Search Through Youth Development Leadership Grants in the U.S.

Vision

While talent may be spread evenly throughout humanity, opportunity is not. Comis Foundation envisions that every child has access to opportunities to not only succeed in life, but to thrive.

Mission

Comis Foundation invests in organizations that provide opportunity and access to equip children with skills to explore, learn, and thrive in their chosen communities.

Guiding Principles

Comis Foundation has 5 principles which guide our focus: We work to build relationships of mutual trust with our grantees; We value sustainable systems and solutions; We are not experts, we want to learn and enable learning; We are willing to accept risk when warranted to achieve greater impact; We value both new and established ways of serving communities.

Area of Interest

Comis Foundation supports programs and policy work that drive improvements in educational outcomes for children and youth. We are interested in programs that support the community as well as children and youth directly. We embrace the whole child concept of full community engagement to drive better outcomes for the child and our society at large.

Comis Foundation Grant

Pilot and Proof of Concept: $5,000 – $25,000

• New programs within existing organizations, standalone new organizations just getting off the ground, or testing new approaches within a current scope
• Smaller-scale research or data collecting project or other similar short-duration investigations
• Timeframe is single-year; multi-year research or evaluation projects will not be considered under this program

Capacity Building and Innovation: $25,000 up to $75,000 per year

• Capacity building for organizations, including but not limited to staff professional development, strategic planning, leadership development, and supplemental expertise (e.g., communications)
• General operating support for innovative organizations. We consider the concept of innovation broadly: organizations that create opportunity for children to explore, learn and thrive are by definition innovative until all children can engage with the world through the same set of opportunities.
• Multi-year research or evaluation projects will be considered under this program, particularly as a pre-cursor to scaling innovative programs
• Multi-year grants will be considered under this program at $25,000 – $75,000 per year

Mission & Values

Life Comes From It is a first of its kind grantmaking circle where decisions over funding are made by people heavily steeped in restorative justice, transformative justice and indigenous peacemaking. We seek to grow the movement for adopting restorative, transformative, and peacemaking practices throughout our society. We have come together around a shared vision of addressing harm through community solutions, without reliance on incarceration and punitive systems.

We aim to strengthen the foundation of restorative, transformative, and peacemaking practices led by people of color.

Our Mission

Life Comes From It is a grantmaking circle. We support grassroots movement-building work rooted in lived experience and relationships for restorative justice, transformative justice, and indigenous peacemaking.

Funding Values & Criteria

We aim to support projects, organizations and collaborations that embody these values:

• Commitment to working towards replacing criminalization and incarceration with alternative approaches to address violence and repair harm rooted in community solutions
• Prioritizing peacemaking development and indigenous initiatives led by Native people
• Rooting the work in the community’s own culture(s), language(s), place(s), faith(s), and belief system(s) so it reflects the people that engage in it
• Guided by the wisdom of people, families and communities of color
• Commitment to anti-oppression practices
• Supporting the creation of new thinking and language that is holistic, intersectional, interdependent, and liberatory
• Promoting and sustaining collective leadership, collaboration and partnership
• Living the values of the work internally and externally to build community and heal harm within and against communities
• Intergenerational inclusivity - people of all generations: youth, adults, elders are encouraged to apply​

The Four Fields

• Restorative Justice
• Transformative Justice
• Indigenous Peacemaking
• Land Based Projects 

What we Believe

• We believe that human relations can replace the work of institutions.
• ​We are invested in shifting power.
• ​We believe in doing no harm – not further victimizing people who have been victimized in the search for funding. We seek to keep an open door relationship with those who look for funding.
• ​We believe in interdependence and creating a culture where we do not pit one against another.
• ​We strive to build connections between restorative justice, transformative justice, indigenous peacemaking, and "justice, healing and soil."
• ​We hold an intersectional lens
• ​We emphasize the underlying spirit and values of the work rather than the categories we use to define our work. 
• ​Our vision is rooted in lived experience – as community activists, formerly incarcerated people, crime survivors, indigenous persons, and people of color— and has led us to 115 years of experience in restorative justice, transformative justice and indigenous peacebuilding.

Our Story

Established in 1980, The Festus & Helen Stacy Foundation was formed through two special people with a heart for the Gospel and blessing the lives of others. The Stacy’s legacy has been passed down through their family who now hold this commitment which is dear to them personally.

The Stacy Foundation was funded by the APenn and Penn Champ oil and manufacturing companies. Festus Stacy founded these entities in Butler, Pennsylvania during 1932. He led as President/CEO over these corporations until he sold them in 1962.

What We Support

Our grants typically target ministries working in the areas of:

• Evangelism/Church Planting:
  • Engage in community & event outreaches.
  • Plant churches primarily in emerging nations.
• Leadership Development:
  • Train & equip upper lever leaders.
  • Develop indigenous leadership.
• Holistic Ministries:
  • Assist the poor, marginalized, and oppressed by serving both their physical & spiritual needs. People served: Imprisoned, enslaved, orphaned, widowed, homeless, handicapped, etc. 
• Media & Technology:
  • Engaging culture through forms of traditional and emerging Christian media.
• Stewardship:
  • Support organizations that serve, encourage & equip individuals on their journey to more generous & effective giving.
• Children & Youth:
  • Focus on children & youth, while also supporting individuals of all ages, gender & race.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Our Mission

The Taylor Foundation is a private, family foundation that was established in 2012. The foundation focuses its giving on; commitment to the Christian Faith, the preservation of family values, the support of children, senior citizen care programs, quality healthcare, the value of education and the blessings of our American Heritage.

What We Value

Nonprofits in Our Community. We look for inspirational organizations that embody the values and beliefs at the core of the Taylor family. We encourage and support collaboration among our grantees to maximize resources in sustaining programs and achieving outcomes. We believe nonprofits play an exceptional and vital role in our communities around America. The sector enriches community life, offers people a way to participate, stands up for underrepresented people, provides needed services, and pioneers solutions to social and economic problems. The goal of the Taylor Family Foundation is to help nonprofits build a strong collective voice, and impact in their communities.

Program Goals

The Taylor Family Foundation focuses its’ giving on youth, senior citizens, family values, and programs that strengthen community through collaboration and/or development of nonprofit leadership.

The Foundation considers grants for early-stage ideas. Organizations that can leverage the Foundation’s support with funding from additional sources are looked upon favorably. The Foundation does not fund individuals. The Taylor Family Foundation has outlined program area goals to guide its giving.

Priority Areas

The Taylor Family Foundation supports 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations in the priority areas of:

• The condition of women and children in society, particularly those living in poverty. The Foundation seeks to foster a supportive environment for all families to ensure children’s healthy development.
• Vital non-profit sector by supporting re-granting through community funds committed to social change; and by supporting intermediary organizations that enhance the management capacity of non-profit organizations.
• Demonstrate strong community ties and operate at the community level.
• Promote positive change through both the projects and their implementation process.

About Vadon Foundation

The Vadon Foundation supports innovative community-based initiatives that sustain healthy thriving indigenous nations in perpetuity. We support programs working to ensure that every successive generation of indigenous people and culture will face an increasingly brighter future of healthy self-determination, autonomy, evolution, and sustainability.

