused on training in accredited rural settings, the program addresses physician shortages by providing start-up funding for various medical specialties, including family medicine and psychiatry. This initiative aims to ensure long-term sustainability through stable funding sources like Medicare and Medicaid, ultimately preparing physicians to serve rural communities effectively.

The Infant-Toddler Court Program's National Resource Center (NRC) focuses on enhancing child welfare practices across the United States. By collaborating with courts, social services, and families, the NRC aims to improve the safety and healthy development of young children involved with the child welfare system. This initiative not only supports families but also fosters nurturing relationships essential for child growth and well-being, making it a crucial resource for communities.

The Infant-Toddler Court Program State Awards empower states and communities to enhance child welfare practices by integrating courts, social services, and families. This initiative promotes safety, healthy development, and nurturing relationships for young children involved in child welfare. Awardees implement the evidence-based ITC approach, sharing lessons learned with local teams, tracking outcomes, and training to ensure effective program expansion across targeted communities.

The Council of Independent Colleges

Founded in 1956, the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils, and higher education affiliates that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society.

CIC is the major national organization that focuses on providing services to leaders of independent colleges and universities and state-based councils. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility.

NetVUE Vocation across the Academy Grants

​One major purpose of an undergraduate education in the liberal arts is to help students shape a philosophy of life. At the same time, undergraduates today are increasingly preoccupied with postgraduate employment. The purpose of this grant program is to help colleges and universities develop more effective ways to strengthen the link between these two purposes of undergraduate education. It is designed to support institutions in their efforts to expand vocational exploration and discernment programs across the curriculum and co-curricular programs, with the following goals:

• to help students develop more effective links between developing a philosophy of life and preparing for a career;
• to include more faculty and students in the work of vocational exploration and discernment; and, in some cases,
• to build connections with community partners, such as local businesses, nonprofits, and other community organizations.

The Council of Independent Colleges

Founded in 1956, the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils, and higher education affiliates that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society.

CIC is the major national organization that focuses on providing services to leaders of independent colleges and universities and state-based councils. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility.

NetVUE Program Development Grants

Colleges and universities that are members of NetVUE are already committed to campus activities that encourage vocational exploration by students. These institutions are making significant investments of their own resources to develop and sustain vocational exploration initiatives. In order to support NetVUE member campuses in their work, Lilly Endowment Inc. has provided funding to CIC to be used for NetVUE Program Development Grants. Many NetVUE campus leaders have observed that grants for program development at even modest levels would enable their institutions to strengthen and expand existing programs significantly.

NetVUE Program Development Grants may be requested in amounts up to $100,000 for use over two years to deepen, expand, or otherwise strengthen programs that are already underway (including those planned or initiated through recently completed NetVUE Professional Development Awards) and supported by the institution itself. A wide range of proposals that augment existing programs in vocational reflection and discernment will be considered; examples include

• mini-grants to support released time for designing or revising courses to include greater engagement with vocational reflection;
• programming that brings faculty members and administrative staff (from, for example, career services, student life, or campus ministry) into partnership for advising, mentoring, and/or experiential learning opportunities; and
• projects that integrate reflection on calling and vocational discernment into an institution’s general education requirements or into their major or minor field requirements.

The Council of Independent Colleges

Founded in 1956, the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils, and higher education affiliates that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society.

CIC is the major national organization that focuses on providing services to leaders of independent colleges and universities and state-based councils. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility.

NetVUE Grants to Individuals for Vocational Exploration

CIC is pleased to announce the first NetVUE grant program for individual projects by staff and faculty members. While NetVUE offers a number of grant programs for institutions, this new program—Grants to Individuals for Vocational Exploration—is its first program designed explicitly for individual projects by faculty members and staff at NetVUE member institutions.

