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1 | **Note for ACCF Applicants: if your organization is listed in this spreadsheet and you would like to be revomed from this database, please reach out to grantsmanagement@ms.foundation.org to let us know. | ||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Organization | City | State | Website | Background & Mission | Primary Constituents | What will the grant be used for? | ||||||||||||||
3 | 18 Million Rising | Detroit | MI | www.18millionrising.org | What is your organization's background and mission? 18 Million Rising (18MR) connects the power of Asian America to digital-first organizing. We mobilize community power through powerful campaigns, culture shifting work, and skills training to fight injustice and create the future we all deserve. | 18 Million Rising mobilizes young Asian Americans across the United States. Our members mostly fall within the 18-40 age range, and broadly identify as progressive and radical. 18MR members are politically engaged, in their immediate communities and within their digital neighborhoods. Some are already deeply embedded within local grassroots organizing networks, while others are actively seeking out political communities. Our members have demonstrated interest in addressing issues of criminalization, the COVID-19 crisis and immigration. | With funding from Ms. Foundation, 18 Million Rising will develop and lead free virtual digital security trainings designed specifically to sustain digital safety practices for Asian American activists, organizers and coalitions. | ||||||||||||||
4 | 18by.vote, Inc | Brookline | MA | www.18byvote.org | What is your organization's background and mission? 18by Vote is a nonpartisan, youth-led organization that helps young and rising voters understand how, when, and why to vote. Founded in response to low youth voter turnout in the 2016 General election, 18by Vote has since reached 2.3 million young people across the country through cumulative voter registration and education efforts, including connecting with over 30k youth through direct peer contact. We have trained and compensated over 200 young people nationwide to conduct voter outreach and education in their communities. 18by Vote values youth civic action and is working to create a culture of long-lasting, sustainable youth civic engagement and empowerment. This means that our programming is not simply focused on ‘get out the youth vote’ efforts. Instead, we cultivate leadership among youth who live in communities that have little to no access to civic engagement and provide paid engagement opportunities where youth are supported in activating their peers through hyper-localized community based events and outreach. Through our programs, we target youth who demonstrate an interest in civic engagement, changemaking, or activism, but haven’t had the opportunity to lead or be meaningfully involved in social change in their local or national communities. | While our programs are open to all youth between the ages of 13-26, the majority of our program participants identify as female or nonbinary (80% in 2022). In 2022, 57% of our program participants self-identified as LGBTQIA2S+ and 92% identified as people of color (BIPOC). Our program participants tend to be within the ages of 16-21. Our participants have represented over 25 different states across the United States and live in rural, urban, and suburban areas. In our application and recruiting process, we prioritize youth who live in civic deserts (or communities with little to no access to civic engagement) and who self-identify as economically disadvantaged. | National Gathering of Youth To Create a Healing, Conscious, and Collaborative Community; Resulting in the Increased Effectiveness and Quality of Remote Youth Leadership Programming | ||||||||||||||
5 | Abortion Freedom Partnership | Saratoga | CA | www.reprocare.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Reprocare was founded in 2019 in response to a rapidly changing healthcare landscape that was simultaneously adopting telehealth abortion care, vulnerable to surveillance, and suffering due to a broad institutional zeitgeist of restrictive legislation. Since then, through Project Piggybank, Reprocare has been developing a suite of digital tools to connect abortion seekers, abortion providers, and abortion funds to catalyze greater cohesion and partnerships across the United States. Along with Project Piggybank, we run a phone and text Healthline for abortion seekers looking to self manage abortion at home with pills. Since the fall of Roe, we have experienced heightened interest in Piggybank (and a surge of calls on our Healthline) from abortion providers and feel a tremendous sense of urgency to build out our program as quickly as possible. Reprocare envisions a society in which each person has bodily autonomy and can seamlessly access the health care that they want and need. Rooted in the reproductive justice movement, we strive to support people holistically to address economic, racial and reproductive injustice. The mission of Reprocare is to provide financial, psychosocial, and informational resources to overburdened abortion seekers throughout all stages of care. | Reprocare supports people having abortions. When people face barriers to accessing abortion care, their health, lives, and futures are put at risk. For pregnant people, being unable to access abortion can mean being forced to carry a pregnancy to term against their will. We believe every human has the right to access the healthcare they want, need, and deserve. We recognize the importance of ensuring access to safe and legal abortion as a fundamental part of reproductive healthcare and a critical component of individual autonomy and bodily autonomy. We center our work on people who face the most barriers to access healthcare. The barriers to accessing abortion disproportionately impact people who are already marginalized or excluded from the healthcare system - low-income individuals, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community. As an organization we enable funding abortion and supporting those having self managed abortions with pills. | The grant will be used for digital security for our Piggybank platform, including upgrading equipment, installing security software, and creating an internal network for our work. | ||||||||||||||
6 | ACT 4 SA | San Antonio | TX | https://www.facebook.com/act4satx | What is your organization's background and mission? Mission: ACT 4 SA empowers the San Antonio community through year-round base building, actions of solidarity, public education, policy, and advocacy. We are dedicated to pushing for accountable, compassionate, and transparent measures to create public safety that preserves and centers the health and well-being of our entire community. History: ACT 4 SA is the 1st grassroots organization in San Antonio to focus on police reform & criminal justice advocacy. We are composed of former organizers & volunteers of the Prop B initiative, a community led ballot measure, which fell only 3 percentage points short in San Antonio’s municipal elections in May 2021. This proposition would have removed the San Antonio Police Officers Association contract to allow a new one to be created with community input that removes the many disciplinary barriers that currently exist in the contract. Continuing the fight that began with the Prop B initiative, one of ACT 4 SA's goals is to remove limits on how and when an officer is investigated for misconduct and ending restricted access to discipline records, as these are significant barriers to accountability for police officers in San Antonio. ACT 4 SA is a Black Woman led organization, founded in July 2021. We consist of a 5 member Board of Directors, majority female, 80% BIPOC, with representation from the LGBTQ+, Black, and Latinx communities. In our 1st year as an organization we were able to get our first policy win: a 10 day rule for the release of body camera footage for officer-involved shootings and deaths in custody. We have established our organization as the go-to source for local media & community leaders looking for a local perspective on public safety initiatives, and we have grown a list of over 2,100 email subscribers. Other initiatives include establishing alternative non-police response for mental health crises, expanding cite-and-release policies for low level misdemeanor offenses, fighting for reduced timelines on the release of body camera footage, holding VIA transit police accountable, and working in coalition to organize San Antonio’s first warrant clinic and Bexar County’s first polling location at its jail. We are constantly focused on changing the narrative around policing, by pushing further investment into community needs, and not over policing, as the best way to promote safety and protect our community from police violence and discrimination. This past Spring we helped lead a ballot initiative Prop A, to decriminalize marijuana and abortion, ban no knock warrants and chokeholds, codify cite and release, and implement a Justice Director in San Antonio. While the initiative failed at the ballot box, our commitment to supporting these initiatives continues. Over the past year we created www.copthedata.com which highlights our police and sheriff suspensions and re-hirings for the past 12 years. Our goal is to add more law enforcement agencies from across the state to become the first statewide dashboard tracking police suspensions in Texas. San Antonio is one of the most economically segregated cities in the country and the most impoverished of all major metropolitan cities in the nation according to the 2020 U.S. Census (Source: American Community Survey, 2020). San Antonio disportionately incarcerates people of color, comparative to our city’s population, with 17% of our incarcerated population being Black, compared to 8% of our community. In 1983, there were 380 people in the Bexar County jail per 100,000 county residents. By 2019, that figure had nearly tripled to 1,126 people per 100,000 county residents. San Antonio also had the highest number of pregnant women in a local jail in Texas, as of Dec. 2021 (Source: Texas Commission on Jail Standards). In 2018, 90% of the arrests in San Antonio were made for non-violent misdemeanor charges. These arrests are often made in response to situations that do not require police presence (Source: Vera Institute of Justice). And of those arrested for non-violent misdemeanors, Black people were arrested at a rate 3.21 times higher than white people. Bexar County also had the 2nd highest number of civilians shot and civilians killed by police in Texas from 2016-2019 (Texas Justice Initiative). The impacts of over policing and problematic police contracts are strongly felt in San Antonio, but they are truly a problem across Texas and the nation. A 2020 report by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement found that a quarter of dishonorably discharged officers were rehired by other law enforcement agencies. According to Police Scorecard, only 18% of civilian complaints of misconduct in Texas ruled in favor of civilians from 2016-2021. Over policing, re-hiring fired officers, and a lack of accountability within local law enforcement agencies contributes to inequality. We are doing our part to fight inequality in our community through our work! In the 2023 Texas Legislative session last Spring, a bill, Texas SB 2209, was proposed that would have greatly impacted the work of ACT 4 SA and the continuation of our copthedata.com police dashboard. TX SB 2209: “Relating to the disclosure of information in department files of firefighters or police officers and civilian oversight boards in certain municipalities.” This bill took direct aim at the very concept of civilian oversight of police departments, its goal was to effectively prevent cities from ever implementing such systems and dismantling those already in existence. It would have further limited any efforts of transparency for policing in Texas. The bill was supported following an intense lobbying effort by police groups, most notably the Austin Police Association and the San Antonio Police Officers' Association. The bill, by the Texas Legislature, failed to kill police oversight statewide - for now. But its proposal and the lobbying efforts behind it highlight the critical need in Texas and an increased urgency to support our work. | Constituency: We serve the entirety of Bexar County, Texas, though we focus on advocating for communities that experience higher levels of over-policing and police violence- communities of color, LGBTQI+ folks, and lower income communities. We work directly with justice impacted folks, meaning folks who have been incarcerated or experienced police violence. We actively center and empower families of those affected by police brutality in our work. Many of our volunteers have been directly impacted by the justice system & we actively empower them to amplify their personal stories when advocating for change in our community. | To help us deepen our basebuilding with partners and community to better advocate to end mass incarceration and over-policing in our community, while also expanding our ability to support victims of police violence. | ||||||||||||||
7 | ACT for Women and Girls | Visalia | CA | www.actforwomenandgirls.org | What is your organization's background and mission? ACT is a reproductive justice (RJ) organization building power in our communities through leadership development, community organizing, advocacy and policy change. Since 2005, For nearly two decades, ACT has been inspiring youth leaders to address social and personal issues impacting our communities. We have influenced some of the state's most progressive RJ policies and challenged our communities to think deeper and honor justice. Our work is guided by principles of racial, gender, and reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ liberation, restorative healing, equity, and movement building. We visualize a world where historically oppressed communities have equitable power, are free to radically imagine and realize their full selves and inform and drive policies to dismantle systemic oppression. Since 2020, ACT has been intentional about integrating an Anti-Racist lens throughout ACT’s work. This practice has included dismantling white supremacy and anti-Blackness through education, intentional relationship building, restorative justice practices, and accountability between staff and board and ACT and the community. ACT works with BIPOC and queer and trans youth and young adults in the rural communities of Tulare County to build collective power. ACT provides a range of services from direct abortion access to advocacy. Our staple programs include the Reproductive Justice Collective, comprehensive Sex Ed and integrated voter engagement (IVE). ACT also offers community support through mutual aid and EZE boxes (quarterly reproductive health item subscription). Since Roe v Wade was overturned in the summer of 2022, ACT has been building a safety net of resources, clinics, reproductive justice partners and safe pharmacies. | ACT’s base is largely queer, trans, women and femme identified folks living in rural communities throughout the Central Valley. A huge portion of folks with these identities also come from households with mixed statuses, multigenerational, people of color, and economically disadvantaged. ACT prioritizes work with youth (ages 15-24) and young parents (ages 15-30) in Tulare, Kings and Kern counties. ACT will further prioritize undocumented youth, Queer/Trans/Gender non conforming youth, women and girls, BIPOC individuals, economically vulnerable individuals (including unhoused people and individuals engaged in survival economies). The identified communities in the Central Valley are very rural; individuals have limited access to resources, services, and opportunities due to remote location or lack of transportation options. | Healing, rest, and restoration Retreat for ACT staff in 2024. | ||||||||||||||
8 | ACT UP Drama | Camden | SC | www.actupdrama.org | What is your organization's background and mission? ACT UP is a multi-disciplinary arts education organization dedicated to joy, social justice, community dialogue, societal healing, and transformation. Through participatory workshops and playshops, theatre performances, and creative events - we invite community members to create and practice the change they wish to see while taking action for a more just society. Programs include, but are not limited to: the Social Justice Theatre Troupe, Social Justice Youth Leadership Academy, Revolutionary Elders Council, Leading for Change (decolonizing leadership), Theatre of the Oppressed and Playback Theatre training and productions, Sociodramas, Kemetic and Restorative Yoga for ethnic and race-based trauma, mindfulness, and sound energy healing. ACT UP is the only Applied Theatre in the state of South Carolina led by Black women. Applied theatre is theatre for social justice...we also utilize it for research, community building, healing, and joy-making. Through the applied theatre and intergenerational experiences, we create a container for joy and healing, while learning and teaching to lead holistically, using an anti-racist and anti-oppression framework. Mission: The mission of Applied Community Theatre Uniting People (ACT UP) is to create theatre for joy, education, healing, social justice, and advocacy; in ways that are culturally conscious, trauma-responsive, and accessible to all. | Our primary constituents are Black women and girls, including those who are LGBTQIA, 2-Spirit, and more. While most programs are affinity group spaces, there are programs that are open to women and girls that identify as Indigenous, and other People of Color. | Increase the opportunities for joy, liberation and healing of BIPOC women and girls through applied theatre, yoga, sound therapy, and mindfulness. | ||||||||||||||
9 | Adelante Student Voices, Inc | Hyde Park | NY | www.adelantestudentvoices.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Adelante Student Voices supports undocumented young people in upstate (primarily rural) New York on their unique journeys to higher education, while simultaneously building their self-advocacy so that they can increase educational opportunities and advance social justice within their communities. Our founder Gabriela Quintanilla started Adelante as a college student based on her own experience as an undocumented young woman in a rural town looking for mentorship. At the start, Adelante provided a summer college preparatory program for undocumented high school students to gather in a safe space. Now, an integral part of our mission is building a network of young activists with the tools and confidence to agitate for social change. | We work alongside undocumented young people in towns and rural areas of New York State. Undocumented high school students are eligible to join Adelante the summer before they enter 10th-12th grade, and once inducted to the program, are guaranteed mentorship for at least 5 years. Members of Adelante have immigrated to the United States from all over the world. The majority of our participants to date have been Latinx, but we have also welcomed members who are Black, Caribbean and Asian. Unfortunately, an increasing number of our members have spent time in detention facilities on the U.S. Mexico border, and part of our work has always been helping the members feel safe in spite of the trauma of incarceration and violence against their bodies. 116 young people have participated in Adelante to date, and 70% of them identify as women. We have members who fade in activity for a time while they take care of other needs in their lives (such as childcare; 9 of our members are mothers and 2 are fathers), and then reactivate when the time is right. The door stays open and there are ample opportunities for leadership for the members who wish to grow their involvement. | Adelante Student Voices will use the grant to develop new undocumented leaders who will fight for educational equity in K-12 schools regardless of immigration status, race, gender, or stage of English language acquisition. | ||||||||||||||