Recognizing that multi-generational problems require multi-generational solutions, we believe that developing and supporting visionary changemakers within native communities provides the most proven path for fostering long-term progress.

Our Focus Areas

Vadon Foundation funds programming that seeks to strengthen Native communities. We look for leaders who aspire to break multi-generational cycles to create better possibilities for future generations.

Language Revitalization:

Language is the glue that connects traditional culture, values, identity, and sovereignty. Restoring the vibrant, living ecosystems of Native languages creates cascading benefits that intersect every aspect of Native community and lives.

MMIWG2S—Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two‑Spirit People:

Disproportionate violence against the most vulnerable members of Native communities continues to be largely ignored and unaddressed. Institutional transparency, accountability, and the will to create real change must driven by Native grassroots leaders.

Innovative Community Leadership:

Dynamic leaders identify their communities’ unique challenges, create solutions, take risks, and create sustainable change. Fostering positive support particularly for youth and families creates healthier communities for today and future generations.

COVID-19 Food Insecurity and Essential Needs

COVID-19 poses particular risks to Native communities and populations. In addition to the significant challenges to under-funded healthcare and public health systems, Native communities are faced with massive food insecurity and lack of access to essential supplies for vulnerable populations.

Grant Opportunities

Communities need nonprofits to thrive

We believe in transformational ideas that help individuals, families and communities flourish—and since 1975, the Murdock Trust has invested more than $1.4 billion into nonprofit organizations that share our commitment to thinking bigger, challenging problems and making a true difference.

Strategic Project Grants

Capacity-building awards for mission-focused projects and infrastructure investment

Capital Grants

Is capital growth or expansion important to your nonprofit’s vision for long-term growth and success? The Murdock Trust regularly makes grants that support construction, renovation, land purchase and other capital projects. In most cases, we prefer to receive requests for these types of projects once your organization has raised a portion of the needed funds.

Grant Opportunities

Communities need nonprofits to thrive

We believe in transformational ideas that help individuals, families and communities flourish—and since 1975, the Murdock Trust has invested more than $1.4 billion into nonprofit organizations that share our commitment to thinking bigger, challenging problems and making a true difference.

Strategic Project Grants

Capacity-building awards for mission-focused projects and infrastructure investment

Equipment & Technology Grants

Best practices suggest that a healthy equipment and supporting technology infrastructure is essential. Please note that with these grants, recipient organizations are responsible for 50% or greater of the purchase cost.

Grant Opportunities

Communities need nonprofits to thrive

We believe in transformational ideas that help individuals, families and communities flourish—and since 1975, the Murdock Trust has invested more than $1.4 billion into nonprofit organizations that share our commitment to thinking bigger, challenging problems and making a true difference.

Strategic Project Grants

Capacity-building awards for mission-focused projects and infrastructure investment

Program & Staff

Expanding programs and adding staff are important markers of nonprofit success. Murdock Trust grants help fund both new programs and the expansion of existing programs and may be used to cover start-up costs and/or related staff member additions. Typically, we fund program and staff grants on a declining basis over three years (100/67/33%). 

NDN Collective

NDN is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

Community Self-Determination Grants 

Purpose and Approach

Community Self-Determination Grants are intended to support community-based and community-driven sustainable solutions in all three of NDN Collective’s core strategies to Defend, Develop and Decolonize. Grants are intended to support and invest in the long-term visions and sustainability of Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations, fortifying the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples to create a just, equitable, and sustainable world for all people and the planet. Significant, flexible, multi-year funding will include the infusion of general operating support, capacity building, capital and holistic support for comprehensive initiatives and specific programs.

Community Self-Determination Grants are intended to strengthen and leverage long-term financial sustainability of Indigenous-led organizations, including capital support and investments. This type of funding will not only give Indigenous organizations the kind of runway that has been long understood as healthy for startups and private-sector companies, but transformative for community-based and grass-roots organizations, including those who are closest to the issues and the impact. While we fund national efforts, we intentionally prioritize grassroots, community-based efforts. Climate justice and Indigenous justice are at the heart of the intent behind the Community Self-Determination Grant.

NDN’s grantmaking approach is based on reciprocity and mutual aid, which may include thought partnership and capacity building resources. Relationship is at the core of this approach, encouraging systemic change and participation in which the people most affected take responsibility for one another and for changing systemic conditions. It is up to the community to determine the steps for true self-determination. NDN funds can support the material needs of communities while also addressing root causes and solution building that is shaped by the community. This approach encourages innovative, creative and free thinking for long-term change.

NDN will remain steadfast in its commitment to uphold and advance regenerative, Earth-centered principles of community and economic development. ‘Regenerative’ is the ability to regrow, renew or restore, particularly after loss or damage. NDN’s commitment to a new and better normal is also part of community self-determination, resilience and sustainability, therefore NDN seeks to support Tribes, Indigenous nations, communities and organizations who are also committed to more innovative, sustainable solutions. NDN is deeply committed to supporting Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination that supports justice and equity for people and the planet.

These principles and the NDN Collective’s framework of Defend, Develop, Decolonize will be utilized as a lens in which to review and select grantee-partners.

Community Driven Solutions

Because this program focuses on community-driven solutions, we encourage larger nations and organizations to coordinate among your various departments to submit an application reflecting your community’s efforts to Defend, Develop and Decolonize.

It is the intent of NDN Collective to provide meaningful support across multiple regions, therefore, applicants will be expected to describe their community self-determination efforts within one of the following strategic focus areas that is best suited for their community’s intentions and goals. New or expanded initiatives, or capacity building of existing efforts and entities may also be supported.

Defend

Efforts may include but are not limited to protecting and reclaiming lands, water, and natural resources, such as:

• Grassroots, frontline organizing and community mobilization to defend and protect clean water, air and land from extractive industries and exploitation;
• Indigenous-led environmental movements and efforts to stop the extraction of the earth’s natural resources on and near tribal territories.
• Direct action efforts of the climate and environmental justice movement.

Develop

Efforts may include but are not limited to community and economic development/resilience based on sustainable, regenerative principles, climate change solutions and mitigation, such as:

• Sustainable food systems, food sovereignty and security initiatives; sustainable community agriculture, gardens, food harvesting and processing, community hunting and fishing, sustainable herd management, shared community food pantries and food distribution;
• Community water initiatives; protecting or developing clean water sources; community pumps or wells, water purification and sanitation, ecological wastewater treatment systems, such as constructed wetlands, greywater systems, and composting toilet implementation, and bioremediation of contaminated soils and water;
• Community planning and implementation of sustainable, regenerative, and innovative solutions for community preparedness and resiliency;
• Renewable energy sources, i.e.; wind, solar, geo-thermal
• Energy transition that is environmentally, socially and economically just; that reduces carbon emissions and footprints; Net-Zero initiatives;
• Financial planning and transition to new or alternative revenue streams based on regenerative principles of economic and community development;
• Resilient and regenerative infrastructure improvements or development, including housing, broadband or increased internet speed and capacity; improved or upgraded software systems and technological training to support virtual and tele-abilities to learn, access health, conduct business, up-to-date communications access;
• Capital investments for economic mobility to diversify economies, long-term regenerative business development in various sectors, including decreasing risk of a larger investment; investments in building the capacity of people through education, training, and consulting to be well-equipped leaders in creating just, and resilient economies and infrastructure.