Many employees at NetVUE member institutions engage and contribute to the exploration of vocation in undergraduate education through their scholarship, teaching, and practice. The NetVUE program seeks to support this work by offering them more resources to support new research and pedagogical innovation. Through the NetVUE Grants to Individuals for Vocational Exploration, CIC will offer funding and guidance to support projects that will generate artifacts or products (such as scholarly articles, course syllabi and learning activities, program designs, or other resources) that will develop and expand the existing field of scholarship, conversation, and pedagogy on vocation in undergraduate education.

This grant is intended to support innovative projects in the scholarship, pedagogy, leadership, and/or practice of vocation in undergraduate education. Proposals are welcome from both new and established scholars and practitioners. Particularly welcome are projects that seek to make vocational exploration and discernment available to all students, as well as projects that invite the NetVUE community toward fresh considerations and new frameworks in vocation as a lens for undergraduate education.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc

Since its founding in 1869, Goldman Sachs has been a dominant force in the financial world. Built from the foundation of our renowned investment banking business, the firm has evolved its culture and expanded its offerings over time - but its commitment to client service and excellence endures.

The Goldman Sachs culture values teamwork, client service, and giving back to the communities we serve. It has been described as the foundation of the firm's success. Moreover, the people of Goldman Sachs have long valued their opportunity to give back through public service and volunteerism, humanitarian efforts, and programs that foster economic progress in communities around the world.

Goldman Sachs Community Development Grant

The Community Development Grants program aims to address critical funding gaps in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities across New York City, New Jersey, and Salt Lake City. The program provides financial support to high-impact organizations dedicated to advancing economic opportunity and community stability. 

The Change Makers Initiative

The Change Makers Initiative: Provides organizations with a one-time, general operating grant (e.g., for programmatic or staffing needs). Key themes in this cohort included:

• Access to Housing: Expediting access to affordable apartments for homeless New Yorkers with housing vouchers.
• Embracing AI: Leading AI adoption initiatives, ensuring LMI communities aren't left behind in the digital economy through literacy training and organizational transformation.
• Empowering Parents: Providing free, high-quality childcare, enabling parents to work towards financial autonomy and security.
• Building Financial Futures: Offering financial coaching and debt relief services that open doors to homeownership and economic stability.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc

Since its founding in 1869, Goldman Sachs has been a dominant force in the financial world. Built from the foundation of our renowned investment banking business, the firm has evolved its culture and expanded its offerings over time - but its commitment to client service and excellence endures.

The Goldman Sachs culture values teamwork, client service, and giving back to the communities we serve. It has been described as the foundation of the firm's success. Moreover, the people of Goldman Sachs have long valued their opportunity to give back through public service and volunteerism, humanitarian efforts, and programs that foster economic progress in communities around the world.

Goldman Sachs Community Development Grant

The Community Development Grants program aims to address critical funding gaps in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities across New York City, New Jersey, and Salt Lake City. The program provides financial support to high-impact organizations dedicated to advancing economic opportunity and community stability. 

The Equity Builders Initiative

The Equity Builders Initiative: This initiative provides multi-year, general operating funding over three years. It is designed to help organizations build capacity and sustainably deepen their impact. Awardees typically share a mission of creating upward mobility through quality affordable housing, small business development, neighborhood revitalization, and community services. Applications should align with one or more of the following pillars:

• Affordable housing for LMI communities, such as development/preservation of units, homeownership counseling, rental assistance, and eviction prevention
• Community services, such as workforce development, job training, financial health programs, and access to healthcare or early childhood education
• Meeting the needs of small businesses, such as technical assistance for businesses, access to capital, and business incubation
• Revitalizing or stabilizing LMI geographies, such as community improvements, community hubs, transit-oriented infrastructure, and disaster resilience 

Founded in 2016, this program supports nonfiction filmmakers or filmmaking teams working on their first or second feature-length documentary.