10 | AfroResistance (Previously Latin American and Caribbean Community Center) | Bronx | NY | www.afroresistance.org | What is your organization's background and mission? AfroResistance is a Black Latinx women-led organization with the mission to educate and organize for human rights, democracy and racial justice throughout the Americas .1 AfroResistance, previously known as the Latin American and Caribbean Community Center (LACCC), a community based organization to address the diverse political, economic and cultural needs of the growing Black Latino and Caribbean populations in the United States. Advocacy: We provide Analysis about the Americas region centered on Black Women and Girls from Latin America and the Caribbean. International Solidarity: We work to build an intentional, international, and political movement for social justice and human rights in the Americas. We deliver popular Human Rights Education focused on race, gender, and immigration for Black people to strengthen them as decision-makers. We also offer Diversity and Inclusion consultancy to organizations interested in anti-racists practices. Our Current Programs include our Poderosxs Fellowship: Fellowship for Black Women and Girls impacted by incarceration. We currently have two international fellows, both Black state violence survivors from Colombia and Brazil. How do we define Americas? Americas is the region that includes all countries in the Americas, meaning North, Central, South America and the Caribbean Islands regardless of language spoken. AfroResistance centers the Black Diaspora from the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Since March 2020, AfroResistance, has been convening Black organizations in the Americas, who have come together to share and discuss possible strategies regarding access to human rights and social justice, including access to vaccines for Black people, as well as other post-pandemic responses such as emergency aid and public policies to address the increasing inequalities. International Webinar Series on Human Rights: In 2020, we designed a series of 17 webinars in partnership with the United Nations to discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic impact and further racial, class and other inequalities, assembling communities to encourage institutional accountability regarding human rights. Our sessions reached 22,000 people and were included in official UN reports. Regional Black Latina Women and Girls Fund: AfroResistance developed the only regional fund for Black women and girls impacted by Covid-19. So far, we have distributed over $10,000 in grants supporting undocumented migrants, sex workers, as well as projects for building housing for trans women. We are also supporting projects that are led by Black girls, youths and women in the region. To get more information about our fund please watch the video on our fund page. Black Americas Conference: Our annual conference centering Black Women and Girls. Black Children's Program: Children's Anthology a new collection of stories written by Black children for all children and virtual Stories centering Black children | Black Women, Femmes and Girls. specifically Black migrants from the Americas, formerly incarcerated women and children | We seek to support the mental and holistic well-being of Black migrant women from the Americas in New York City and the wellness and training of our staff, amidst the broader migration challenges in the region. | ||||||||||||||
11 | Alice Paul Institute | Mount Laurel | NJ | www.alicepaul.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Alice Paul Institute (API) builds contemporary action and intergenerational movement for gender justice through the lens of history and of place. We envision a world where people are allied in pursuit of liberation and justice under the law and everyday practice. The Alice Paul Institute (API) works toward gender equality, fostering leadership skills in girls and women, advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment, and promoting organizations and sites that honor women. Our namesake, Alice Paul, was the architect of the 19th Amendment and ERA and a driving force in gender equity. API was founded in 1984 as an all-volunteer effort to commemorate the centennial of Alice’s birth. It has since grown to a paid staff of eight, dozens of volunteers and partners, and an active Board who together make the organization’s unique combination of leadership development, civic engagement, and historic preservation work a success. | Over 90% of our audience identifies as women or girls. They are primarily from Central New Jersey and Greater Philadelphia and extend nationally for our work on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). | Funding from the Ms. Foundation will support the growth of our community engagement and advocacy activities for gender justice and the ERA. | ||||||||||||||
12 | Ambassadors of Change Inc. | Atlanta | GA | www.ambassadorsofchangeinc.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Ambassadors of Change (AOC) elevates Black and African descent girls and women by increasing self-efficacy, developing leaders, addressing health disparities, and advocating for equity. Our vision is to empower Black and African descent girls and women to serve as Ambassadors of Change, where they are leaders in encouraging, empowering, and enlightening communities by building self-efficacy through leadership development training, education, health disparities research, and political organizing for racial and gender equity. We provide the tools for these women to become change agents through holistic wellness programs tailored by region centered on the Black girl and woman community. Our vision is to be a rising voice in the community and make a transformative difference through the Miss Black International Pageant, Elevated Outcomes, Youth Ambassadors Program, and Participatory Action Research. | Currently, AOC serves Black and African descent women and girls ages 14 and up internationally. In the fall of 2023, we are launching focus groups to explore what it looks like to cater our curriculum to a young audience. Black students are in a crisis nationally and they cannot learn on top of trauma. Negative sociopolitical experiences, including racism, discrimination, and sexism, put Black and African descent women at risk for low-income jobs, multiple role strain, and health problems, all of which are associated with the onset of mental illness. Black women and girls face unique challenges while navigating life. Unpacking the trauma of pressure from Western societal norms as a Black woman needs to be holistically taught by the people impacted. 60% of US-based Black girls, grades 9th-12th are more likely to attempt suicide. | This grant will be used to support the pilot of our in-school self-efficacy building programming, Elevated Outcomes. | ||||||||||||||
13 | And Rise Women Inc. | Chicago | IL | www.womenrisechicago.org | What is your organization's background and mission? &Rise is a unique women-led nonprofit organization that has been supporting Chicago women impacted by sexual or domestic violence to heal and rise since 2019. It is our mission to empower women to be the ultimate versions of themselves no matter what adversities they’ve faced. Our vision is to serve over a million women and help them heal and thrive after trauma and abuse. We at &Rise envision a world where all women have the confidence, courage, and self-awareness to heal and embrace their best selves. Every resource, every workshop, every program, and event is done with our Core Values in mind. These are Excellence, Integrity, Dependability, Loyalty, Passion, Partnerships, and Empowering Survivors. Our founder, Jennifer Ramirez, is a survivor of many abuses and uses her story and voice to help other women to use theirs. Jennifer created &Rise to give women a safe and welcoming community where everyone believes in collaboration over competition. Jennifer created a place where women can create genuine and authentic relationships through storytelling and vulnerability. &Rise is a safe space for women to thrive and become the best version of themselves. | The primary constituents of our organization are women ages 35-50 who are seeking community and support. These women come from all walks of life with women having a high school education to women with master's and doctoral degrees. Many of the women we work with, however, are low-income or live below the poverty level. We work with women of all races and backgrounds and are working to bring in more women of color and normalize mental health care in black and brown communities. | Part of this grant will be used to provide childcare for support groups so that more women are able to attend, the rest of the funds will be used for training, team building, and a relaxing retreat for our hard-working support group facilitators. | ||||||||||||||
14 | Aqua Foundation for Women, Inc. | Miami | FL | www.aquafoundation.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Since 2004, AQUA Foundation for Women has been proud to be BY and FOR South Florida’s LGBTQ+ Women, who we believe are the experts on our own lives and needs. As an inclusive nonprofit organization, AQUA embraces all who feel aligned with AQUA’s mission and vision, regardless of their gender identity, presentation, or expression, and proudly welcomes our gender-diverse, transgender, and intersex siblings. Our Mission To support the Education, Wellbeing, and Community of South Florida’s LGBTQ+ Women. Our Vision A world in which LGBTQ+ Women are fully represented in all aspects of public life and enjoy full access to all human rights. Our Values Inclusivity, Anti-Racism, Accountability . Our Focus Areas Education & Leadership, Health & Wellbeing, and Collaboration & Community-Building Brief History South Florida is home to many active and empowering LGBTQ+ focused nonprofit organizations, but in 2004, when AQUA Foundation for Women was founded, none focused intentionally on the needs of queer women. Many services, funders, and programs center gay men, and some in the community even deliberately excluded those who did not identify as cisgender, white men. Almost 20 years later, AQUA Foundation for Women is still the only nonprofit organization in the state of Florida dedicated to centering the needs of this particular demographic, and while more women-focused programs exist, the vast majority of local community services and representation in media, leadership, and government still belong to men. AQUA Foundation for Women was originally created to serve as "something of our own," and while LGBTQ+ Women are still central to our mission and programming, we reject exclusionary practices like those that AQUA Foundation for Women's founders experienced that inspired them to create AQUA Foundation for Women, and actively encourage participation from allies and those who may not identify as women. The seed money for AQUA Foundation for Women originally came from the US' only women's gay circuit party, AQUA Girl, which ran annually from 1996 to 2018. For its first 10 years, AQUA Foundation for Women acted as a traditional foundation, granting scholarships to university students, awarding grants to community partners, and providing seed money for collaborative initiatives like Pridelines' LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Initiative. Around 2014, AQUA Foundation for Women began focusing on direct services and programming with the launch of TransCon, Florida's only trans-led and trans-focused conference. | LGBTQ+ women and femme folk, nonbinary individuals, and transgender men and women. Our constituents reflect the racial and ethnic background of where we are primarily active, Miami-Dade and Broward counties, meaning about 50% are Hispanic/Latine (white, Indigenous, and/or Black), 20% are non-Hispanic white, and 30% are Black (African-American, Haitian, Caribbean, etc.). | Investing in Florida’s Only Organization By and For LGBTQ+ Women. | ||||||||||||||
15 | Arab Resource and Organizing Center, a project of Tides Center | San Francisco | CA | www.araborganizing.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) is a grassroots, membership-based organization working to empower and organize our diverse communities for justice, equity, and self-determination. AROC is the only organization in Northern California that builds power for Arabs and Muslims by providing critical legal support and social services while also organizing our community around issues of justice and equity. We have achieved important wins locally and nationally in collaboration with and in support of our rapidly growing community. AROC grew out of a need to provide direct services and legal support to our community of mostly poor and working-class migrants fleeing war and colonization, while also uplifting SWANA voices in the anti-militarism and anti-colonial national progressive organizing spaces. We are celebrating our 15 year anniversary this year! | AROC serves the poor and working class Arabic speaking migrant community in the San Francisco Bay Area. We organize Arab activists and community members into two arms of our membership base-- our Arab Youth Organizing and our adult membership base. Through our base and our membership, we organize and serve over 1,000 of our community members each year. Our youth membership program, Arab Youth Organizing (AYO), serves low income and working class Arab high school students by providing a community network of support and a safe space to vision youth-led campaigns to fight for our dignity and liberation. Our youth are 80% young women who's families have migrated from war-torn Yemen and Syria, and economically devastated Egypt and Sudan. We have made an intentional decision to focus on high school girls because the effects of U.S. militarism in the Arab region often intersect with other systems of opression such as patriarchy and anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia. Our direct service work and legal clinic also serve predominantly low income and working class Arab and Muslim folks, mostly families headed by the matriarchs who have recently migrated to the United States and are struggling to navigate institutional systems of support due to language access barriers and other ways the Arab and Muslim communities are not recognized by local city governments. Our adult membership program organizes our allies and community members to take action, organize rallies and protests, and deepen their political education around issues that impact our communities such as climate injustice, colonization, anti-Black racism, and patriarchy. | We are excited to interrupt the cycle of burn-out that the rapid-response nature of our work fosters by building into our daily programs intentional wellness practices for our youth. | ||||||||||||||
16 | Arianna's Center | Fort Lauderdale | FL | www.ariannas-center.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Founded in 2015 by transgender activist Arianna Lint, Arianna's Center engages, empowers and lifts up the trans community of South Florida. We place a special emphasis on the most marginalized, including the Trans Latinx and Black community members, undocumented immigrants, people living with HIV and AIDS, and those who have experienced incarceration and ICE detention. Our organization is one of the only organizations in all of Florida that is led by and anchored within the transgender community. We are the only organization that combines competency around immigrant experiences (including undocumented immigrants), sex workers, HIV and trans competence. Annually Arianna's Center serves over 350 transgender women offering services with an emphasis on HIV testing and linkage to care and prevention, name and gender marker change support, emergency safe housing for transgender women released from incarceration and living with HIV, and comprehensive case management. We also link clients to legal services, enrollment in G.E.D. and ESL classes, provide an advocacy training program and offer educational and training programming. Our community is amongst the most vulnerable, experiencing disproportionate levels of discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations and unacceptably poor healthcare outcome. In South Florida alone transgender women experience HIV at crisis levels. Up to 44% of black trans women and 23% of Latinx trans women are living with HIV. As a trans led organization the services that we offer are vital in addressing the gaps in trans competent care in South Florida. | The primary demographic of Arianna's Center's work are transgender individuals, with a particular focus on those who are the most marginalized within this community. This includes, but is not limited to: Trans Latinx and Black Community: Arianna's Center places a special emphasis on providing support, empowerment, and advocacy for transgender individuals within the Latinx and Black communities. These groups often face intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization, making targeted support crucial. Undocumented Immigrants: The organization is committed to serving transgender individuals who are undocumented immigrants, recognizing the unique challenges they face due to their immigration status. Providing a safe and supportive environment for this group is a central part of the organization's mission. People Living with HIV and AIDS: Arianna's Center addresses the specific needs of transgender individuals who are living with HIV and AIDS. The organization offers services related to HIV testing, linkage to care, and prevention, aiming to improve the health outcomes of this vulnerable population. Individuals who have Experienced Incarceration and ICE Detention: Arianna's Center provides essential services to transgender individuals who have experienced incarceration and detention by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). This includes emergency safe housing, case management, and reintegration support to help individuals successfully transition back into society. Transgender Sex Workers: Recognizing the challenges faced by transgender individuals engaged in sex work, Arianna's Center offers comprehensive support to this group, including access to resources, advocacy, and opportunities for education and training. Overall, Arianna's Center's constituents encompass a diverse range of transgender individuals who often confront multiple layers of discrimination and disadvantage. The organization's services and programs are designed to address the unique needs of these groups and provide them with the tools and resources necessary to lead fulfilling lives and navigate the challenges they face. | The Liberadas professional development program is a leadership development opportunity for senior transgender Latina women engaged in sex work. | ||||||||||||||