Decolonize

Efforts may include, but are not limited to intergenerational transmission and continuity of language, culture, ceremonial practices, traditional governance and decision-making structures, and lifeways, such as:

• Governance and leadership transformation, transition or development grounded in Indigenous values and practices, including constitutional reforms, reintegration of traditional governance structures, or decentralized, consensus-based decision making practices;
• Indigenous health and safety; providing and reclamation of Indigenous health, wellness, community care, healing and medicinal practices, including social, emotional, and cultural support;
• Language revitalization – Community immersion programs; teacher preparation and language apprentice programs; family language nests;
• Decolonized education models;
• Youth, family and community initiatives to restore, renew and support Indigenous language, cultural practices, creativity and lifeways;
• Community harmony, safety and protection efforts, including addressing physical and sexual violence; Indigenous peace-making and conflict resolution initiatives, community restorative justice practices, protocols and teachings.

Funding

Grants of $100,000 per year, with commitments of two years, are available to Indigenous-led organizations working in the defense, development, and/or decolonization of Indigenous Peoples and Mother Earth, with a maximum grant award of $200,000 for commitments over two years.  

About the Motorola Solutions Foundation

At Motorola Solutions, we are good citizens by design. Our work makes a difference in the critical moments that shape lives, businesses and the world, but our contributions don’t end there. The Motorola Solutions Foundation acts as the charitable and philanthropic arm of Motorola Solutions and focuses on giving back to the community through strategic grants, employee volunteerism and other community investment initiatives. The Foundation is one of the many ways in which the company lives out its purpose to help people be their best in the moments that matter.

Grant Program Focus

The Motorola Solutions Foundation, which has donated $100 million over the past 10 years, aims to partner with organizations that are creating safer cities and thriving communities, and prioritizes underrepresented and/or underserved populations, including people of color and women, within the three focus areas below:

• Technology and engineering education
• First responder programming
• Blended first responder programming and technology/engineering education programs

Overarching Priorities

• Reach people of color, women and other underrepresented and/or underserved populations within our focus areas
• Leverage robust partnerships with other nonprofit organizations and institutions
• Support organizations that exhibit strong financial health
• Support organizations with data-driven evaluation methods, including quantifiable metrics

Focus Areas

First Responder Programming

• Provide leadership development and training opportunities for underrepresented first responders, including people of color and women
• Provide mental wellness and stress management trainings for first responders and their families
• Provide wellness and scholarship support to families of fallen first responders
• Prepare youth and young adults for careers in public safety through outreach, scholarship and educational programs
• Offer safety preparedness and response training to schools, adults, students and first responders
• Lead safety and disaster preparedness trainings for the public

Technology & Engineering Education

• Engage students in innovative, hands-on technology and engineering activities, such as design, coding and robotics
• Provide vocational skills, scholarships, certifications and workforce placement opportunities in engineering, information technology and data science
• Equip teachers with the skills and training necessary to enhance instruction in technology and engineering
• Prioritize school-aged students ages 8-18, college/university students and young adults

Grant Philosophy

Since its inception in 2002, The TK Foundation has awarded over $46 million in grants to non-profit organizations and projects to improve the maritime realm and the lives of disadvantaged youth.

Youth Sailing RFP 

The TK Foundation supports nonprofit youth sailing programs that reach motivated disadvantaged youth and offer them an up-close and personal relationship with the ocean, opportunities to challenge themselves in an ocean environment, teach responsible seamanship and stewardship, and help them develop essential life skills.

The TK Foundation is looking for youth sailing programs that do this through a combination of program criteria that aim to:

• Offer an ongoing educational experience:
  • Programmatic elements may include: Instruction, mentoring, and educational field trips
• Promote responsibility:
  • Programmatic elements may include: Internships, or other types of work-related, hands-on experience
• Promote leadership skills:
  • Programmatic elements may include: Volunteer opportunities, peer mentorship, or advocacy
• Disadvantage:
  • Support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or communities.

Ideal programs should incorporate all four criteria listed above, and should operate in-line with The TK Foundation’s core values: A Hand Up and Not a Hand Out, Enduring Impact, (i.e. lasting results), Innovation, Integrity, and Hands On (i.e. direct involvement between agencies and their clients).

Funding

The TK Foundation has set aside $500,000 USD to be awarded in grants to successful applicants. Grant requests may range from $4,000 - $15,000 per annum. Multiyear grant requests of up to three years will be considered.

Our History

Andy has spent a lifetime developing and building sustainable communities. He has expertise in regulatory guidelines, leveraging money, and visionary leadership. His integrity and work ethic have produced communities that continue to thrive on their own beyond his personal or business involvement, both economically and aesthetically. His patience and appreciation for nature come from years of working with recreational athletic teams and hunting in remote areas.

Jan has spent a lifetime in community service with a focus on responsible, fiducially sound leadership practices. Her consensus-building leadership style has developed through involvement in educational cultural arts initiatives, public park and environmental endeavors, and church leadership. Her creative vision coupled with her ability to appreciate and empower volunteers has helped reshape the groups and organizations she has been a part of.

Together, Andy and Jan have raised three children in the Wake County Public School System, always conscious of building community through consistent involvement in Parent-Teacher Associations, church, youth sports leagues, the local business community, and civic organizations. They are North Carolina natives with a global perspective drawn from extensive travel, both nationally and internationally.

Jandy is based on the biblical foundation where two come together to make one. The name is a visual representation of how they have partnered their life for their children and how they would like to partner with groups in the future. They believe in hard work, personal responsibility, integrity to the project and process, avoiding missed opportunities, and doing their absolute best with the resources they’ve been given.

They’ve now created a family Foundation, blending their talents together, to build a Foundation that inspires emulation based on the best of Jandy – Andy’s vision to leave lasting community assets and Jan’s creativity in bringing volunteers together. They intend to provide resources for like-minded Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) public charities that will share in their mission and help further creative visionary volunteer groups with their capital projects.

Mission and Focus

Jan and Andy Ammons established The Jandy Ammons Foundation in November 2012. The foundation’s mission is to improve local communities through innovative, project-driven endeavors that will enhance wildlife habitats, park settings, educational surroundings, artistic installations, or Christian church mission projects.

Grant Focus

The foundation focuses on specific “shovel ready” standalone projects, including the following:

• Wildlife/conservation/hunting projects
• Educational projects
• Artistic installations
• Christian church mission endeavors
• Park settings/community areas
• Other organizations and projects uniquely within the scope of the Foundation’s mission

Youth as Solutions

Youth as Solutions (YaS) is creating a generation of citizens who are passionate about making a positive impact in their schools and communities, addressing community health, educational equity, and environmental justice issues. Leadership teams of young people in grades 6-12, along with an adult mentor, apply to be part of one of the Youth as Solutions cohorts, where they will participate in a self-paced, active learning experience, identifying and taking action on an issue in their community. Students gain leadership skills while adult mentors receive quality service-learning instruction and resources. Youth-adult teams connect with peers in cohorts working on similar subtopics such as teen driving safety, health promotion in Latino communities, and so much more!