In this year-long program, 9 filmmakers will receive:

• $40,000 USD in grant funding for the production of their feature-length film
• Mentorship with Chicken & Egg Films team members
• Two creative retreats focused on career building and creative development
• Travel stipend for director and producer upon acceptance to a forum or market during program year
• Tailored industry meetings and funder connections
• Peer support from their cohort

You do not need a fiscal sponsor to apply for the (Egg)celerator Lab. However, if you are selected for the Lab, you must secure a US fiscal sponsor, or be a 501(c)(3), to receive the funds. If granted, we can help advise on finding a fiscal sponsor. 

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

At Syndax, we are determined to realize a future in which people with cancer live longer and better than ever before. We believe that it takes a community to build a great medicine, and that is why we are working to set the new standard for developing medicines in the field of oncology – one that revolves around collaboration, shared learning, and excellence.

Syndax’s mission is to obtain regulatory approval and commercialize drugs that extend and improve the lives of cancer patients by drawing on the newest scientific research and advances, collaborating with determined problem solvers, and identifying value in overlooked aspects of science.

Educational Funding

At Syndax, we are committed to the goal of supporting objective, balanced and scientifically rigorous education that furthers improvements in science, medicine, and patient care. We accomplish this goal, in part, by providing grants for independent medical education (IME) programs. These can include live, online, and/or enduring programs that educate healthcare providers (HCPs), patients, or caregivers. Programs that are funded via Syndax medical education grants must be primarily dedicated, in both effort and time, to medical, health or scientific topics that are objective, balanced, unbiased, and scientifically rigorous. Medical education grants must never be made with the intent to directly or indirectly reward, influence or encourage the recipient to prescribe, purchase, sell or arrange for any Syndax product.

The Law School Admission Council, Inc. (“LSAC”) is committed to promoting access in legal education and the legal profession. The LSAC Pathway Grant (the “Grant”) program makes awards to nonprofit institutions for programming focused on one or more of the following strategic goals:

• Goal 1: Early Access/Outreach - Introducing the law and careers in law to students, particularly students facing access and opportunity barriers to information and education, before high school graduation
• Goal 2: Supporting Admissions - Ensuring all applicants, including applicants facing access and opportunity barriers to information, education, and other supports/resources, have access, opportunity, and support in the law school admission process
• Goal 3: 1L Retention - Reducing attrition rates and increasing persistence for law students after the first year of law school, particularly students facing access and opportunity barriers to information, education, and other supports/resources

About

Chicken & Egg Films shapes a more equitable and just world with the catalytic power of documentary films by providing funding, mentorship and industry access to a global community of women and gender-expansive filmmakers. Founded in 2005 by Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger, and Judith Helfand, and helmed today by CEO Jenni Wolfson, our goal is to disrupt and dismantle barriers to filmmaking caused by gender bias.

Research & Development Grant

Now in its fourth year, the Research & Development Grant supports filmmakers from around the world who have directed at least one feature-length documentary and are in the research & development stage of their next feature-length film.

With continued grant-making support by Netflix, the Research & Development Grant supports directors to ideate and plan for their next feature-length film. Many filmmakers invest their personal resources into their films and face funding challenges when entering into the research & development stages of new projects. It is hard to secure funding for a new project without significant sample material, yet producing material without external funding can be almost impossible. To address this challenge, the Research & Development Grant provides financial support to directors during a filmmaking stage that is too often unpaid and unsupported. 

A total of $450,000 USD will be awarded in the following grant amounts:

• $10,000 USD grants for Research
• $20,000 USD grants for Development

The final number of Research Grants vs. Development Grants disbursed will be determined during the selection process, based on the characteristics and strength of the applicant pool for each category.

The purpose of the Research & Development Grant is to support projects at the early stages of their lifecycle. If you have already raised a significant amount of capital (over 35% of your film’s total budget) and have shot and/or edited a substantial amount of footage, you may not be competitive for this grant, unless you can demonstrate very specific needs for the project (such as previously overlooked research activity). 