17 | Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Lactation Collaborative | Oakland | CA | www.aanhpihealthcollab.com | What is your organization's background and mission? The mission of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Lactation Collaborative is to mobilize AANHPI communities, mainstream reproductive health organizations, and public health systems through advocacy, capacity building, and policy work for systemic change, grounded in our cultural context, to uplift AANHPI communities and protect our right to thrive. Our organization seeks to recognize the needs of the AANHPI communities and works towards breaking down the numerous barriers to breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding that exist in the AANHPI community, including limited data. As such, improving reporting practices and expanding the current understanding of lactation among AANHPIs is central to our work. Established in December 2021, the Collaborative is an AANHPI female-founded community-based organization dedicated to promoting and supporting breast/chestfeeding in AANHPI communities. The Collaborative is led by AANHPI-identifying women who are lactation professionals, public health workers, students, and retired lactation professionals from throughout California. We place a high priority on mentoring AANHPI students and young professionals, including supporting those who wish to become IBCLCs. Our Collaborative recognizes that there may be additional barriers to building capacity within our communities, and we believe in providing additional support and uplifting our emerging leaders in the AANHPI lactation and public health fields. | Our primary constituents are AANHPI birthing and lactating parents and their children. Given the importance of extended family members in decision making regarding pregnancy, the postpartum period, and infant feeding, we take a whole family approach to supporting AANHPI parents. | Our project seeks to mobilize Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities to form a coalition and advocate for disaggregated data for California's AANHPI birthing and lactating families. | ||||||||||||||
18 | Athenas Warehouse Inc. | Atlanta | GA | www.athenaswarehouse.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Since 2009, we’ve shown youth that they must feed their mind, body, and spirit to achieve success. The mission of Athena’s Warehouse is to provide young women and gender expansive youth with the tools to build confidence through mentorship, scholarship, and workshops which focus on their personal & professional development for students ages 14-24. We are breaking barriers to success through a holistic wellness initiative called "Discover Your Inner Warrior." We’re breaking the cycle of poverty with a holistic wellness initiative called "Discover Your Inner Warrior." Each week participants are educated on domestic violence, reproductive health, emotional wellbeing, and how to apply for college. Since the beginning, Athena’s Warehouse has worked to provide positive experiences to young women. Our very first program was the Prom Dress Project- we collect gently used formal dresses from women in the community, have the dresses cleaned and then give the dresses away to students. Through this program we were able to ascertain that there was a deeper need in the community, that many of the young women we are serving have low self esteem, and these students have a lot of responsibilities to help their families financially. Thus the, formerly “Be Awesome Be Aware”, now “Discover Your Inner Warrior” program was born. We needed a way to establish a sense of belonging, to show students that they were connected to their community and that their voices were important. | We serve young women and gender expansive youth ages 14-14 who live in Dekalb county, GA. We serve students and families from Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Doraville GA. Primarily we have worked with students from Cross Keys high school where 87% of students identify as Hispanic/Latino, 8% identify as Black/African American, and 5% identify as AAPI. 82% of the students we serve are on free or reduced lunch, and only 40% go on to attend college. Student enrollment for young women drops drastically between the end of sophomore year and the beginning of junior year. For years we’ve collected data on self worth, feeling of community, and feelings of safety as well as eating habits and other health related inquiries. All participants report low feelings of self-worth before participating in the Discover Your Inner Warrior Workshops. Studies show that 75% of girls with low self-esteem are more likely to engage in high risk behaviors such as cutting, eating disorders and staying in abusive relationships. The population we serve consists of students who are immigrants or first generation Americans. It is not uncommon that the highest level of education for parents is elementary school. She typically works and/or helps with family care, has no car and relies on public transit, and she wants to go to college but has barriers related to citizenship and economic accessibility. It is also not uncommon that she suffers from trauma including but not limited to self-harm, eating disorders, and sexual assault. Other things to note: overwhelmingly all participants report low feelings of self-worth; and overwhelmingly they all agree that helping others is important to them. | We will use this funding to continue to show youth that they must feed their mind, body, and spirit to achieve success. | ||||||||||||||
19 | Ayada Leads | Minneapolis | MN | www.ayadaleads.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Ayada Leads is a nonpartisan civic leadership organization that supports multicultural society, multicultural democracy, and gender equality. Our mission is to equip New Americans, particularly African Diaspora Women, to excel in leadership positions in their communities across the spectrum of societal influence. We envision a world in which African diaspora women and girls feel valued, safe, and prepared to achieve their academic, professional, and leadership dreams.We are organizing for a society in which everyone belongs and feels safe. Our work is centered on the attainment of equality, and we strive to change structures that perpetuate marginalization. We see leadership development and civic engagement as the mechanism to counter discrimination and exclusion. Politics and policies are important elements in creating inclusive societies, and new Americans’ political participation is their tool for expressing concerns and raising awareness. For example, our East African communities continue to be viewed as problematic and outsiders. Racial and religious profiling in the education system and in law enforcement is compromising the future of our communities in general and particularly our youth. Our focus is to build equity and belonging. We empower diaspora women because we believe it’s the best way to counter discrimination, misogynoir, and the politics of masculinity. Women are the champion of their communities and as leaders, they bring different perspectives to the decision-making table Who are the primary constituents of your organization's work? Our work impacts African diaspora women, their families, as well as the community at large. A significant number of women we work with are from low-income families, where mothers are the primary breadwinners. Despite economic hardship, these women strive to improve their lives. By doing so, they are ensuring that the next generation will have an opportunity for upward mobility. We appreciate their hard work. Our mission is achieved through the following initiatives: - We recruit and train African Diaspora women to run for office. Ayada Leads encourages women to run for office while leveraging their identities. We identify and recruit potential candidates for civic leadership and suitable public seats, committees, and boards. We provide cutting-edge campaign tools tailored for African diaspora women. 2- Advocacy plays a crucial role in the success and impact of our organizations. As a powerful tool, it allows us to influence policies, promote change, and generate long-term social impact. As part of our advocacy efforts, we collaborate with other stakeholders, such as grassroots activists, community groups, and individuals. Through alliances, we are able to leverage collective resources, knowledge, and expertise to bring about change. Developing these partnerships not only maximizes the impact of our advocacy efforts but also creates a network of support and common goals that strengthens the overall impact on our communities. 3- Parent engagement and civic participation. African diaspora families’ challenges are not isolated to the home but can impact every aspect of their own and children’s life: education, health, housing, and employment – to name just a few. By recognizing the challenges our community face, our program helps parents understand how they can be more involved with their children's schools. Parents examine their leadership qualities, identify critical school-centered issues, and learn how to establish parent leadership teams. Through the tools they acquire, they will be able to conduct productive meetings with the principal or school staff. At the end of the sessions, parents will present the most urgent needs affecting students at that school, based on their perspective. Parents then serve as liaisons and role models for other parents. We increase participation in all aspects of the political process. Ayada Leads helps its members to turn their resources into the power they need to make the change. We employ a wide range of strategies to increase women and their family’s participation in all aspects of the political process. We have voter education and civic literacy training tailored for mature Somali women experiencing language and system barriers. 4- We use mentoring as a tool for social mobility. Ayada Leads believes that young women should not be restrained by their families’ socioeconomic background and should instead pursue an economic likelihood based on their talent and interest. Our mentorship program is intended to help young women to have an equal opportunity to achieve the economic success they desire. Our comprehensive pathways have been assisting young women from low-wage families with the opportunity to access knowledge and resources. | Our work impacts African diaspora women, their families, as well as the community at large. The African diaspora population in Minnesota is large and growing. Among the states in the United States, Minnesota has the highest number of Liberians and Somalis. The majority of these communities are made up of women and girls who identify as Muslims. It is important to note that these women have complex, intersectional identities and are located at the margins of various identity groups. Therefore, women from these communities may face social relegation not only on the basis of race or gender but also on the basis of religion. We aim to create safe spaces for African diaspora women to address their needs and aspirations. Recognize the diversity of their needs and experience. Contrary to popular belief, diaspora women who have recently arrived in the country possess the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary for leadership roles. Support is all they require, along with someone who believes in them, provides them with a platform, and champions their cause. This is what our organization has been doing for the past seven years. We have witnessed the positive impact that leadership development and support can have on diaspora women and their communities. We will continue to do our part in helping to empower these women and provide them with the resources they need to succeed. | With the help of this fund, we plan to redesign our website, implement new software to streamline operations, enhance our social media presence, and use data analytics to assist us in making decisions. | ||||||||||||||
20 | BA NIA Incorporated | Chicago | IL | www.baniainc.com | What is your organization's background and mission? BA NIA’s vision is to eliminate racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality among women of color. We seek a world where birthing people, women and girls make autonomous decisions about their own bodies and have access to reproductive health care without coercion and discrimination. We envision a world where Black birth workers have the local culturally- congruent and accessible training and mentoring needed to thrive. BA NIA Inc began in the mid 1990s as a learning circle for Black women supporting each other through the journey of motherhood. Through years of study and practice, we began offering support to a wider circle of women throughout their life stages, including: adolescence, childbirth, and menopause. Today BA NIA Inc is a comprehensive reproductive rights organization providing an array of health services and education to nurture the whole woman, birthing person. child, and family. Our work is deeply rooted for 30 years in the Englewood and Auburn Gresham neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. Our name, “BA NIA”, is taken from Kemet and Swahili languages, meaning Divine Purpose. | BA NIA is located in and serves BIPOC, ALANA and LGBTQ+ pregnancy-capable people primarily in the Auburn Gresham and Englewood neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois In 2022, 86% of the people we served identified as Black, 14% identified as Latinx and 10% identified as LGBTQ+. A total of 90% of the people we serve identify as low-income and receive reduced fee services from BA NIA. Only 10% of the population we serve are able to pay full fee for services. We serve our constituents regardless of ability to pay and away no one based on ability to pay. The Black birthing people living in the neighborhoods we serve experience a 3x higher than average maternal mortality rate than white birthing people in Illinois. | This grant will be used to bring on a part-time doula so our executive staff can take a rest from attending births and focus on our health and well being. | ||||||||||||||
21 | Baltimore Safe Haven Corp | Baltimore | MD | www.baltimoresafehaven.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Baltimore Safe Haven (BSH) is a dynamic and community-driven organization dedicated to uplifting the lives of TLGBQIA+ people living in survival mode. With a deep commitment to social change, BSH has engaged in advocacy, outreach, and direct support to address the unique challenges faced by marginalized populations. BSH emerged as a response to the pressing needs of our priority population – Black trans women, cis women, and non-binary individuals of color, especially those engaging in survival sex work. Our grassroots origins are rooted in the understanding that these communities have historically experienced systemic barriers and discrimination. In 2019, we launched as a humble peer-led peer outreach organization operating from a van along sex work strolls. That work is still our core foundation and we have grown to now offer a full array of integrated programming that helps our clients truly thrive, including outreach and community engagement, housing, behavioral health services, physical health services, workforce development, legal support, community building, and advocacy/policy engagement. BSH's impactful work and commitment to the community have earned recognition and accolades. The organization has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine for our organization of the Black Trans Lives Matter rally in Baltimore, highlighting its efforts in supporting marginalized communities. BSH continues to be a driving force in advocating for the rights and well-being of TLGBQIA+ individuals, collaborating with community partners, and working towards positive change at the local level. As an organization led by and for trans women, cis women, and non-binary people of color, BSH fully embraces the Ms. Foundation for Women's mission to advance equity, justice, and meaningful social change. We understand the intersectionality of gender, race, and social justice and are committed to rectifying the injustices faced by our community. Our resilience and passion drive our pursuit of a society where everyone is empowered, supported, and celebrated for their unique identity. | Baltimore Safe Haven is dedicated to serving the most marginalized and vulnerable members of our community, with a special focus on transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and intersex individuals (TLGBQIA+). On average, 15% of our clients do not identify on the TLGBQIA+ spectrum at all and the majority of these individuals in our care are Black, cisgender, heterosexual women who engage in survival sex work, are homeless, or who use drugs. | Baltimore Safe Haven's quarterly community events that serve as empowering, creative, and healing spaces for Black TLGBQIA+ individuals and women in Baltimore. | ||||||||||||||