Focus Areas

• Education equity - is the belief that everyone deserves a quality education, regardless of their race, gender, identity, socioeconomic status, or any other trait.
  • Teams in the Education in Action cohort engage K-12 youth and educators (in school and afterschool programs) to increase educational equity in their school or community. Through the Investigation phase of service-learning, students discover needs and define the actions that will make significant change. From education, awareness, policy review and change, environmental and cultural supports and more, they have a voice in their educational experience and generating change in their schools and communities.
• Community health - empowers youth to save lives through youth-led campaigns that make measurable differences in their schools, communities, and beyond.
  • The Project Ignition Cohort is founded on a service-learning strategy that embeds the topic of teen-driver safety more deeply within a school/afterschool program and makes connections to academic goals. Car crashes remain a leading cause of death for adolescents. Project Ignition students address this fact by working in teams, investigating the issues facing their community, plan & prepare to take action, and engage community partners. They bring people together — and they’re saving lives!
• Environmental justice - challenges young people to address climate needs on a local level, impacting our planet now and for future generations.
  • Fulfilling our mission to create sustainability, youth teams in the Environmental Justice cohort work on improving critical climate needs. Whether planting a community garden, mapping safe bike routes, or securing solar panels to light a community sign, there are many local entry points for impassioned young people to create lasting change through service-learning. Connect to learning goals such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) or personal development goals such as leadership or civic engagement, these experiences provide a powerful learning opportunity.

• Civics And Democracy - Civics and democracy empowers young people to forge pathways to active citizenship, fostering leadership and driving positive change in their communities. Some Leadership Teams are engaged in serivce-learning experiences that promote unity and peacemaking to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001. Other Leadership Teams are expanding voting rights to those in Minnesota affected by recent legislative changes, serving as election judges in polling places, and acting as interpreters on election day. No matter the initiative, each endeavor reflects a commitment to civic engagement and the fundamental principles of democracy.

Our Mission

Our mission is to strengthen American Indian economies to support healthy Native communities. We invest in and create innovative institutions and models that strengthen asset control and support economic development for American Indian people and their communities.

With the support of individuals, foundations, corporate and tribal donors, First Nations Development Institute improves economic conditions for Native Americans through technical assistance & training, advocacy & policy, and direct financial grants in multiple key areas:

• Achieving Native Financial Empowerment
• Investing in Native Youth
• Strengthening Tribal & Community Institutions
• Nourishing Native Foods & Health
• Stewarding Native Lands

Founded in 1980, First Nations began its national grantmaking program in 1993. Through year end 2023, we have successfully managed 3,385 grants totaling $79.9 million to Native American projects and organizations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territory American Samoa.

Native Language Immersion Initiative

First Nations originally launched the Native Language Immersion Initiative (NLII) in 2017 as a three-year project to build on longtime efforts to support the revitalization and perpetuation of Native languages. The NLII program is designed specifically to build the capacity of and support Native language immersion education programs in tribal communities. With generous support from several foundations and numerous individual donors across the U.S., the NLII program has continued beyond the initial investment.

During this funding cycle, First Nations will award 10 grants ranging from $45,000 to $75,000 to build the capacity of and directly support Native-controlled nonprofit organizations and tribal government programs actively advancing Native language immersion programs.

Language is the foundation through which traditions are deeply rooted and values – such as respect for elders, community, and the Earth – are taught. Research has shown that learning a language increases the social, emotional, intellectual, cultural, and physical development of children. Fortified by learning their Native language, Native youth build a positive cultural identity and resiliency to face life’s challenges.

Since the NLII began, more than 30 Native organizations and tribes have received over $4 million in funding to build the capacity of and directly support their Native language immersion programs. In addition to direct financial resources, this initiative seeks to build a dialogue and community of practice among Native language immersion grantees and momentum for supporting Native language programs.

Funding under this grant will support capacity-building activities designed to improve and enhance the language immersion program’s ability to achieve its mission. This may include curriculum development, technology access, instructional courses and materials, mentorships, teacher training and other kinds of organizational infrastructure.

Background

For over 70 years, the Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation, Inc. has supported efforts to raise the nation’s level of economic literacy. Working with and funding a variety of institutions the Foundation has projects ranging from the development of National curriculum guides and standards for the schools in economics, to more focused materials for teaching economics and personal finance at all grade levels and through a variety of disciplines. The Foundation has taken a leadership role in applying new technologies to economics education including the development of a nationally broadcast educational film series for schools and colleges in the 1950s-1980s, and computer assisted instruction in the 1990s. The Foundation has recently underwritten the development of on-line games and activities for students.

With the knowledge that even the best materials will remain unused unless the gatekeepers of the classroom feel knowledgeable and comfortable with them, the Kazanjian Foundation has invested heavily in teacher education. As an initial and longtime supporter of the Developmental Economics Education Program the Foundation helped build a network of school districts committed to initiating and enhancing economics and personal finance instruction. This work and other efforts of the Foundation helped make economics and personal finance instruction a required part of the school curriculum in 38 states.

The Kazanjian Foundation has not limited its support to only traditional K-12 classrooms. Working with the American Economic Association and other professional organizations the Foundation has helped improve economics instruction in the college classroom. The Foundation has also underwritten the development of various instruments to measure economic and personal finance knowledge and supported research to determine the most effective way to teach economics.

Understanding that schools and colleges are not the only conveyance for increasing economic literacy, the Kazanjian Foundation has invested in programs to help clergy of all denominations convey basic economic concepts to their congregations. The Foundation has also supported efforts to increase economic knowledge among social workers and their colleagues in the hopes that they in turn can improve the basic personal finance skills of those they serve.

Though pleased with the success of its efforts in economic and personal finance education to date, the Foundation is none-the-less determined to further its mission set by Calvin K. Kazanjian, the founder and first president of Peter Paul Almond Joy.

Funding Interest

Foundation’s current funding interest includes but not limited to:

• The delivery of economic education to youth in non-school settings
• Behavioral economics with a focus on environmental issues
• Economic education initiatives to under-served communities in the local states
• On-line competitions
• Entrepreneurship education
• Marketing capabilities to serve more population in economic education
• Programs to generate more excitement for economic and financial education
• Economic education programs in a recently mandated state

About Third Wave Fund

Third Wave Fund resources and supports youth-led, intersectional gender justice activism. We build on the brilliance of our communities using responsive and participatory grantmaking so we can sustain our movements and thrive—now and long term. We define gender justice as a movement to end patriarchy, transphobia, homophobia, and misogyny. Since gender oppression is tied to capitalism, classism, racism, ageism, and ableism, gender justice can only truly be achieved when all forms of oppression cease to exist. 