We have separated the Research Grant from the Development Grant to allow early-stage projects to receive support without the need to submit all the deliverables required for projects in the development phase. 

We recognize that each documentary is unique and that processes for research and development, fundraising, and production can vary widely. The information provided here is not intended as strict eligibility criteria, but rather as general guidelines to help applicants understand the stage at which we aim to provide support for projects. 

The 2026 Chicken & Egg Films Research & Development Grant is generously supported by Netflix.

Chicken & Egg Pictures Inc

Chicken & Egg Films was founded in 2005 by documentary film industry veterans Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger, and Judith Helfand. As filmmakers, teachers, funders, and impact producers, they were inspired to utilize their collective expertise to uplift the power of fellow women storytellers. Chicken & Egg was thus created to help address financial and creative challenges uniquely faced by women in the field–a model that married funding with mentorship to create not just an organization, but a growing community. 

Chicken & Egg Films shapes a more equitable and just world with the catalytic power of documentary films by providing funding, mentorship and industry access to a global community of women and gender-expansive filmmakers. 

Chicken & Egg Award

The Chicken & Egg Award recognizes women and gender-expansive filmmakers at advanced stages in their careers who are poised to reach new heights in their creative and impact trajectories across the world.

Despite progress by talented women and gender-expansive documentary filmmakers across the globe, there are often still numerous roadblocks that stand in the way of a true industry breakthrough. These barriers are often tied to gender, race, class, disability, and geography. Only a few women and gender-expansive nonfiction directors in the United States and abroad are able to work full time as independent storytellers, and few are folks of color, from working-class backgrounds, or from under-represented countries. 

There are, however, a growing number who are getting close. Each has made several films, and each is an influential leader for the issues they explore on screen. With this Award, Chicken & Egg Films is making a bold investment in these creatives and a statement about gender equity. A greater diversity of voices participating in storytelling drives change. We believe this effort is inextricably connected to elevating critical social justice, environmental, and human rights issues. 

The Chicken & Egg Award consists of a $75,000 USD cash award and a year-long mentorship program. Of the total, $50,000 is unrestricted, allowing filmmakers to decide how to use the funding to support their creative and business practices. The additional $25,000 is a grant for the project(s) the filmmaker will work on during their program year. Our in-depth mentorship program is focused on strengthening Awardees’ professional infrastructure, increasing their visibility, and fulfilling their personal and creative goals.

Danny Did Foundation

The Danny Did Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation organized in the state of Illinois and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501©(3) tax-exempt organization. 

Founded by Chicagoans Mike and Mariann Stanton in January 2010 after the death of their four-year-old son Danny, the Danny Did Foundation works toward its mission to prevent deaths caused by seizures with these main goals in mind: advancing public awareness of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), enhancing SUDEP education and disclosure between medical professionals and families afflicted by seizures, and the mainstreaming of seizure detection and prediction devices that may assist in preventing seizure-related deaths.

Danny Did Foundation Hardship Grant

The Danny Did Foundation (“Foundation”) strives to assist individuals and families living with seizures. With an approved Request for Funding, the Foundation will provide monetary funding to the Grantee so they may gain access to a particular device or technology (“Device”) that the Grantee, in collaboration with the Grantee’s medical providers and professionals, independently deem appropriate. This money shall be defined as “Funds” and the spending of any Funds shall be at the sole discretion of the Grantee. The Foundation does not direct, limit, participate, or manage the decision-making or purchase of any specific Device.

While no Device has been proven to prevent epilepsy-related mortality (including SUDEP), the Danny Did Foundation is devoted to seeking out resources that may assist families living with epilepsy.

Hardship Grant: I am unable to make a purchase for the epilepsy related resource I seek therefore I am requesting a hardship grant. If I am approved for funding, I agree to provide a receipt for the resource I purchase to the Danny Did Foundation within 14 days of receiving the grant check, or I will return the funds to the Danny Did Foundation.