22 | Barnard College | New York | NY | www.athenafilmfestival.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Founded in Gloria Steinem’s living room in 2010, the Athena Film Festival (AFF) is the premier film festival dedicated to celebrating and elevating women’s leadership. AFF is a joint project of Barnard's Athena Center for Leadership and the initiative Women and Hollywood. It is overseen by the Director of the Athena Center for Leadership, Umbreen Bhatti, and Women and Hollywood’s founder, Melissa Silverstein, who serves as AFF’s Co-Founder and Artistic Director. In its history, AFF has welcomed more than 55,000 people to screenings of more than 500 features, documentaries, and short films, all featuring strong women or woman-identifying individuals at the center of the story. Stories of women leaders, in all their forms and all their complexity, are rarely shown on the big screen. Women whose leadership has been questioned, dismissed or erased, women who have risen up or spoken truth to power, women who empower their communities, inspire and educate, or women who simply survive – these are the stories we celebrate and support. These are Athena stories and what makes our festival unique. The screenings are complemented by panels, workshops, masterclasses, and other educational activities. Filmmaker Q&A’s are also an important part of our program; in 2023, nearly 60% of our films were followed by intimate conversations with the filmmakers or panels on diverse topics including Youth Activism, Climate Change and Environmental Action, Policing Women’s Bodies, and Uncovering Stories Lost to History. Our panels are a unique opportunity for festival goers to learn more about the topics and themes explored in the film program and to engage with the filmmakers alongside artists, activists, academics, and subject matter experts. Our goal is to help our audience unpack, investigate, and learn more about the diverse topics covered in our film program – from STEM topics, to industry insight and expertise, women’s leadership and representation, and more. These conversations and panels are curated in direct response to what we are hearing and observing from our community of filmmakers, friends, and supporters; and panels often feature representatives from partner organizations like New York Women in Film and Television, Equality New York, and Live Out Loud. Our goal is to advance a more inclusive and representative film and media industry, and to inspire and activate audiences with a bold, uncompromising, defiant vision of what women’s leadership looks like. In addition to the annual Festival, we also run a series of year-round programs and initiatives for women and non-binary storytellers working on women-centric projects. Why? Because while there has been some progress towards gender parity in recent years, women still remain grossly underrepresented in the film and entertainment industry both in front of and behind the camera, and we know Hollywood’s biases permeate our culture and society. Our theory of change is simple: if we can advance more diverse, representative, and inclusive stories on screen, we can advance a more inclusive society. The Creative Development Program provides women-identified and non-binary storytellers with opportunities to hone their craft and make meaningful connections that help them succeed in a difficult industry. These programs include the Athena List, the Athena Writers Lab, our Works In Progress Program, as well as grants, awards and fellowship opportunities. Because our Creative Development Program has evolved out of and alongside our in-person festival, we have the unique opportunity to foster a broad network (i.e industry professionals, advisors, supporters, and producers) that provides ongoing opportunities for the women writers and filmmakers in our network to advance their skills, regularly convene, and push their projects to the next stage of development. Together, we are changing the face of the industry and supporting more women and nonbinary writers working on women-centric projects. | AFF is curating a network of women in film, and we are proud of our track record of elevating underrepresented voices. Of the films screened at the 2023 festival, 80% of them had women directors, with 43% featuring BIWOC directors – well above the industry standard. Our audience is everyone that touches the Festival, from attendees to filmmakers, panelists and guests, to our cohort of hundreds of students and local volunteers who bring our festival to life, and the network of 80+ partnering organizations who help us spread the word about the festival and bring their members to screenings and events. Partner organizations, such as the Academy, SAG-AFTRA, New York Women's Foundation, New York Women in Film and Television, and the Morningside Area Alliance, help publicize the Festival and receive discounted or free tickets for their membership. We also reach out to specialized audiences based on the specific topics of the programmed films. For example, in 2023, we worked with Cinema Tropical to advertise our LatinX and Latin American films and offer discounted tickets to their readership. We were also delighted to partner with Harlem One Stop and join a Harlem Culture Collaborative programming calendar. For the past three years, we’ve also partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to expand our marketing reach in New York City by including Festival ads and promo codes in a variety of diverse publications including El Diario, Gay City News, Jewish Daily Forward, Caribbean Life, Bronx Times and more. We look forward to building on this partnership in 2024. We also make a special effort to reach out to and encourage high schools, colleges, and universities to send student delegations to the Festival. Any faculty member at any school who assigns one of the Festival's movies as part of a class receives free tickets for students and discounted tickets are offered to student delegations when requested. In 2023, we had a number of student delegations from schools across New York and the northeast including, Barnard, Columbia, NYU, Fordham, CUNY as well as from as far afield as Tulane in New Orleans. Our festival audience is diverse by income, education, age, and race. While the Festival draws attendees from across the country, most of our audience comes from the New York City region. In 2023, as in prior years, we had a significant portfolio of queer content and look forward to partnering with Live Out Loud and Equality New York on a LGBTQ Liberation community event in 2024. The Festival is driving our entire culture to be more inclusive, and as an organization, we are deeply committed to upholding a culture of accessibility and inclusion. All buildings and facilities where festival events/activities take place are physically accessible. Campus buildings have either ramped access, or ground level entry with elevators to additional floors. Additionally, our campus has access routes to provide for physical accessibility as visitors travel between buildings. The College also offers integrated wheelchair seating. Lastly, we offer free tickets to anyone who submits a fee waiver, because we believe cost should not be a barrier to attending our festival. | To support a collaborative effort led by The Athena Film Festival to increase the number of diverse, authentic, accurate and positive stories of and relating to abortion in the Hollywood script pipeline. | ||||||||||||||
23 | Bay Area BIPOC Student Midwives Fund, A Project of the Movement Strategy Center | Oakland | CA | www.bipocstudentmidwives.com | What is your organization's background and mission? More than 90% of midwives in the US are white. BIPOC midwifery students face unique obstacles to completing their education, including structural and interpersonal racism, funding costs, lack of preceptors and apprenticeships for people of color, and lack of BIPOC mentorship. The BIPOC Student Midwives Fund (BSMF) aims to reduce the barriers to BIPOC students becoming midwives by: 1. Increasing access to skills needed to be an effective practitioner (e.g., suturing, IV placement, postpartum hemorrhage, etc.) via monthly skillshares 2. Providing funding for BIPOC students to complete their education and clinical placements in the form of grants and sponsorship 3. Fostering a community environment of nourishment, support, and resource-sharing between BIPOC and allied student midwives 4. Training white midwives in cultural humility, best practices when working with BIPOC clients and students, and structural Competency 5. Offering a conflict resolution between white midwives and BIPOC student midwives The United States maternal health crisis disproportionately affects folks of color. Through our program, we hope to increase the number of BIPOC midwives supporting families with racially and culturally concordant care that will improve birth outcomes and leave birthing people feeling respected and empowered. | BIPOC student midwives | The "Empowering BIPOC Student Midwives" retreat is a transformative gathering designed to amplify the voices, experiences, and challenges faced by BIPOC student midwives, foster healing, and initiate meaningful change within the midwifery community. | ||||||||||||||
24 | The Beautiful Project | Durham | NC | www.thebeautifulproject.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The Beautiful Project (TBP) is a community-based arts organization in Durham, North Carolina that uses storytelling and visual arts to advance the healing and representational justice of Black girls, gender-expansive youth, and women. TBP began as a volunteer-led grassroots effort in 2004 from one woman’s dream to impact Black girls through photography. Over time, others joined her in a collective vision to build a dream house where Black girls and gender-expansive youth could articulate themselves, their needs, and freedom-dreams. In 2019, TBP was incorporated as a non-profit organization in order to increase and sustain our impact. TBP teaches youth ages 12-22 how to use their voice and power at the intersection of images, stories, and justice to advocate for their wellness and recognition by providing: (1) free access to arts education and applied training in visual arts, storytelling, cultural literacy, curation, and creative production; (2) opportunities to participate in youth-led and intergenerational exhibitions, campaigns, films, and publications; and (3) a community of care that provides holistic support and mentorship for creatives wanting to explore, articulate themselves, and create change. We partner with families, community groups, schools, and arts institutions to explore and elevate the stories, images, needs, and dreams of Black girls, gender-expansive youth, and women. | TBP serves the Triangle, a nine-county metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Within this region, our arts training programs target Black girls, gender-expansive youth, and women ages 12-22. We engage in narrative justice work with the larger community through exhibitions, productions, and publications. | This grant will be used for providing wellness and psychological support for Black girls and gender-expansive youth, as well as the people who love them. | ||||||||||||||
25 | Beauty Marks for Girls | Spartanburg | SC | www.beautymarks4girls.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Beauty Marks for Girls, is a nonprofit founded by Jennifer Jones with a focused mission of empowering young girls between the ages of 8 and 18, who come from low-income communities in South Carolina who have an incarcerated mother. Beauty Marks for Girls places a strong emphasis on addressing the mental well-being of girls through its dedicated "Her Space" Mental Health program. Beauty Marks for Girls mission centers on providing a safe and supportive environment where girls can express themselves, receive therapeutic assistance, and access valuable resources to improve their mental well-being. By offering a holistic approach that combines therapy sessions with licensed mental health professionals, mentorship opportunities, and engaging group activities, Beauty Marks for Girls seeks to empower these girls with effective coping mechanisms, self-confidence, and a stronger sense of identity. Through these efforts, the organization aims to break down the barriers created by their circumstances and foster emotional healing, while equipping them with the tools needed to navigate life. Beauty Marks for Girls is fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a comprehensive strategy that empowers young girls. We focus on their mental health challenges by considering the needs and backgrounds of the girls we serve with our mental health program that prioritizes cultural competence, collaborating with professionals who understand the significance of acknowledging cultural differences and intergenerational trauma. | The primary constituents of Beauty Marks for Girls are young girls between the ages of 8 and 18, from low-income communities in Spartanburg county, South Carolina. | This grant will be used to support the Her Space mental health program, providing therapy, resources, and activities to empower girls with incarcerated mothers and address intergenerational trauma. | ||||||||||||||
26 | Because Organization Corp. | Media | PA | www.becauseorg.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Because Organization is a non-profit social service and human rights entity. As an Anti-human trafficking Organization, we are dedicated to uplifting survivors of diverse forms of human trafficking. We extend our services to individuals who have fallen victim to human trafficking, focusing our attention particularly on survivors of the appalling practice of labor and sex trafficking.While many organizations aim to combat the widespread crime of human trafficking, there's a significant deficiency in organizations that provide continuous rehabilitative aid to survivors, ensuring they do not return to the clutches of traffickers. These survivors, having endured extreme trauma, need more than what conventional homeless or battered shelters can offer. At Because Organization, we recognize the vital need for trauma-informed support for survivors that encompasses trauma-informed housing and programming. This is essential to foster proper healing and facilitate the process of rebuilding their lives. We are dedicated to offering these services, promoting human trafficking awareness and education, and assisting survivors on their path to security, empowerment, and self-sufficiency once more. | Because is primarily focused on individuals who have faced violence and trauma from human trafficking. As such survivors' individual identities vary greatly in sexuality, racial identity, and gender. Currently, survivors include cis-women, trans-women, queer folks, and individuals who are Black/African American, Asian or Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, and other Black and Indigenous People of Color. Our constituents commonly navigate rehabilitation and healing through various intersectional identities. Although most trafficking survivors are young women, particularly in the age group between 13-20, and often have a lower than a high school or GED level of education, this increases the likelihood of our constituency consisting of individuals from this particular background. | Funds will be used to provide holistic direct services to survivors of human trafficking who are on their healing journey. | ||||||||||||||
27 | Bed Stuy Clothes Swap | Brooklyn | NY | www.bedstuyclothesswap.squarespace.com | What is your organization's background and mission? As a mindful, grassroots led movement that centers on the sustainable wellbeing of people of color, Bed Stuy Clothes Swap responds to the localized impacts of hyper-consumerism, fashion related environmental racism, gentrification and lack of equitable clothing alternatives in Bed Stuy. Our work is rooted in regenerative systems change as a means to circularly recycle resources. Because New York City does not enforce any anti-displacement safety networks, residents impacted by gentrification and economic disparities do not have enough community anchors to lean on; Bed Stuy Clothes Swap is our way of power building and dismantling barriers to equitable collective care. | Bed Stuy Clothes Swap serves low-income BIPOC in Bed Stuy and it’s neighboring communities. Because our praxis is a blend of communal based sharing, exchanging and donating habits, this community based movement offers a radically different approach to what community care can look like. We want to design a future where BIPOC folks are deeply connected to their sustainable cultures and ways of life. Community for us is about redistributing resources so low income, poor and BIPOC communities can care for one another. Because White Supremacy manifests itself as power hoarding and scarcity, we ground our collective work in the deep knowing that alternatives outside of White Supremacist Cultures can and will free us. Though our clothes swaps continue to expand our access to alternative clothing options, they also push us to re-define our definitions of sustainability and our need for collective care. | Restorative offerings for a BIPOC, volunteer led sustainable fashion community collective in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. | ||||||||||||||
28 | The Beloved Early Education and Care Collective | North Charleston | SC | www.beecollective.co | What is your organization's background and mission? From its inception in 2018, the Beloved Early Education & Care Collective (BEE Collective) has stood as a beacon of change. Originating in a state leading the nation with an unsettling record of preschool expulsion rates, our mission was clear: to confront the disparities disproportionately affecting Black and Brown children in local early childhood programs. Through dedicated efforts, we've evolved into a force that champions early education and healthcare equity as our foundational principles. Guided by a commitment to justice, we've convened community action labs, harnessed design-centered approaches, and championed research justice frameworks. This journey has illuminated a deeper truth: the intersection of inadequate healthcare access and the weight of toxic stress on Black birthing individuals in rural South Carolina propels our children toward the cradle-to-prison pipeline before they even enter preschool. As early as our inception, we've embraced perinatal support as a cornerstone of our commitment, recognizing that equitable maternal care is integral to our vision of a just and thriving society. In 2020, we embraced an expanded vision, weaving healing justice rooted in ancestral and cultural healing-centered beliefs into the very fabric of our mission. The BEE Collective is dedicated to eradicating inequities from the start, fostering an environment where every child's potential is nurtured, and every mother's well-being is upheld through equitable access to education, healthcare, and a healing journey that empowers both individuals and communities. | Our focus is on Black and Brown pregnant, birthing, and parenting individuals, as well as infants, young children, birth workers, caregivers, families, and communities that have historically endured systemic inequalities. We're the sole community-driven Perinatal Safe Spot in South Carolina, prioritizing unhoused, undocumented individuals seeking safety and support during the perinatal period. Our constituents, frequently marginalized due to factors like race, immigrant status, ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic background, inspire our work. | The BEE HIVE Healing Retreat | ||||||||||||||
29 | Best Practices Policy Project, Inc | Morristown | NJ | www.bestpracticespolicy.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The Best Practices Policy Project (BPPP) is a trans and sex worker led organization dedicated to supporting groups and advocates working with sex workers and related communities in key localities and states the United States. We produce materials for policy environments, address research concerns, organize/mobilize and provide mentoring and long term support. Everything that we do is guided by human rights principles. BPPP was founded by a collective of trans people and sex workers directly impacted by xenophobia, transphobia, racism, and economic injustice, working with anti-racism/anti-oppression theorists and co-conspirators. The idea for our organization emerged in the early 2000s as US policies relating to sex work began to shift significantly with the development of global AIDS policy and anti-trafficking discourses. We sought to find a collective and accountable solution to policy questions, community building and mobilization to confront the changes that we knew were coming. Since BPPP’s founding in 2005 we have worked intensively to link the grassroots in specific areas to policy debates, educating about the root causes of oppression of sex workers and building leadership. Currently BPPP directly supports and advises sex worker led organizations and sex worker leadership in Arizona (the Outlaw Project), in New Jersey (NJ Red Umbrella Alliance and the SAFE NJ campaign), in Georgia (via the leadership of Jenna Torres and Zee Xaymaca), in the District of Columbia and globally (the Black Sex Worker Collective, Trans Equality Uganda and Brazilian based groups). We have fundraised for sex worker rights organizations representing the most policed communities, we hosted the first ever national sex worker rights intensive training in 2007 (the Sex Worker Rights Leadership Institute), and together with Desiree Alliance in 2010 we researched and submitted the first national report on the human rights of sex workers to the United Nations Human Rights Council. In 2011 we were successful in advocating for a UN recommendation, UPR Recommendation 86, that requires that the US “…“[u]ndertake awareness‐raising campaigns for combating stereotypes and violence against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people and ensure access to public services, paying attention to the special vulnerability of sex workers to violence and human rights abuses.” To date this is the only UN recommendation that has required the United States to protect the rights of sex workers. BPPP is an active, convening member of the Sex Worker Rights Coalition, a multi-agency network working to connect key local and state level constituencies across the US. | Our constituents are sex workers, notably those most impacted by economic and social injustice such as Black sex workers, trans sex workers, immigrants and substance users. BPPP as an entity has existed for almost 20 years and collectively advocates for the end of the criminalization of sex workers’ lives in the United States. We also advocate for labor rights, economic justice and economic mobility. Sex workers' lives are affected by interacting systems of oppression erroneously justifying criminalization, incarceration and discrimination. These are whorephobia (the belief that people can be dismissed, discarded, and harmed because they are or are presumed to be engaging in the sex trade), transphobia (discrimination against gender non-binary people, it may also be assumed they are sex workers), classism, racism, xenophobia and gender-based oppression.The result is the marginalization of sex workers from economic mobility and public discourse, as well as from social and financial services. We have many years of experience providing services and supporting our fellow sex workers, often in very hostile environments of policing (such as the District of Columbia, Newark, New York, Atlanta, and in other places). We manage the risks imposed by the criminalization of our communities by sharing safely information about ourselves (as desired) with each other in case of arrest so that we can be located in the system and assisted. | We are seeking funds for Black Trans Sex Worker leadership to collaboratively and urgently address the immediate needs and crisis-level policy impacts of interconnected anti-trans and anti-sex work laws in local areas where we are on the ground. | ||||||||||||||