Our grantmaking and donor mobilizing advances the community power, well-being, and self-determination of young Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) most directly impacted by and best positioned to end gender oppression. We specifically resource grassroots movements that are 1) multi-issue, 2) community-led (we define "community-led" movements as being led by those who are directly impacted by oppression) and 3) unapologetically queer, trans, intersex, and sex worker-led.

Our vision is a world where ALL people have full autonomy over our own bodies and lives. 

About the Sex Worker Giving Circle

The Sex Worker Giving Circle (SWGC) launched in the spring of 2018. The SWGC was created because sex workers are best positioned to confront and transform the oppressive conditions of their own lives. However, movements led by sex workers and people with experience in the sex trade are critically under-resourced despite increasing political attacks. 

The SWGC is a giving circle made up of individuals with current or past experience in the sex trade. The Fellows participate in grantmaking trainings and make all high-level funding decisions and grantmaking recommendations.

About the Fund

In 2018, Third Wave Fund launched the SWGC, the first sex worker-led fund housed at a U.S. foundation, with the dual goal of funding a diverse range of sex worker-led groups throughout the country and bringing current and former sex workers to the philanthropic decision-making table. More than twenty years of funding sex worker-led organizing has taught us that sex workers are best positioned to transform the oppressive conditions impacting their lives but their movements remain critically under-resourced even as political attacks have continued to mount. We were inspired by community-led grantmaking at other funds as well as the long history of sex worker communities taking care of each other, especially sex workers of color and trans and gender non-conforming sex workers.

In 2022, we continued to facilitate the cohort nationally and we distributed a total of $585,000 to 25 new and returning grantees from across the United States. Pati Morales, SWGC Fellow from 2021, joined the fund as Program Associate.

In 2023, we welcomed Pati Morales as the new Program Officer for the fund, and CJ Bell, as the new Program Associate. With the program now being fully former Fellow-staffed, distributed $700,000 to new & returning grantees from across the United States.

In 2024, we welcomed our first fully former-Fellow staffed advisory board and increased our grants to up to $35,000 per year or $70,000 over two years.

Our Mission 

The Green Family Foundation believes societies flourish when enriched with access to the arts, culture, education, and healthcare. We accomplish this by supporting grassroots initiatives and sustainable programs that foster thriving communities through prevention, education, and meaningful care.

Funding Priorities

At the Green Family Foundation, we believe in the power of community-driven solutions to create lasting change.

Our mission is to foster thriving societies enriched by access to the arts, culture, education, and healthcare. To achieve this, we partner with organizations that share our vision of building sustainable and inclusive communities.

We are proud to fund initiatives that prioritize equity, innovation, and collaboration in four key areas: Global Health and Development, Community Empowerment, The Arts, and Education and Leadership Development. These funding priorities reflect our commitment to addressing systemic barriers, amplifying historically excluded voices, and creating opportunities for individuals and communities to flourish.

We encourage grantseekers to review our four funding priorities thoroughly and ensure their proposed projects align with our mission. We are particularly interested in programs that demonstrate measurable impact, sustainability, and community-centered approaches.:

Global Health & Development:

The Green Family Foundation funds initiatives that address poverty by bridging gaps in education, healthcare, job access, and community engagement. We support holistic, sustainable programs that empower diverse communities to achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Priority is given to projects that provide equitable access to essential healthcare, deliver education and training, conduct community-led research, and implement sustainable development practices.

Community Empowerment:

From teaching digital skills to promoting civic participation, the Green Family Foundation invests in initiatives that strengthen community capacity, build social cohesion, and empower individuals to shape their futures.We support programs that equip individuals and communities with the tools, skills, and knowledge to drive meaningful change. Our focus areas include:

• Access to technology and digital literacy training
• Community-based advocacy and civic engagement
• Programs that amplify historically excluded voices and foster social equity

The Arts:

The Green Family Foundation champions programs that use the arts to inspire. We fund initiatives that encourage individuals to creatively express their ideas, explore their identities, and engage with their communities in positive and impactful ways.These programs should prioritize accessibility, skill-building, and personal development, offering individuals an opportunity to gain confidence, develop their talents, and envision successful futures through creative exploration.

Education and Leadership Development: 

By broadening horizons and nurturing leadership potential, the Green Family Foundation invests in the next generation of changemakers. We support educational programs that challenge young people to think critically, explore diverse perspectives, and expand their understanding of social issues, health equity, governance, and effective communication. Priority is given to initiatives that:

• Encourage young people to develop leadership skills
• Foster cross-cultural understanding and collaboration
• Empower young people to become informed and engaged citizens

Grant Size

Typical grants range from $1,500 - $30,000.

Wold Foundation Grant

Created in 1985 by John and Jane Wold and the Wold family, the Wold Foundation exists to assist, encourage and promote charitable, scientific, literary and educational endeavors. The Foundation supports institutions and programs that promote traditional values and free enterprise and gives a preference to projects benefiting Wyoming citizens and Wyoming youth. The Foundation supports these endeavors through grants for research or publication through cooperation with agencies and institutions already in existence, or by any other means which may seem appropriate to the Board of Directors of the Foundation.        

Primary Areas of Interest - Funding Priorities

Education

• Has an ongoing interest in the growth and development of education, from pre-school through university, including public, independent, and private schools

Human Services Organizations and Youth Programs

• Believes in human-service organizations and youth programs aimed at helping people help themselves, realize their potential and lead productive lives
• Will promote youth programs that help develop mental and physical well-being, develop life skills necessary for productive adulthood, and encourage self-confidence and self-reliance

Cultural and Historic Activities

• Continues to believe cultural activities of a community are important
• Will support preservation of historic sites and buildings, giving priority to facilities used by a variety of community-based organizations

Health Care

• Encourages health programs preventive in nature, promote wellness and / or can demonstrate a reduction in health care costs

Scientific Endeavors, Conservation, Outdoor Recreation

• Encourages scientific endeavors aimed at improving the quality of life and encourage conservation and the wise use of natural resources
• Views conservation and outdoor recreation as supportive of its interest in health, education, leadership training and youth services

Greening STEM Grants

In Spring 2025, the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) will collaborate with PPG Foundation (PPG) to select a cohort of Greening STEM projects from the PPG communities of Cleveland, OH, Greensboro, NC, and Huntsville, AL. The awards will support holistic STEM programs that infuse environmental science and resources into school curricula focused on student-directed investigations of relevant topics of research, local environmental issues, or problems affecting local public lands. The funding will allow formal and nonformal educators to design and deliver STEM programming that engages youth in place-based learning and environmental monitoring.Through these PPG Foundation Greening STEM grants, PPG and NEEF seek to advance mutual STEM education goals by providing program participants with access to authentic STEM learning experiences that use the environment as a context for engagement.Programming funded by these grants will utilize STEM-focused content, instructional strategies, training approaches, and collaboration and dissemination technologies to assist school educators and staff in implementing and enhancing learning in and outside of the classroom. Following project completion, all resources and related content developed under these grants will be made available via NEEF’s Greening STEM Hub. 