30 | A Better Way Foundation | New Haven | CT | www.abetterwayfoundationct.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Vivan Las Autonomas is a women’s advocacy organization dedicated to ending violence against women by addressing gender based violence (GBV) through storytelling, arts, collective action and healing. We envision a world free of violence towards women and children. Through an anti-patriarchal and anti-capitalist lens, we build capacity within our communities to engage in conversations and collective action specific to how GBV occurs in and around our communities. We seek to protect women by showing up for victims of domestic/sexual violence, responding to local cases of missing and murdered women in our state, creating safe spaces for women to gather and learn from one another, and changing the systems that directly impact victims of GBV. Vivan Las Autonomas is an emerging organization with a wide base and a co-leadership model. Vivan Las Autonomas is founded and led by Vanesa Emely Suarez, a New Haven based Peruvian-born queer organizer, artist, and survivor. She is working in partnership with Nika Zarazvand, a New Haven based Iranian artist. We are both organizers and facilitators with backgrounds in organizing against workplace abuse, deportation, police brutality, incarceration, violence against sex workers, domestic and sexual violence, and missing and murdered women. We have led multi-year campaigns in the fight for justice for women who have experienced gender based violence in and around New Haven county in Connecticut. We have successfully built relationships and people power over the years working with diverse nonprofits and grassroots organizations, co-organizing campaigns and supporting each other’s movements to achieve policy changes, just settlements for workers, and broad public support for families of domestic/sexual violence victims and survivors; we’ve recovered over $50,000 in lost wages and just settlements for survivors of sexual violence in the workplace, organized peer support networks, facilitated an art and advocacy cohort for women and nonbinary folks focused on reimagining freedom , and raised thousands of dollars in mutual aid for women, queer folks, and single mothers experiencing gender based violence who are dually impacted by their immigration status or carceral records. Our advocacy work has helped families impacted by gender based violence hold perpetrators of harm accountable for their actions by building more accountable and transparent lines of communication with law enforcement and criminal justice systems that previously ignored or misunderstood their demands for justice for their loved ones. In 2020 during the nationwide protests in response to the brutal murder of George Floyd, we advocated for a legislative bill strengthening police accountability at the state level–a measure that was important and necessary to secure the decertification of a New Haven police officer who had sexually assaulted two sex workers in our community in 2019. In November of 2021, the officer became the first cop in the state to be permanently barred from law enforcement for general misconduct outlined under the provisions of the 2020 police accountability law, which granted the state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council more authority to take away the certification of officers who abuse authority. | Our constituents include all people who are impacted by gender based violence (GBV). In New Haven county, GBV overwhelmingly impacts women of color from low-income families with limited access to resources. We’ve worked with folks experiencing family separation because of deportation or legal separation, gender non-confirming folks, undocumented immigrants, victims and survivors of domestic and or sexual violence, and youth. All of the individuals and families we’ve worked with, particularly the families of femicide victims, have faced significant barriers to traditional resources available due to immigration status, language differences, cultural discrimination, police negligence, incarceration, and poverty. Survivors of domestic/sexual violence and families of femicide victims have noted the lack of continuity in not only services but consistent community support and advocacy through years of healing and navigating legal systems. | We are seeking funding to support a sustainable development retreat, travel to Mexico City to recover and rest from years of burnout that comes with focusing on violence in our communities, and a rapid response campaign to support our community. | ||||||||||||||
31 | Betti Ono Foundation | Emeryville | CA | www.bettiono.com | What is your organization's background and mission? We are The Betti Ono Foundation. A bold manifestation of liberation and power headquartered in Oakland, California. A new hybrid entity of nonprofit foundation and social enterprise. The Betti Ono Foundation is a non-grantmaking, public charity that exists to strengthen our Oakland community. Betti Ono, LLC is a creative social enterprise that uses art, enterprise and social impact strategy to leverage creative capital, cultural products, and networks for good. We are Black women and survivor-led. Our mission is to build power through culture. We amplify the voices and lives of artists, and celebrate the culture of everyday people. Our vision and creative practice embodies the bold, curious, and unapologetic spirit of our namesakes - Betty Mabry Davis and Yoko Ono. We value art making as a form and function of activism, self-determination, community transformation, and cultural resilience. We are dedicated to amplifying the work and lives of Black, Brown, Immigrant, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ artists and communities. Our core competencies are racial justice, alliance building, cultural strategy, and community engagement. Betti Ono works collaboratively across public and private sectors to advance shared public policy agendas and solutions to society’s most pressing civic issues. We use arts and culture to advance freedom, human rights, racial, and social justice. | Our vision includes an ecosystem of diverse and multigenerational participants. Through our projects, we build up the leadership capacities of Black and Brown artists, survivors, and youth, and see firsthand the transformative power of opportunity and equity by positioning Black and Brown folks as leaders and key speakers for movement building. All of our board members have been longtime residents of Oakland who have been serving its communities and investing in the city’s arts & culture sector in various ways for years. We serve an audience composed of people of color and other marginalized community members as demonstrated in prior years’ audience demographics: Black (35%), Latinx (20%), Asian/South Asian/Southeast Asian/Pacific Islander (15%), Multiracial (10%), White (10%), Arab/Middle Eastern (5%), and Native Indigenous (5%). | Strengthening the impact of the Transit Justice Collaboration to End Gender-Based Violence by engaging in deep collaborative designing, learning, and sharing. | ||||||||||||||
32 | Birth Control Advocates of New York | Brooklyn | NY | www.gettingbusy.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Despite decades of efforts to improve access to reproductive care, there is still a lack of access to and knowledge of birth control options and availability. Young people, people without insurance, people of color, rural communities, and people who are undocumented, all face limitations to access in New York. This has profound implications for countless patients and the 1.2 million women in New York who live in contraceptive deserts. The NY Birth Control Access Project (NYBCAP) was founded in 2021 to meet this need. Our mission is to break down barriers so all New Yorkers can get the birth control they want, when they want it. Through innovative and cost-effective policy initiatives and direct impact projects, we can make transformative and lasting change for New Yorkers who lack access to birth control. We have identified existing gaps in access in New York and have been doing the work to address the problems. To achieve our goal of birth control access for all, we are working with young people across New York to raise awareness, educate, and explore policy changes to increase birth control access. We train and organize young people, primarily women, through direct impact campaigns, legislative advocacy, and by training and empowering the next generation of Reproductive Justice advocates. These advocates, who serve on our Associate Board, have the opportunity to select a program designed to meet their interests based on feedback from previous cohorts. Each program is meant to cultivate lifelong activists who believe in their ability to build movements and create real change through smart policy. | Our work is guided and informed by people who are most severely impacted by a lack of access to birth control. Of our advocates 24% are Black, 20% are Asian/Pacific American, 18% are Hispanic/Latinx, and less than 45% are white; and 20% identify as LGBTQ+. Our work expands access across New York but often serves to improve access for those most impacted by structural and systemic barriers to health care. Including, young people, people without insurance, those living in rural areas, and patients who have little flexibility in their schedules due to work, school or childcare. | Expanding access to contraception in New York State by requiring insurance to cover over the counter birth control. | ||||||||||||||
33 | Birth in Color RVA | Richmond | VA | www.birthincolorrva.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Birth in Color RVA was founded in 2018 by Kenda Sutton-El and Nikiya Ellis, both community doulas who saw a need for advocates at the community level to address the alarming rates of Black maternal and infant mortality. They recognized that racial disparities in perinatal outcomes are among the most urgent health problems facing the City of Richmond. Richmond’s Black population is 50%, yet Black families comprise 82% of Richmond’s families living at or below the poverty line. With a race/class gap this wide, barriers to care are numerous and perinatal outcomes are correspondingly abysmal. Richmond’s Black infant mortality rate is 17.5 per 1,000 live births, more than double the overall city infant mortality rate of 8.8 and alarmingly higher than the state rate of 7.2. These numbers are a larger reflection of the rates of racial disparities in perinatal outcomes nationwide and for too long women of color have gone unrecognized for the work they do to support one another in navigating racist healthcare systems in pursuit of the basic right to safely and successfully give birth to healthy, happy babies. Birth in Color RVA is a group of Black and Latinx community doulas who address racial disparities in perinatal mortality for POC pregnant people. The executive directors have a combined 20 years of experience working as community doulas and 5 years of experience in training community doulas. Birth in Color manages 35 doulas through their Birth in Color Collective, providing professional development and support through workshops and networking. In addition to providing support to current doulas, Birth in Color is highly invested in empowering Black women from low-income communities in Richmond to become community doulas. This opportunity provides Black women in these communities with both an important source of income and culturally competent prenatal and postpartum care from women who live and work in their communities. Since 2019, Birth in Color has provided 6 doula training programs to grow the Black Community Doula workforce in Richmond. Additionally, Birth in Color doulas have served 300 mothers, majority of which are low-income families of color. Birth in Color provides expectant pregnant persons and families with support with sliding scale and free prenatal education and counseling, birth preparation support, mama meetups, community meals, continuous labor support, lactation counseling, postpartum follow ups, and maternal and infant health community conversations. Birth in Color is also actively involved in engaging community stakeholders in conversations regarding pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding in the Black community through hosting an annual Black Maternal Health Summit and Black Breastfeeding Week. Both events bring together scholars, medical professionals, community leaders, lawmakers, and Richmond families to discuss the policy and practices that are necessary to reduce racial disparities in perinatal outcomes. Finally, Birth in Color RVA also works to provide community access to sexual education programming with an emphasis on teens. To date, Birth in Color has provided sexual education programming to over 200 teens in the Greater Richmond area. | The primary constituents of Birth in Color RVA's work are Black and Latinx community doulas and BIPOC birthing persons and their families in Virginia. We originally started with serving the Richmond, Virginia area but we have now expanded to include other areas of Virginia (Lynchburg, Farmville, Hampton Roads, Roanoke, Eastern Shore of Virginia and Southwest Virginia), DC, and Maryland. | The purpose of this grant is to 1) do a mixed method collaboration to understand the potential role of telehealth for reproductive and maternal healthcare and (2) to host a strategic rest retreat for Birth in Color RVA leadership. | ||||||||||||||
34 | Birth Sanctuary | Gainesville | AL | www.thebirthsanctuary.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Birth Sanctuary Gainesville was established in 2020 initially as an LLC by a singular Certified Nurse Midwife, Dr. Stephanie Mitchell. The mission is to increase midwifery accessibility in the state of Alabama, for out of hospital pregnancy care services. | Generally speaking (with exceptions) we will serve 11 Counties in Southwest Alabama: Sumter, Choctaw, Marengo, Wilcox, Dallas, Perry, Hale, Greene, Bibb, and Pickens Counties. These counties were rated by the March of Dimes as either low access to care or a maternity care desert. | Staffing, patient enrollment into care, as well as completing the initial primary expenditures of completing the physical structure including fixtures and furnishings of 1 exam room, 1 reception area, 2 labor and birth suites, kitchen, and restroom. | ||||||||||||||
35 | Birthmark Doula Collective | New Orleans | LA | www.birthmarkdoulas.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Birthmark is a cooperatively-owned birth justice organization with a profound commitment to improving reproductive care and health outcomes for families in New Orleans. Our mission centers on providing emotional, physical, and informational support to families throughout the full spectrum of reproductive health and parenting. Rooted in the belief that every individual deserves respectful, dignified, and safe reproductive care, our work is dedicated to addressing the racialized inequities in reproductive health within Louisiana. We not only offer direct and accessible parental and perinatal services, education, and support but also advocate for legislative changes to reduce disparities in medical treatment and access to care. Our primary constituency includes women and queer folks of color seeking comprehensive childbirth education, birth and postpartum doula services, lactation support, and reproductive health advocacy. | Birthmark serves a diverse population of pregnant, birthing and postpartum families, though our programming focuses on Black and queer birthing folks who face the steepest barriers to safe and respectful care, and experience the worst outcomes within the healthcare system. Our clients have ranged in age from 14-45 this year with special programming for pregnant and parenting youth in crisis, BIPOC lactation support, immigrant/ELL families, and LGBTQ families. Our clients are majority BIPOC, and more than half are low income. We work across the New Orleans metro area with our support groups reaching the surrounding parishes. | These funds will be allocated toward staff retreats, training programs, workshops, and seminars that promote self-care, resilience, and emotional well-being. | ||||||||||||||
36 | Birthworkers of Color Collective | Long Beach | CA | www.birthworkersofcolor.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Established n 2017, Birthworkers of Color Collective supports marginalized communities by providing full spectrum doula services that are accessible and inclusive. We connect pregnant/birthing/& postpartum individuals, their families, and larger communities with educational, emotional, and physical support through all pregnancy & postpartum outcomes. We conduct workshops and trainings to share knowledge, promote advocacy, build resources & expand the number of trained/competent/& culturally relevant doulas. As a collective we strive to bring our diverse skills, ancestral practices, and unique experiences to the people and communities that we support. | The Birthworkers of Color Collective is dedicated to empowering Black women and individuals of color who, as historical victims of systemic racism in the healthcare industry, form the cornerstone of our organization. The primary constituents of our organization are these resilient, underserved communities. We acknowledge the specific challenges they face-ranging from disparities in maternal and infant mortality rates to the enduring effects of cultural insensitivity during pivotal life stages-and are committed to providing unwavering support and care that is respectful of their cultural backgrounds. Our mission is to create agency, dignity, and empowerment to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period by making their experiences and needs the center of our mission. In addition to Black women and individuals of color, we also serve a broader spectrum of marginalized communities, including those associated with transgender identity and sexual orientation. These communities face unique and often overlooked challenges within the healthcare system, marked by discrimination, lack of understanding, and limited access to inclusive care. It is our goal to create a space that acknowledges and addresses the diverse range of experiences these communities endure, in order to enhance their well-being and amplify their voices. We are dedicated to breaking down barriers for marginalized constituents and dismantling systemic injustices through culturally sensitive care, advocacy, and education. | With new restrictive abortion laws across the country, our abortion doula training program will be expanded so that compassionate individuals can support and advocate for those seeking abortions. | ||||||||||||||
37 | The Black Feminist Project a fiscally sponsored project of Mary Mitchell Family Youth Center Inc. | Bronx | NY | www.theblackfeministproject.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The Black Feminist Project enriches the lives of, restores agency, justice, joy, and health to Black Womxn, girls, and non-men, often referred to as marginalized genders or MaGes and the children they care for—with an emphasis on mother-led families. Using dynamic and engaging food and reproductive justice programming that explores not only the intersections of race, class, gender, and respectability politics but also empowers them to tap into their inherent leadership abilities and dare to put themselves at the center of their own universes. Ever since Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality we have been looking at the myriad of ways that oppression and disparities show up in the lives of Black women, girls and non-men (often referred to as marginalized genders or MaGes). It does not happen in a silo and it can become easy to get lost in all the moving parts of “solving” a problem. Our model is to use food and reproductive justice and the intersection of the two as an entry point to interrogate the root causes of the ways women, girls and non-men/boys are disenfranchised and disempowered. We also believe deeply that in order for folks to continue to fight they must be grounded in love and joy and their immediate needs must be met. To that end we craft accessible, multigenerational, radical Black and women-led programs void of jargon that engage the folks who are most impacted by racist and sexist policies and cultural norms. This includes our Food Box Program, our urban farm “Black Joy Farm”, our teen girls and young women’s empowerment program “Sis, do You!” and our yearly summit “Not Just Talk”, as well as dozens of other workshops and special events. | Women, children, teen girls & NGC teens and gender expansive people with a specific focus on mothers and parenting GNC folx. Women, children, teen girls & NGC teens and gender expansive people with a specific focus on mothers and parenting GNC folx. | This grant will be used for both internal & external healing justice work which includes professional development and team building, continuing mutual aid work and shoring up physical safety measures as we expand our programming for Black trans women. | ||||||||||||||
38 | Black Girl Environmentalist | Washington DC | DC | www.blackgirlenvironmentalist.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Black Girl Environmentalist is a national community dedicated to empowering Black girls, women and non-binary people in the climate movement. Our mission is to address the pathway and retention issue in the climate movement for Black women and non-binary people. We create pathways for emerging climate leaders of color to thrive across environmental disciplines through the areas of: community building, green workforce development, and narrative change. We provide place-based opportunities for BGEs to network, engage in climate advocacy, and feel a greater sense of belonging in the climate movement through our HUB program. We currently have 10 HUB cities across the country - NYC, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Oakland/SF, Boston, Miami and Atlanta. Black Girl Environmentalist was founded by climate activist Wawa Gatheru in January 2021. The organization began as a popular instagram page meant to center Black women and non-binary environmentalists in the climate narrative. BGE re-launched as a fiscally sponsored project October 2022, in which the organization has scaled operations, fundraised, and gained the ability to pay the once volunteer team, equitably. | Black Girl Environmentalist participates in movement building around environmental liberation through collaborative ideation and strategy incubation. Our constituency is made up of Black cis women, nonbinary, genderqueer or gender nonconforming individuals - with a particular focus on Gen Z/youth. Our staff is currently made up of 4 individuals, all of which represent our organization’s constituency. In addition, we currently have 12 HUB leads that organize monthly in-person, place-based engagements in HUB cities. | The Black Girl Environmentalist HUB Lead Retreat will aim to: (1) offer a supportive, generative community of collective care, where HUB leads can convene and identify the strategies that take us from wellbeing to welldoing and (2) provide a space for HU | ||||||||||||||
39 | Black Girls Smile, Inc. | Atlanta | GA | www.blackgirlssmile.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Black Girls Smile provides gender-responsive and culturally-affirming mental wellness education, resources, and support geared toward Black women and girls. BGS was founded in 2012 with the mission to empower the mental health and well-being of young Black women and girls through culturally and gender-responsive educational programming, support initiatives, and resource connections. Since our inception, BGS has grown to support over 10,000 Black women and girls nationally through our mental health literacy programming, intersectionality workshops, and therapy scholarship program. BGS equips participants with the education, resources and support to heal and thrive through focus on positive and healthy coping skills, self-care methods and identifying and navigating mental wellness resources and supports. BGS has successfully implemented gender and culturally responsive mental health literacy programs over the past 9 years. The over 2500 Black women and girls we serve through our SHE’s Mentally Prepared Mental Health Literacy program and Intersectionality workshops, over 72% of participants report significant increase in general mental health knowledge and 80% report significant increase in understanding of how to implement coping skills and self-care methods to maintain positive mental health and wellbeing. Additionally close to 80% report increased trust is navigating and accessing mental wellness resources in times of mental health crisis and non-crisis. The affirmation of the Black Girls Smile approach is based on the close to 700 Black women and girls that have participated in the Therapy Assistance Program. Since 2020, we have seen significant positive mental health outcomes. Specifically, 87% report significant improvements in mental health distress through participation in the Therapy Assistance Program. 92% of participants report significantly decreasing suicidal thoughts and behaviors after participating in BGS programming. We currently have a waitlist of over 2,000 potential participants, demonstrating the intense and immediate need to expand this program to meet the mental health needs of underserved Black women and girls nationally. BGS continues to adopt evidence-based research and studies to serve our underserved and underrepresented population of young African American girls. All levels of our organization focus on creating mental health equity among the Black women and girls in our community. We have diverse programs that help to impact the mental health and well-being of the full diaspora of Black women and girls. | The primary constituents of BGS work is Black women and girls as a demographic group, but we also seek to provide space for the expansiveness of identity amongst Black women, girls, and nonbinary people and children. Working with the BGS community involves working closely with people with various identities encompassing the vastness of experiences related to religion, immigrant backgrounds, sexuality, gender expression, socioeconomic levels, regional backgrounds, and experiences with trauma. The BGS community is composed of girls aged 13-25 including parents and caregivers. Compared to counterparts, the BGS community needs indicate they are more likely to experience violence, trauma, and societal risk factors such as poverty, violence and physical health issues. In response to these pressing needs, BGS offers hybrid engagement opportunities to communities throughout the United States, with a concentrated effort in schools and community centers located in New York City, New York and Atlanta, Georgia. We envision a society that ensures all young Black women and girls receive the resources and support necessary to lead mentally healthy lives. | The ‘Serving Black Girls’ Convenings brings together a diverse and dedicated community of nonprofit organizations, advocates, educators, and leaders committed to advancing the wellbeing of Black girls and young women. | ||||||||||||||
40 | The Black Institute | Brooklyn | NY | www.theblackinstitute.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Established in 2010, The Black Institute uses three main strategies to carry out its work - generating knowledge and data about particular issues affecting Black people of color, building grassroots leadership, and community organizing – and primarily focuses on four issues: education, environment, immigration, and economics. Working with consultants, policy experts, and directly affected populations, the organization has published numerous reports, all of which are listed on our website, evaluating policy problems from a Black and people of color perspective. All of the reports identify specific issues preventing women of color from succeeding economically and socially. For example, in partnership with the Williams Institute at UCLA, we wrote a report called Three Strikes: The Economic Reality of Black Lesbians and found that Black lesbians were the poorest and most economically depressed demographic in the United States. In addition, in Broken Promises: The Story of Caribbean International Teachers in New York City’s Public Schools, published in 2011, documents the stories of female teachers from the Caribbean who were recruited by the Department of Education, but who were then denied pathways to legal residency. Through our organizing campaign, we won green cards, respect, and fair treatment for these teachers. We have also written four reports on the struggle of minority and women owned businesses to access capital and contracts. In each of these reports, we focus on the disproportionate treatment of women of color. More recently, starting several years ago, The Black Institute partnered with sister organization Black Institute Group (BIG) to hold the state government accountable for fairly implementing the social equity provisions of the law legalizing cannabis. In 2023, we released a report, the Cannabis Chronicles, calling for further changes to the legal, social, and economic status of cannabis in relation to communities of color. Besides demanding the immediate legalization, decriminalization, and rescheduling of cannabis at the federal level, TBI demands that federal and state legalization contains extensive restorative justice measures to compensate people of color for the decades of destruction caused by the War on Drugs. In 2022, we honored three women at our anniversary gala, Laura Kavanagh, the first woman to run the New York City Fire Department, Ingrid Martin, chief advisor to the Mayor of NYC, and Vanessa Gibson, the first Black woman to serve as the Bronx Borough President. Cannabis is a male dominated market currently. At the Cannaball NYC event, held jointly with BIG, we honored six women with various awards and educated attendees about how women can access resources to start cannabis businesses. A majority of attendees at our cannabis workshops are always women. Finally, a Black Honduran is leading an organizing drive in the Bronx which is challenging the city about trash pickup practices in the South Bronx and documenting the health hazards of rat infestation. Our mission statement is as follows: The Black Institute shapes intellectual discourse and impacts public policy uniquely from a Black and people of color perspective in the United States and throughout the Diaspora. The Black Institute translates the “think” in think-tank into “action” through a rigorous three-level strategy comprised of knowledge (academic and community research), leadership (inclusive and genuine civic development), and community (grassroots campaigns and political engagements.) The Black Institute changes the discourse of public debate, trains and educates new leadership, develops initiatives to build wealth and power, and delivers justice to Black people and all people of color. | The Black community and all people of color. | The Black Institute will provide women of color with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to be leaders in their communities. | ||||||||||||||
41 | Black Leaders Advancing Community Change (BLACC) | Saint Louis | MO | www.mwrconsultingservices.com/blacc | What is your organization's background and mission? BLACC was Founded in 2015 by Maranda Witherspoon-Richardson to equip Black leaders with tools & resources to further advance Black led social change within the St. Louis Metropolitan area. BLAAC's mission is to create solidarity with Black leaders advancing social change by centering Black culture, community, and individual leadership transformation. | The primary constituents we serve are Black Leaders in the St. Louis Region, while we also work to broaden our reach to Black leaders across the nation with a virtual cohort in 2024. We recruit Black leaders within the nonprofit sector because this population is oftentimes under-resourced and working with limited capacity to strengthen Black communities. | General funding will strengthen the upcoming learning cohort operation for Black Leaders in the St. Louis Region while working to broaden our reach to Black leaders across the nation with a virtual cohort in 2024. | ||||||||||||||
42 | Black LGBTQ+ Liberation, Inc. | Fort Lauderdale | FL | www.thouartwoman.com/non-profit | What is your organization's background and mission? Black LGBTQ+ Liberation, Inc. (BLINC) is a women-led organization based in South Florida’s Broward County (the greater Ft. Lauderdale region). The founding partners for BLINC, Nik Harris and G Wright, have been creating woman-empowering performance projects using the name “Thou Art Woman,” since 2014. In order to create a year-round presence and lift up more community members, we formally incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization under the name Black LGBTQ+ Liberation, Inc. in October 2021. Mission: Black LGBTQ+ Liberation, Inc. (BLINC) is a South Florida-based nonprofit focused on helping BIPOC LGBTQ+ people lead happier and healthier lives through the arts, health and wellness programs, and strategic community partnerships. | Our primary constituents are Brown and Black LGBTQ+ women and allies residing in South Florida. The community we serve are diverse in terms of socio-economic backgrounds, professions, ethnicities, abilities, sexual identities, gender expression and gender identities. Because of our long-term project “Thou Art Woman,” we have advanced meaningful cultural and social change by providing opportunities for marginalized, economically disadvantaged or oppressed Black and Brown LGBTQ+ women to express themselves through art, and bring messages of hope and resilience to the hundreds of peers who have attended “Thou Art Woman” events. The founding partners of BLINC, Nik Harris and G Wright are a part of the community they serve and organize alongside. Nik identifies as African American, queer, gender non-conforming and uses she/they pronouns. G identifies as Jamaican American, lesbian, gender non-conforming and uses she/her pronouns. | This funding will help Black LGBTQ+ Liberation, Inc. (BLINC) improve their digital infrastructure and help fund their Black LGBTQ+ Leaders Convening centering healing, rest and restoration. | ||||||||||||||
43 | Black Liberation Collective | Boise | ID | www.sites.google.com/view/blc-idaho/home | What is your organization's background and mission? Before our collective was formed, we organized projects to spread liberation based on our own experiences, skills, and networks. We were compartmentalizing our excellence, though; leaning into our shared purpose, we joined to intentionally radicalize and restore our people together. Since forming our collective, our accomplishments have included developing mutual aid systems, educating our community on liberation from the Prison Industrial Complex and creating art and resources with and for our community. Recently, we had our biggest Juneteenth event yet, where we showcased Black businesses, artists, and joy. Our art collective had their first showcase and were featured at Treefort. We were able to get more mutual aid support to our community than ever before. As our staff experienced stressful life events this year including moves, family issues, and health concerns, we decided to take an intentional pause. Over the past few months we have spent time reflecting and preparing to shift the way we care for our community in order to show up more honestly and fully. | We are a group led by Black trans youth from/ based in Idaho hoping to empower and serve our Black community. We are accountable to our community and other local Black and Indigenous led organizations. We work primarily in the Treasure Valley, but have connections and reach across the state. We focus all of our programming on Black people, and we are now focusing more on low income Black trans youth. | This funding will support three of our programs which aim to create more resources, stability & abundance for Idaho’s most frontline communities. | ||||||||||||||