Grant Program Priorities

NEEF and PPG aim to increase grantee teams’ understanding of how to use STEM learning activities to address environmental challenges, engender stewardship, and forge lasting collaborations by:

• bringing Greening STEM programming that includes citizen science or environmental monitoring activities to middle to high school students;
• building the capacity of BLM and formal and informal educators to offer high quality STEM programming that aligns with state education standards;
• helping schools build a culture that values using the environment as a context for improving student learning and achievement;
• facilitating a collaborative development and planning process for engaging youth in environmental monitoring activities—identifying a topic relevant to the community and collecting environmental data (e.g., air, soil, water quality) while practicing Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), acquiring Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), and applying Crosscutting Concepts (CCC)
• stimulating educational partnerships between schools, and community-based organizations that facilitate meaningful place-based learning experiences for students;
• engendering environmental stewardship through a learner-centered approach that encourages authentic problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership in planning and leading a learning expedition in public lands;
• increasing student interest in STEM content and careers.

Greening STEM Project Design Principles

The Greening STEM Model is an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to teaching STEM subjects that uses the natural environment and real-world challenges to engage learners and deliver high-quality STEM education. The student’s experiences and interests are at the center of learning as they explore STEM content and develop a 21st century skills set. Throughout the experience, students can be tasked with different levels of responsibility from working as a team on a project to planning and leading a learning expedition. By having autonomy to design and explore a question of interest related to local landscapes, students are offered opportunities for authentic problem-solving while making gains in environmental knowledge and fostering a stewardship ethic.

All PPG Greening STEM projects shall include elements of two or more of the 2025 Greening STEM Project Design Principles. These are: place-based learning, three-dimensional learning, project-based learning, and community-based learning.

Place-based learning elements

Students are encouraged to explore a topic of study, issue, or problem through direct first-hand experience; collaboration between students interested in the same topic of study, issue, or problem is encouraged; facilitators (DE affiliated educator, community partners, nonformal educators) serve as connectors to existing ways to involve learners with the topics of interest.

Three-dimensional learning elements

Exploration of an anchoring phenomenon encourages students to question assumptions and current understanding; STEM practices are used to motivate problem-solving; exploration of the anchoring phenomenon leads to disciplinary core ideas; cross-cutting concepts are used to connect the anchoring phenomenon to real world events.

Project-based learning elements

The learners are intellectually challenged by their project work; the nature of their project engages learners over the course of days, weeks, or even months; real-world authenticity is simulated by the selection of tools, techniques, and technology used to explore the topic of study, issue, or problem; the students have an opportunity to share their work with audiences beyond their classroom.

Community-based learning elements

The topic of inquiry is explored within a local cultural context, encouraging learners to understand the unique makeup of their communities and the factors that shape them. They consider which knowledge systems and traditions are recognized in discussions of the issue and which are overlooked, as well as how this influences current understanding. Students also examine how different solutions impact their communities, ensuring they are practical, respectful of local perspectives, and responsive to the needs of those affected.

True Inspiration Awards

The True Inspiration Awards® program was created in 2015 to honor the legacy of Chick-fil-A® founder S. Truett Cathy. Through these annual grants, it is our pleasure to celebrate and support nonprofit organizations making an impact in their local communities.

S. Truett Cathy Honoree

One organization will be selected as the S. Truett Cathy Honoree. The S. Truett Cathy Honoree embodies the generous, innovative spirit of Chick-fil-A’s late founder — pioneering new ways to solve problems and serve others.

Category winners

In 2025 we will continue to support nonprofits with a total commitment of $6 million in grants ranging from $30,000-$350,000.

Sixteen organizations will be awarded for their work in these areas.

Caring for People (four winners): Programs or projects supporting educational initiatives, including fostering character and leadership development, academic excellence and community involvement in underserved youth.

Caring through Food (four winners): Programs or projects focused on addressing hunger and food insecurity facing children and their families.

Community (four winners): Programs or projects focused on providing housing and other direct services to support young people and their families.

Caring for our Planet (four winners): Programs or projects that show care for our environment and our planet, or that demonstrate environmental stewardship through initiatives directly related to our other True Inspiration Awards categories of food, community and people (i.e., community beautification, education opportunities, community gardens, outdoor classrooms, etc.) 

Our Mission

Our mission is to uplift and sustain the lifeways and economies of Native communities through advocacy, financial support, and knowledge sharing.

We envision a world in which Tribal Sovereignty is upheld, and Native ingenuity and knowledge are honored and respected.

Grant Overview

First Nations believes that Native youth represent the future of Native communities and that investing in youth and giving them a sense of place and tradition in the community ensures a future of bright and capable leaders. We seek programs that meet youth where they are, support them in accomplishing their goals and dreams as future leaders, and shape pathways that prepare them for an empowered adulthood guided by their cultures and families.

In 2002, First Nations launched the Native Youth and Culture Fund (NYCF) to support tribes and Native American-led organizations that work with Native youth through programs that provide learning, leadership building, and intergenerational mentoring.

In 2024, through this Fund, two-year grants ranging from $20,000 to $60,000 will be awarded to Native youth programs and projects that focus on increasing youth leadership and providing opportunities for intergenerational transfer of knowledge.

• 10 to 12 grants of up to $60,000 will be awarded to structured day and/or overnight camp programs that focus on recreational, cultural, educational, language, Native youth leadership and intergenerational mentoring activities. (If you are applying as a camp program you must indicate this within the application.)
• 4 to 8 grants of up to $60,000 will be awarded to programs supporting Native youth by California-based tribes or California tribally controlled non-profit organizations. These grants are made possible through our California Tribal Fund (CTF). The CTF was created to support California-based, California-Native-led nonprofits and tribal programs in controlling and protecting their food systems, water, languages, traditional ecological knowledge, and land.
• 10 to 12 grants of up to $60,000 will be awarded to programs supporting Native youth that demonstrate alignment with one or more of the program priorities (see below).

Native Youth and Culture Fund Priorities

All proposals must demonstrate their project or program will carry out one or more of the following:

• Provide structured day or overnight camp activities. Camps are defined as structured day or overnight programs that focus on recreational, cultural, educational, youth leadership, and intergenerational mentoring activities.
• Focus on preserving, strengthening, or renewing cultural and/or spiritual practices, beliefs, and values of Native youth.
• Engage youth and elders in activities that demonstrate methods for documenting traditional knowledge systems, practices, and/or beliefs.
• Increase youth leadership and their capacity to lead through intergenerational educational or mentoring programs.
• Increase youth access to and sharing of cultural customs and beliefs and traditional Native art forms using appropriate technologies (traditional and/or modern), as a means of reviving or preserving tribal language, arts, history, or other culturally relevant topics.

Who We Are

Established in 2017 as Sensata Technologies' U.S.-based philanthropic arm, Sensata Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that directly supports qualifying charitable entities. The Foundation builds on Sensata's history of working to strengthen local communities and offers programs that advance the Company's sustainability priorities including community development and STEM education.

Our Approach

The Foundation’s philanthropic programs build community partnerships, raise funds, and distribute grants and contributions to provide support to nonprofits across the U.S. The Sensata Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors and supported by Foundation Officers who provide regular updates to Sensata’s Executive Leadership Team. Funding is sourced from Company and employee donations.