44 | Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro | Phoenix | AZ | www.blmphxmetro.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro is a Black, Queer, and Femme-led organization that centers Black people. We work towards Black Liberation by practicing abolition to seek true freedom of mind, write blueprints for a new world, cultivate healing, and create art. Our intention is to create a non-carceral and life-affirming world. We were created in Phoenix because of the absence of spaces for Black women and queer people and our Black radical feminist abolitionist politics that left us ostracized in our own community. BLM Phoenix Metro contributes to Black feminist movement building by being one of the first Black queer abolitionist and femme-led organizations in Phoenix in 2017 and now there are four all of which we are in coalition with and helped to build. | We serve and partner with the BIPOC community and the minority community from all income brackets, with a focus on low income Black women. We support victims of police brutality and racism. We create queer spaces for the BIPOC community. We serve the communities that are under- and/or misrepresented, and disenfranchised people. We advocate for and support the dispossessed, the rebels and rejects, the houseless community, those suffering from compromised mental health, those without immigration pathways, those with disabilities, and the working class. We partner with people who share a common interest, who want accurate, equitable representation and reliable, commensurate justice for the BIPOC community and to strengthen the social safety net. | This fund will be used to support our healing and care work that sustains us as organizers. | ||||||||||||||
45 | The Black Mecca Project | Atlanta | GA | www.theblackmeccaproject.com | What is your organization's background and mission? The Black Mecca Project (TBMP) exists in the tradition of people of African ancestry who have always fought for liberation and resisted colonization and white supremacy. TBMP is an emerging transformative movement building organization that cultivates spaces which nurture Black diasporans in the practices of rest, radical imagination, fugitivity, and Black feminist community and world building. TBMP was birthed in Atlanta in 2019 to disrupt the capitalist, ableist, patriarchal, heteronormative, transphobic Black mecca narrative which often makes invisible or tokenizes Black women, medicine people, community-based healers and spiritualists, cultural workers, poor, working class, trans, queer, non-binary, and disabled Black Atlantans while leading the world to believe it’s a place where all Black people thrive. The birth of TBMP was also a call to imagine and commit to building a Black mecca where all Black people thrive. We believe and have seen that those most impacted by racial and gender capitalism also hold the vision, strategies, and embodied practices to keep moving us closer to liberation. We collectively launched the Sanctuary at Westview in Atlanta, Georgia as a Black liberation lab centering trans and cis Black women, queer, nonbinary, and gender expansive people. The Covid-19 pandemic and uprisings for Black lives in 2020 shuttered our much used communal space while also inviting imaginative pivots to meet the moment. Over the last three years, TBMP leadership and advisory circles have strengthened our structure, connections, and continued to be responsive to our communities. We moved slowly and intentionally in the midst of unprecedented conditions. We held somatic healing circles for frontline organizers, communal grief rituals, developed a theory of transformation, built relationships with aligned organizations, and hosted residencies in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands for freedom dreaming cultural workers. | Trans and cis Black women, queer, nonbinary, and gender expansive folks who are medicine people, community healers and spiritualists, artists, organizers, and cultural workers | This grant will support launching and convening a network of Black feminist freedom-dreaming organizations and land-based projects to build relationships, map this emerging ecosystem, and strategize to increase our collective well-being and impact. | ||||||||||||||
46 | Black Researchers Collective | Chicago | IL | www.blackresearcherscollective.com | What is your organization's background and mission? The mission of the Black Researchers Collective is to train and equip communities with research tools to be more civically engaged and policy informed. We are deeply rooted in Black communities. As a collective founded and led by Black women, we understand first hand the challenges faced in our community and aim to utilize research and data to inform sustainable change. We are not just researchers, but community members who leverage our personal experiences and empirical knowledge to create an impact. Our organization’s leadership, comprised entirely of Black women, mirrors our community, reflecting its rich experiences and perspectives. We carry our lived experiences into our work, understanding the societal complexities that can only be truly grasped by those who have lived them. Through this shared experience, we can better identify and address the specific needs of our community, offering a perspective that is both empathetic and strategic. We've contributed meaningfully to the well-being of our community by building a pipeline of civic researchers who use their experiences and research tools to better their communities. We've championed opportunities for self-determination through evidence based, data-driven practices, and facilitated community engagement in policymaking. This work, in turn, supports individuals and families in navigating existing opportunities, engaging in advocacy, and challenging systemic inequities. We help our community members take an active role in shaping a better future by fostering an environment of civic activation through research. | Our collective efforts are intended to contribute to the viability, strengthening, and sustainability of Chicago communities. The Black Researchers Collective focuses its work on and ensures meaningful involvement of Black people. Our organization's program activities are tailored to meet the needs of Black folks in the epicenter of the work, and it encourages them to leverage their personal and professional assets towards systemic change. The audience for the Black Researchers Collective's work is primarily Black people who live and work in the communities where the organization is working, as well as those who have interest and a history with these communities. These individuals are often active members of their community, looking to make a positive impact and create systemic change. They are parents, organizers, grassroots leaders, and advocates who are interested in using research tools as a capacity-building strategy to drive policy and administrative change. | The funding from this grant will be used to execute a series of community workshops and build capacity for the Black Researchers Collective through the recruitment and selection of staff to support key initiatives. | ||||||||||||||
47 | The Black School | New Orleans | LA | https://theblack.school/ | What is your organization's background and mission? Located in New Orleans, The Black School (TBS) is a Black-Centered experimental art school teaching BIPoC and ally students to become agents of change in community through art & design education and programming based in radical African diasporic histories, prioritizing local community needs. Our programs and services include a paid Design Apprenticeship for BiPOC youth, Black Love Fest, Design Studio, Schoolhouse, and Garden School among other initiatives. To date, we’ve taught 550+ students in 150+ workshops, facilitated 125+ workshops, produced 4 Black Love Festivals with 4,000+ attendees, collaborated with 75+ professional artists, and partnered 75+ organizations, and trained and employed 30 design apprentices. Our work has been featured in Hyperallergic, Cultured, Garage Magazine and more. | Our constituents’ feedback is integral to designing, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness and impact of our programming. We conduct ongoing Community Assessment in which our staff canvases the community and talks to community members, business owners, children, adults, seniors, and council members to get an in-depth understanding of community needs and programming. In 2022, we found that over 75% of our community members wanted a Community Garden and over 80% wanted community arts programming. This helped us establish our Garden School series which offers multigenerational art and nature workshops for the community. We also conduct surveys at the end of each of our workshops. Outside of surveys, we welcome participant’s informal feedback through conversation with participants before, during, and after our programs. Additional measures include attendance and sign ups, retention rate, participation satisfaction rate, and feedback survey completion rate. We describe ourselves and experimental art school in part because we constantly engaged in the praxis introduced above- offering programming to communities that reflect ourselves, engaging those constituents and our internal team in formal and informal reflection processes, and then adapting our next round of programming based on that reflection. We know our communities are not monolithic and that the challenges they face are ever evolving, so we approach our work to be in constant evolution with those two realities. | To fund a Retreat and Research Team Trip for The Black School’s growing core team of nine to Baltimore, USA between March 23rd to March 27th 2023. | ||||||||||||||
48 | Black Visioning Group c/o | Philadelphia | PA | http://blackvisioninggroup.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Black Visioning Group (BVG) is a collective co-created in 2020 at the height of the pandemic by a community of Black Queer/Trans loved ones. Over the last three years, BVG has liberated and redistributed over $800,000 worth of hoarded wealth and materials to those with the least access. This has included: unrestricted funding, paying for gender affirming surgeries and long term care planning, debt clearing, co-signing leases, move support, transportation services, cleaning services, cooking services, child care, redistributing cars, redistributing homes, free therapy services, furnishing homes, renovating homes, paying car loans and insurances, dental surgeries, legal consultations–for at least 31+ Black Queer & Trans folks (100% Queer, 97% Trans). BVG has not only provided direct services to our members, but has also facilitated hands-on experiences to develop sustainable skills like house renovation, gardening, farming, outdoor living, cooking, communal living, and artistry. BVG’s mission is to provide direct services and build capacity toward the creation of interdependent economies able to sustain care-networks for Black Queer/Trans Philadelphians independent from and in resistance to existing systems of violence. | BVG centers Black Queer/Trans/MaGes (marginalized genders), darker skinned, fatter, disabled, poor, hood, femmes raised/rooted in Philadelphia. | This grant will be used toward our yearly retreat, and dispersed as unrestricted funding for our Black Queer Trans pod members to invest in the resources each member deems necessary for their physical, mental, emotional well being. | ||||||||||||||
49 | Black Women's Blueprint | Boonville | NY | www.restoreny.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Restore Forward is a cooperative, land-based healing and reconciliation entity launched by Black Women’s Blueprint, a 501 c(3) Black Feminist organization. Restore Forward holds the greater vision of advancing well-being and stewarding journeys where people can be seen, held, and heard by each other. Located on 300 acres in upstate New York, Restore Forward designs and delivers its land-based healing program, farm programs, crisis intervention and mental health services, reproductive health services, retreats, and its transformational Institute offerings. | The primary constituents of our work are women, Trans and Non-Binary / Gender Expressive individuals, BIPOC (specifically Black individuals), youth, and victims of violence. While these identities make up the core of our constituent spread, various layers of our work impact folks of all backgrounds. | This grant will be used to offset costs associated with a custom retreat for our nonprofit partner, Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty (MADP). | ||||||||||||||
50 | Boston Women's Fund (BWF) | Cambridge | MA | www.bostonwomensfund.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The Boston Women’s Fund (BWF) uplifts, advocates for, and invests in women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals who are leading grassroots organizations and systems change. Together we strive toward racial, economic, social, and gender justice. We envision a world where power, opportunity, and access exist for those persistently marginalized, regardless of gender identity or gender expression. BWF was founded in 1984 by a group of progressive women who sought to support marginalized women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals in achieving racial, economic, social, and gender justice. BWF was the first women’s foundation in Massachusetts and is one of the oldest of the over 145 nonprofit women’s foundations in the United States. Our founders recognized that organizations supporting women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals received fewer foundation grants than other organizations. This was especially true for groups helping low-income women and women of color. Today, research shows that women and girls receive less than 7.5% of all grant dollars awarded by foundations nationwide. This shrinks to .5% when looking at giving toward women and girls of color. We believe that change begins with women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals in their own communities and with the necessary resources they are able to implement their ideas and solutions. We believe that women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals can and must be leaders within all movements if progressive change is to occur. Since our inception, a core value at BWF has been that decisions would be made by a racially and economically diverse group of women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals and that funds would be raised by a broad group of donors across all economic backgrounds. Over the past 39 years, BWF has provided leadership training and granted more than $7.6 million, over 385 grant awards, to grassroots organizations. | BWF uplifts, advocates for, and invests in women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals that are Black and Brown, people of color, LGBTQIA+, elderly, immigrants, refugees, low-income, and differently-abled and neurodiverse in the Greater Boston area. | To support a six-month leadership training program for women and gender-expansive community leaders of color. | ||||||||||||||
51 | Boundless in Motion | Boulder | CO | www.boundlessinmotion.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Boundless in Motion is a 501(c)(3) corporation based in Boulder, Colorado that was incorporated on November 17, 2021. Boundless in motion focuses on issues including racial justice, white supremacy, and climate change as well as Buddhist and other contemplative approaches to address grief and trauma that surround these issues. Since 2021, the year of our incorporation as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Boundless in Motion has provided at least one annual residential retreat for people of color that is focused on inner healing (through meditation and grief work) and outer strategic actions for climate and social justice. The planning and execution of these retreats is led by a Black woman staff member. Boundless in Motion is also developing a residential retreat to be focused on members of the indigenous community who are women or non-binary. The retreat will be led by an indigenous woman staff member. Boundless in Motion integrates meditation, somatic and mindfulness practices throughout its activities. Kritee (dharma name Kanko), Ph.D. is a Climate Scientist, Zen Buddhist priest, Climate Justice educator and the founding spiritual teacher of Boundless in Motion. She also sits on the board of our organization. She is a cis woman of color from India. We note that our organization is not very active on social media. We operate through in-person relationships. Our retreats are small with only 20-30 people in attendence but they are very effective incubators of long-term collaborations. | The focus of our work is climate justice (that necessarily includes gender justice) and healing for women of color. Since 2021, our nonprofit has designed and led four retreats for people of color which were attended by 85-90% trans and cis women of color, and/or non-binary people of color. The rest of the participants were men of color. One can see the photographs and some details of our BIPOC healing retreat here: https://boundlessinmotion.org/bipoc-2023-retreat/ We design and teach other silent meditation retreats for mixed race groups as well but our primary focus in healing of those who carry the most trauma so that we can access our collective spiritual power, love and cohesion in these times of polycrisis. We definie polycrisis as a cluster of interdependent and compounding events due to climate crisis, loss of forests, soils and clean air along with rise of intense conflicts and inequalities. This polycrisis has deep roots in colonialism, racism, human supremacy and from a spiritual point of view “a mind of separation”. | This grant will be used to create and provide residential retreats for BIPOC women to address personal and intergenerational trauma, create coalitions and build capacity to address the ongoing polycrisis that includes climate crisis and racial inequities. | ||||||||||||||
52 | The Brave House | BROOKLYN | NY | www.thebravehouse.com | What is your organization's background and mission? The Brave House supports young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth, ages 16-24, in New York City, with a focus on survivors of gender-based violence. We provide free legal aid, community, and holistic services within a container of joy, friendship, and resilience. Our support is comprehensive, through case management for housing, education, employment, food, and financial advocacy, and through programming like our New and Expecting Moms Assistance and Youth Leadership Board. We host 3-5 community events per month focused on wellness and education, such as art therapy, mindfulness, self-defense, and dance class. In addition, we provide free legal aid, including representation in immigration court, Know Your Rights training, and legal literacy through our mobile App. Launched in 2018, the Brave House grew from our founder's work as an immigration attorney at another New York non-profit, where she gained a unique perspective on the complex challenges immigrant children face in accessing crucial services such as help with school, health insurance, housing, and finding community. Our mission is to co-create joyful, inclusive spaces where young Black and Brown immigrants can connect, heal from their past trauma, and develop skills for long-term happiness and success. We strive to help community members build the economic mobility and freedom to pursue dreams of their own choosing and live a life where they are not just surviving, but thriving. By empowering and investing in immigrant girls and young women, we are disrupting cycles of intergenerational violence and poverty. | The Brave House has supported over 200 young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth (ages 16-24) in NYC, with a focus on survivors of gender-based violence. Our members come to us from 24 different countries, collectively speaking over 20 languages, and join us from all five boroughs and Long Island. Our members face human rights violations, PTSD, domestic violence, housing insecurity, unemployment, and mental health challenges. Many flee to the US after suffering a traumatic event abroad, such as gang rape, forced underage marriage, and attempted female genital mutilation (“FGM”). Often, they are living in shelters, foster care, or shared spaces where their health and safety are not supported. Many members have been with the Brave House for the past 5 years, and we’ve seen them through major milestones like graduation, birth of children, winning green cards, gender transitions, and more. The Brave House responds to the international violence and poverty against low-income immigrant women of color, who flee to the US seeking safety but are met with oppressive systems that compound the trauma they are already experiencing. We believe systemic change happens when overlapping oppressions are disrupted through sustainable support, and when impacted communities are given the resources, platforms, and autonomy to create change. | The grant will be used to support the mental health and healing of young immigrant women in NYC, and the team that works directly with them, by providing a free, immersive, somatic sensory “Healing Room.” | ||||||||||||||