STEM Education

We believe that everyone, regardless of background, should have the chance to explore and thrive in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In an effort to support the next generation of engineers, the Foundation is focused on funding nonprofits that provide STEM education opportunities for youth in grades K-12. Key focus areas include:

• Improving Access: Programs and initiatives that ensure all individuals have access to STEM-specific resources, services, and programs.
• Empowering Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: Programs that equip students with tools and resources to think creatively and independently to effectively address challenges or problems.
• Furthering Education & Career Opportunities to Inspire Future Leaders: Programs that provide additional learning avenues (i.e. mentorships) that prepare students to further their educational growth in STEM-related fields.

Community Support

The Foundation supports a variety of nonprofits and their programs to ensure that prevailing needs are addressed within local communities. Key focus areas include:

• Food Insecurity: Food banks and distribution centers.
• Homeless Services and Shelters: Providing support, resources, and accommodations to individuals experiencing homelessness with transition assistance to a more stable living environment.
• Social and Economic Mobility: Giving members of the community an opportunity to build personal stability in order to experience better quality of life.
• Environment: Programs that support the environment by helping build clean and green outdoor spaces that community members can enjoy.

Native Voices Rising (NVR)

Since our inception, Native Voices Rising has awarded over $16 million in grants to more than 380 Native-led grassroots organizations. These grants have empowered initiatives that enhance the lives of tens of thousands of Native community members across Indian Country. Our grant partners have been at the forefront of addressing critical issues, from championing environmental and climate justice to advancing health and healing and fostering youth and intergenerational involvement.

Guidelines

Native Voices Rising (NVR) is a fiscally sponsored project of Common Counsel Foundation. Native Voices Rising provides general operating support grants that are intended to strengthen Native-led groups that have a membership base in the community, work to develop leadership, and take collective action to win progressive social change.

Eligible organizations are rooted in a Native community, led by Native people, improve Native communities through organizing and advocacy, engage large numbers of community members to take action together, and seek to improve the policies and rules that impact the community.

About Decolonizing Wealth Project 

Established in 2018, Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) is committed to bringing truth, healing, and repair to our global community. Reparative Philanthropy, our signature framework, is at the heart of our work and aims to transform wealth into collective wellbeing. DWP operates through three key strategies: sector transformation, storytelling and culture, and reparative giving. Our work has radically transformed the philanthropic sector and has facilitated the distribution of nearly $1 billion for truth, healing, and reparative efforts. Liberated Capital, DWP’s fund and donor community, has directly granted over $23 million to support economic solidarity, wellbeing, and earth and climate efforts primarily led by communities most impacted. 

Youth Mental Health Fund - Anchor Grant

Background

Decolonizing Wealth Project is excited to launch a new culturally responsive care fund focused on supporting and expanding mental health care for youth in the United States, prioritizing access for LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color. The fund will redistribute a minimum of $15 million in grants over three years starting this year.

Throughout history, young people have been drivers of social change. They have led efforts from Selma to Standing Rock, inviting us all to imagine a better future. Youth today face a world of compounding challenges with the changing technology and social media, climate crises, income inequality, and deadly extremist violence in the United States and beyond. However, the burden of these challenges is not carried equally. Young people of color and queer youth are often forced to navigate a world that refuses to honor their brilliance and embrace their identities. As a result, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, or even suicide.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders ages 10-24, and the second leading cause of death for young Black or African Americans (CDC, 2023; NAMI, 2023; ACAMH, 2023) and nearly half of all LBGTQ youth considered suicide, and 60% of those who sought mental health support were not able to access it (The Trevor Project, 2022).

One of the most significant barriers to supporting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth mental health is the lack of access to culturally responsive care. Youth of historically marginalized identities are in dire need of access to mental health providers who actively implement culturally responsive practices and care in affirming spaces that honor their identities. Culture also carries unique protective factors, and centering these strengths will ensure healing for both young people and society. 

The Opportunity

A Community-Aligned Fund that Centers Marginalized Youth

In collaboration with an external advisory committee composed of youth leaders and experts and practitioners in the field of adolescent mental health, DWP is launching the Youth Mental Health Fund (YMHF) – a culturally affirming initiative focused on expanding access to community-based mental health care for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 12-24. In addition to supporting community-based programs and partnerships, YMHF will also fund work to shift narratives around care and programs that offer culturally grounded healing experiences that center the unique needs and strengths of marginalized youth living at the intersections.

The YMHF fund will invest at least $15 million in grants over the next 3 years, for a minimum of $5 million annually. Alongside grantmaking, DWP will invest in capacity-building opportunities for grantee partners and elevate critical issues undergirding the Fund through communications and field-building efforts.

Fund Priorities: Culturally Responsive Care

Decolonizing Wealth Project seeks to nurture healing, belonging, and empowerment for youth. We will prioritize initiatives that are community-led or engage young people directly in decision-making processes and efforts. Examples of meaningful youth leadership may be in staffing, youth steering committees, youth boards, and processes that generate regular feedback from youth. An external, intergenerational Advisory Committee will review every eligible application.

Applications will be accepted across the following three priority areas:

• Community-Based Programs -
  • Increasing access to culturally responsive mental health care by providing services in places where youth live, learn, and play (e.g. in schools, churches, community centers, particularly in rural areas, etc). (Note: in the case of partnerships between community-based organizations and clinics/health care system units, grants will be awarded to the community-based nonprofit).
  • Youth-led organizations that provide programs to improve mental wellbeing outcomes, such as peer support, skill-building, and youth advocacy. These programs should create spaces where youth can connect, share experiences, and learn coping strategies, while advocating for changes in policies and practices that impact their mental well-being.
• Cultural-Based Healing -
  • Innovative culturally relevant delivery models that promote connection to belonging, culture, and improve mental health care. This may include programs that use creative expression such as: language, movement, art, music, dance, and theater as therapeutic tools to explore identity, process trauma, and build resilience.
  • Storytelling projects that amplify communal and personal stories of mental health journeys to foster solidarity and representation.
  • Heritage-based wellness programs that integrate cultural practices, rituals, and spirituality into mental health approaches for young people.
• Awareness and Advocacy Campaigns -
  • Community-based education programs tailored to equip youth, families, providers, and educators with tools to recognize and address mental health challenges.
  • Campaigns that challenge cultural and systemic stigmas around mental health care and identity, and work to expand access to services and support, as well as post-traumatic growth and joy.
  • Support for organizations working towards systemic change in mental health services and care delivery to dismantle inequities in mental health care systems impacting youth; Priority given to programs that train youth as advocates for systemic change in mental health policies and systems.

Funding

In this first year of grantmaking, we will use the following approach to grant $5 million:

• There are two grant types organizations can apply for (this grant page focuses on the Anchor Grant)
  • Anchor Grants: General operating support grants ranging from $100,000-$250,000 for youth mental health organizations or projects that have been operating for 5 years or more with organizational budgets over $2,000,000.

About Decolonizing Wealth Project 

Established in 2018, Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) is committed to bringing truth, healing, and repair to our global community. Reparative Philanthropy, our signature framework, is at the heart of our work and aims to transform wealth into collective wellbeing. DWP operates through three key strategies: sector transformation, storytelling and culture, and reparative giving. Our work has radically transformed the philanthropic sector and has facilitated the distribution of nearly $1 billion for truth, healing, and reparative efforts. Liberated Capital, DWP’s fund and donor community, has directly granted over $23 million to support economic solidarity, wellbeing, and earth and climate efforts primarily led by communities most impacted. 

Background

Decolonizing Wealth Project is excited to launch a new culturally responsive care fund focused on supporting and expanding mental health care for youth in the United States, prioritizing access for LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color. The fund will redistribute a minimum of $15 million in grants over three years starting this year.

Throughout history, young people have been drivers of social change. They have led efforts from Selma to Standing Rock, inviting us all to imagine a better future. Youth today face a world of compounding challenges with the changing technology and social media, climate crises, income inequality, and deadly extremist violence in the United States and beyond. However, the burden of these challenges is not carried equally. Young people of color and queer youth are often forced to navigate a world that refuses to honor their brilliance and embrace their identities. As a result, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, or even suicide.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders ages 10-24, and the second leading cause of death for young Black or African Americans (CDC, 2023; NAMI, 2023; ACAMH, 2023) and nearly half of all LBGTQ youth considered suicide, and 60% of those who sought mental health support were not able to access it (The Trevor Project, 2022).

One of the most significant barriers to supporting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth mental health is the lack of access to culturally responsive care. Youth of historically marginalized identities are in dire need of access to mental health providers who actively implement culturally responsive practices and care in affirming spaces that honor their identities. Culture also carries unique protective factors, and centering these strengths will ensure healing for both young people and society. 

The Opportunity

A Community-Aligned Fund that Centers Marginalized Youth

In collaboration with an external advisory committee composed of youth leaders and experts and practitioners in the field of adolescent mental health, DWP is launching the Youth Mental Health Fund (YMHF) – a culturally affirming initiative focused on expanding access to community-based mental health care for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 12-24. In addition to supporting community-based programs and partnerships, YMHF will also fund work to shift narratives around care and programs that offer culturally grounded healing experiences that center the unique needs and strengths of marginalized youth living at the intersections.

The YMHF fund will invest at least $15 million in grants over the next 3 years, for a minimum of $5 million annually. Alongside grantmaking, DWP will invest in capacity-building opportunities for grantee partners and elevate critical issues undergirding the Fund through communications and field-building efforts.

Fund Priorities: Culturally Responsive Care

Decolonizing Wealth Project seeks to nurture healing, belonging, and empowerment for youth. We will prioritize initiatives that are community-led or engage young people directly in decision-making processes and efforts. Examples of meaningful youth leadership may be in staffing, youth steering committees, youth boards, and processes that generate regular feedback from youth. An external, intergenerational Advisory Committee will review every eligible application.

Applications will be accepted across the following three priority areas:

• Community-Based Programs -
  • Increasing access to culturally responsive mental health care by providing services in places where youth live, learn, and play (e.g. in schools, churches, community centers, particularly in rural areas, etc). (Note: in the case of partnerships between community-based organizations and clinics/health care system units, grants will be awarded to the community-based nonprofit).
  • Youth-led organizations that provide programs to improve mental wellbeing outcomes, such as peer support, skill-building, and youth advocacy. These programs should create spaces where youth can connect, share experiences, and learn coping strategies, while advocating for changes in policies and practices that impact their mental well-being.
• Cultural-Based Healing -
  • Innovative culturally relevant delivery models that promote connection to belonging, culture, and improve mental health care. This may include programs that use creative expression such as: language, movement, art, music, dance, and theater as therapeutic tools to explore identity, process trauma, and build resilience.
  • Storytelling projects that amplify communal and personal stories of mental health journeys to foster solidarity and representation.
  • Heritage-based wellness programs that integrate cultural practices, rituals, and spirituality into mental health approaches for young people.
• Awareness and Advocacy Campaigns -
  • Community-based education programs tailored to equip youth, families, providers, and educators with tools to recognize and address mental health challenges.
  • Campaigns that challenge cultural and systemic stigmas around mental health care and identity, and work to expand access to services and support, as well as post-traumatic growth and joy.
  • Support for organizations working towards systemic change in mental health services and care delivery to dismantle inequities in mental health care systems impacting youth; Priority given to programs that train youth as advocates for systemic change in mental health policies and systems.

Funding

In this first year of grantmaking, we will use the following approach to grant $5 million:

• There are two grant types organizations can apply for (this grant page focuses on the Opportunity Grant)
  • Opportunity Grants:
    • General operating support grants ranging from $30,000– $100,000 for organizations or projects that have been operating for less than 5 years; or
    • Project-specific grants for new innovative solutions, pilots, convenings, one-time special opportunities, etc.

Program Overview

The grant requires that research institutions shift their policies and practices to value collaborative research. Institutions will also need to build the capacity of researchers to produce relevant work and the capacity of agency and nonprofit partners to use research.

We welcome applications from partnerships in youth-serving areas such as education, justice, prevention of child abuse and neglect, foster care, mental health, immigration, and workforce development. We especially encourage proposals from teams with African American, Latinx, Native American, and Asian American members in leadership roles. The partnership leadership team includes the principal investigator from the research institution and the lead from the public agency or nonprofit organization.

Program Goals

The Institutional Challenge Grant asks grantees to pursue four goals:

Grow an existing institutional partnership with a public agency or nonprofit organization.

The research-practice partnership will have defined objectives, roles, and agreements, and will be built for the long term. In this way, the partnership will be mutually beneficial, enabling the partners to develop and pursue a joint research agenda that is relevant to the public agency or nonprofit organization’s work over an extended period of time.

Pursue a joint research agenda to reduce inequality in youth outcomes.

The partnership’s research will aim to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. Specifically, the research agenda will seek to inform responses to inequality on the basis of race, ethnicity, economic standing, sexual or gender minority status, language minority status, or immigrant origins.

Create institutional change to value research-practice partnerships within research institutions.

The research institution will design a feasible strategy for institutional change that addresses observed structural, motivational, and financial barriers that inhibit research-practice partnerships at the institution. By establishing structural supports and incentives that encourage skilled, mid-career researchers to conduct joint work with policymakers and practitioners, the institution will develop an environment for partnerships to thrive.

Enhance the capacity of both partners to collaborate on producing and using research evidence.

Through new experiences that foster deeper understandings of a given policy or practice context and deepen relationships with partners, grantees on the research side will enhance their capacity for participating in effective partnerships. At the same time, the public agency or nonprofit partner will enhance their own capacity to partner with researchers , as well as understand, conduct, and use research through activities such as technical assistance, infrastructure improvements, or staff training.

MEAF National Grant Priorities and Guidelines

Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation supports innovative projects that help youth with disabilities develop the leadership and employment skills they need to succeed. MEAF will also consider projects to create tools that help break down barriers to employment and increase job opportunities for young people with disabilities entering the workforce, including returning veterans with disabilities.

Funding

Grants typically range from $10K to $100K/year, for one to two years