53 | BreakOUT! | New Orleans | LA | https://www.facebook.com/YouthBreakOUT/ | What is your organization's background and mission? BreakOUT! founded in 2011 works to end the criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non conforming , queer, nonbinary and, intersex (LGBTGNCQI) youth and community to build a more just New Orleans. We inherit the rich cultural tradition of resistance in the Deep South to mobilize the power of Black, African Diasporic, Indigenous, Latine, Asian, Arab and multi-racial youth, ages 13+ directly impacted by the criminal legal system through youth organizing, healing justice, and leadership development. | The primary base for our work are New Orleanians age 13+ who are Black, Latine, Asian, or multi-racial who are directly impacted by the criminal legal system. This includes young people (13-25) navigating the juvenile justice, ICE detention, foster care, housing/shelter, healthcare, and education systems. In addition we also have a base of 25+ members who assist our older membership with navigating the prison incarceration, ICE detention, housing/shelter, healthcare, and education systems. Our multi-stakeholders are our Board- 6 members total (50% youth 50% 25+, 100% Trans , Nonbinary& Women) Staff- 6 staff total (25% youth 50% age 25-30 25% 30+ , 100% Trans, Nonbinary & Women) and Membership- 80 total 40% youth 60% 25+ 100% LGBTGNCQI, Black, Latine, Asian, or multi-racial. | These funds will be used to support our organization wide planning meetings for 2024 goals and direction (multi-stakeholder planned for once a month Sept, Oct., Nov, and Dec.) | ||||||||||||||
54 | Breast Cancer Action | San Francisco | CA | www.bcaction.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Breast Cancer Action’s mission is achieve health justice for all people at risk of and living with breast cancer by focusing on systemic interventions, which includes policies, institutions, and practices, and by centering people with the furthest relationships to power. | women (trans and cis) and gender queer expansive folx who are intergenerational, centering people with the furthest relationships to power. | The main purpose of this grant is to provide support of BCAction work centering Health Justice, Environmental Justice (environmental racism), and Racial Justice to support in strategizing, cross-movement collaboration and power building/shifting efforts. | ||||||||||||||
55 | Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles | Hawthorne | CA | www.breastfeedla.org | What is your organization's background and mission? BreastfeedLA is a grassroots coalition formed in 1994 and incorporated as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 in September 2001. BreastfeedLA is the only organization of its kind in Los Angeles (LAC) and is governed by a diverse, twelve-member Board of Directors. We address infant feeding equity in LAC through three (3) pillars of change: Education, Outreach, and Advocacy. Infant feeding equity means every expectant or new parent has access to information, resources, and support that facilitate informed decision making and the ability to feed their infant in the way they determine is safest, healthiest, and most fitting for their lives. | Infants who are fed human milk experience fewer life-threatening infections, lower rates of SIDS, and stronger immune systems. Studies also demonstrate the value of chest/breastfeeding for mothers/lactating people, including stimulating protective physiologic processes that reduce risk of postpartum hemorrhage, one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the United States. The latest research is undeniable: the protection and promotion of human milk feeding is an essential primary prevention strategy in reducing infant and maternal deaths. However, in order for a baby to be exclusively breastfed for six months, one must overcome a system of structural barriers that leave certain groups, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), with less support to truly make this choice. Overlapping structural inequities in income, healthcare, and available resources in ones’ community lead to differing outcomes for people of color. In 2020, 88,671 babies were born in LAC. Of those babies, 56% were Hispanic, 19% were White, 13% Asian and 7% Black. For families of color in LAC, significant barriers to achieving successful chest/breastfeeding persist. Following trends of infant and maternal mortality statistics, significant racial disparities exist in both initiation and duration rates of breastfeeding. In-hospital data collected within 48 hours of birth by the California Department of Public Health indicate that 78% of white babies are exclusively breastfed compared to 56% of Black, 58% of Hispanic, and 57% of Asian babies. There is a significant drop in exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months and families living in South Los Angeles experience the greatest drop at 28%. Among families who did not initiate breast/chestfeeding in LAC, fewer than a third said it was due to medical problems suggesting that education, hospital policy change, and access to culturally congruent lactation resources could have made a difference. Even if there are resources available, the lactation professionals that families encounter often lack cultural humility and/or cannot speak their language. In a 2020 BreastfeedLA survey with 378 community members and lactation support professional respondents, it was found that there were insufficient Spanish speaking lactation professionals to meet the need of Spanish speaking families in LAC. It was even harder to find lactation professionals who spoke an Asian language. While 11% of Los Angeles County residents speak an Asian or Pacific Islander language at home, only 4.5% of survey respondents spoke one of these languages. Less than 18% of IBCLC's spoke Spanish though Spanish speakers make up 38% of Los Angeles County residents. | This grant would afford staff at BreastfeedLA much needed time to take care of ourselves so that we can continue caring for those most important to us and the rejuvenation that will result will provide us all with light and hope to continue our work. | ||||||||||||||
56 | Breathe | Oakland | CA | www.BreatheForJustice.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Breathe was formed in 2020 by a small group of lifelong activists with the mission of catalyzing and sustaining networks that amplify and support work for racial, environmental, and climate justice. The IRS certified us as a 501c3 but then we elected to be one of Movement Strategy Center's fiscally sponsored projects because they are an experienced incubator and offer so much to augment our organizational capacity. Also, as a new network builder, it helped Breathe to immediately have so many aligned organizations to partner with and learn. | In general, Breathe centers and supports people in marginalized communities who are disproportionately impacted by a racially injust, exploitative, classist system, and therefore experience greater vulnerability to health issues, financial distress, food and housing insecurity, and other types of preventable suffering. More specifically, we support the leadership of people and groups from these communities working for solutions. In the context of this grant, I'm compelled to point out that 85-90% of the time our partner organizations are led by women. | Grassroots organizations and individuals will beta-test our community engagement platform so we learn how best to support each other's work, collaborate for lasting impact, and build intersectional solidarity. | ||||||||||||||
57 | The Breathe Network | Portland | OR | www.thebreathenetwork.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Founded in 2012, The Breathe Network positions survivors' right to heal at the center of the anti-sexual violence movement in order to better ensure that healing will be possible for survivors in this lifetime. Given the unique combination of our founder’s experiences as a survivor, a healer, and an advocate, we have intentionally built bridges among holistic healers, traumatology experts, and the advocacy community on a national scale. The impact of our nuanced understanding of and comprehensive approach to addressing sexual trauma is that both the care survivors receive in the wake of trauma is enhanced, and also, we infuse greater embodiment, sustainability, and collective healing among the people who are contributing to this essential and collaborative work. Our mission is to support sexual trauma survivors with trauma-informed, sliding-scale, holistic healthcare and healing resources, while educating and training healthcare, healing, and advocacy providers to understand the nuances of how sexual trauma impacts survivors and best practices in trauma-informed care. We have built a membership network of over 125+ trauma-informed healthcare and healing providers across the United States who practice both conventional and alternative healing modalities including: psychotherapy, bodywork, birthwork, acupuncture, yoga, equine-assisted therapy, and more. We develop and deliver trauma-informed, sexual assault-specific professional development to healthcare and healing providers and offer survivor programming on the neurobiology of trauma, self-care, and resilience. We provide direct healing services, maintain a searchable database on healers and trauma healing practices, write and teach on the physiological impacts of sexual trauma, and have conducted IRB-approved research grounded in the lived experiences of survivors - research which guides the programs and resources we create for our community. | The Breathe Network serves the sexual trauma survivor community. Sexual trauma is a form of gender-based violence, which the White House Gender Policy Council recently described as “a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between women and men, as well as other power differences, that disproportionately undermine the safety, health, wellbeing, economic potential, and human rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ people.” (White House Gender Policy Council) Given that sexual trauma intersects with other forms of trauma and oppression, it disproportionately affects marginalized communities who, simultaneously, face greater barriers to accessing healing resources. The outcome of this is that sexual trauma operates as both a “consequence and driver of inequality and inequity.” (White House Gender Policy Council) We serve survivors across a range of identities and experiences, including those whose access to resources has been diminished by social, cultural, and systemic barriers, such as: BIPOC survivors, LGBTQI+ survivors, disabled survivors, male survivors, child survivors, older survivors, sex workers, and military survivors. | We will invest in the radical restoration of our staff, board, and member collective by developing a community healing program intended to counterbalance the isolation and overwhelm of working in the anti-violence field as sexual trauma survivors. | ||||||||||||||
58 | Brew & Forge | Greenfield | MA | www.brewandforge.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Brew & Forge amplifies the collective power of writers and other artists to alchemize dreaming and build capacity in movements for liberation, justice, and survival. Through our annual book fair, retreat, and other events, we strive to foster mutual flourishing between writers and activists, leveraging the creative imagination to help build sustainable movements. Founded by poet and community organizer Franny Choi in 2016, Brew & Forge emerged from conversations among women, queer, and trans writers of color about the role of artists in our movements for racial and gender justice. Together, we envision a world in which: 1) the imaginative capacity required for radical change is robust, supported, well-resourced, and amplified; 2) the revolutionary imaginations of artists and movement builders merge to expand the visions, strategies, and possibilities of their work; 3) rest is normalized, and movements are sustainable. | We see our role largely as a conduit between two groups of people within the world of movement-building: artists (especially writers) and activists (especially community organizers). We work with slightly different constituencies depending on the program; for example, the Retreat is specifically for BIPOC poets and organizers, whereas the Book Fair is open to a larger pool of authors. Our primary constituents are historically oppressed writers and movement workers, with an emphasis on BIPOC, women, queer, trans, and nonbinary people. More broadly, our constituency includes socially engaged writers, readers, and artists, as well as activists and organizers who understand the arts to be integral to fights for justice and liberation. | This grant will support the 2024 Witches & Warriors Retreat for BIPOC poets and movement workers. | ||||||||||||||
59 | Bridges 4 Life | Hackensack | NJ | www.Bridges4life.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Bridges 4 Life is a New Jersey/New York based nonprofit that provides job resources, mutual aid and peer support to Trans/Gender non conforming persons aging out of the foster system in attaining stability. We have a roster of community supported programs including our Transgender Women Involved in Strategy For Transformation TWIST program. TWIST is a gender justice initiative that facilitates our community to share experiences, offer support and bond through the challenges of HIV diagnosis, while learning safe coping skills and healing. Our organization's mission is to Help TGNC individuals aging out of the foster care system, black trans sex workers and those seeking asylum, grow into successful adulthood. Our organizational background comes from the success we’ve had in just three years. With little to none. As a New, an upcoming organization, and highly underfunded. Bridges 4 life has been able to provide over 30,000 hot cooked meals, over 400 winter jackets and coats. and has service over a dozen into safe housing. Prior to starting bridges4life i’ve been doing nonprofit work since 2008 everything I’ve learned throughout the years, has been carried over into Bridges4life, and has served as a Mirror to the work that I am doing here today that adds on to our organization background | Tahtianna Fermin Paul Boranian Lawrence Carrol Valerie Napolitano Tae Garcia Jashaun Sadler Our primary constituents consist of trans youth in the Eastern New Jersey/Metro NY area. Six of them are board members and the remaining five are individuals from our community advisory board. Both board groups work together and participate in monthly meetings where decisions are voted upon and made. The demographics and racial percentage surrounding my constituents are as follows: 70% black & brown trans folks with a remainder 30% white caucasian individuals. In addition to the inside constituents of the organization, Bridges4life participate in a biweekly meeting with elders of our community, leaders and executive directors. This biweekly meeting is used to share project ideas, discuss community disasters, create resolution for our organizations, and help structure fundamental stability. Among us are organizations like Garden State Equality, Hudson pride center, Newark LGBTQ center, Jersey pride, Nytag and glitz. | This grant will be used to help restore and create self care for our community. | ||||||||||||||
60 | Brown Mamas | Pittsburgh | PA | www.brownmamas.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Brown Mamas stands as a transformative force within the Black mothering community, channeling healing and restorative justice over a decade. As a social impact enterprise, our journey began as an intimate gathering, a sanctuary where Black mothers could openly share their challenges and triumphs in raising Black children. From these humble beginnings, our movement has flourished into a vibrant network offering positive socialization opportunities and an online forum that serves as a parenting portal to the Pittsburgh community empowering the amplification of the voices and lived experiences of Black mothers. With origins in living room discussions, Brown Mamas has blossomed into a haven that unites nearly 7000 Black moms locally in Pittsburgh and resonates with over 10,000 mothers nationwide. It all started when Muffy, battling postpartum depression, discovered a sense of belonging among kindred spirits. From that pivotal moment, a blog was born, evolving into a thriving Facebook community that transcends the digital realm. Brown Mamas is more than just an online community; it's a testament and investment in the power of shared narratives, healing and mutual aid. Both online and offline through our platform, stories, resources, groceries, uniforms and unwavering support are exchanged, forging genuine connections for Black women. In this restorative journey, we've forged alliances with a diverse array of partners, ranging from philanthropic entities such as the Heinz Endowments and Pittsburgh Foundation, to influential corporations like Facebook, Allegheny Health Network and Dollar Bank, as well as impactful nonprofits including Healthy Start and the Black Women's Health Imperative. Together, we've woven a tapestry of collaboration that brings our vision to life. The story of Brown Mamas is one of tribe-building, a testament to the strength of unity, resilience, and social evolution, epitomizing the profound transformation that unfolds when Black mothers decide to become the village they seek. | The primary constituents of our work are Black mothers in the Pittsburgh region. | Brown Mamas would like to utilize funds to build capacity of our Social Impact Program. | ||||||||||||||
61 | Build Our Lives Together Inc | Philadelphia | PA | www.phillybolt.org | What is your organization's background and mission? BOLT was founded by Hillary Do, based on her own lived experiences with poor social, mental, physical well-being rooted in racism and poverty. Her mother immigrated from China, and her dad was a refugee from Vietnam – he was a “boat person,” nearly dying to escape to Malaysia. Both came to America in high hopes of a better life, but found the American dream was not all it was set out to be. The neighborhood her parents immigrated to had little resources – poor schools, high rates of gun violence, and vacant lots overfilled with trash. Because of the poor air quality, Hillary grew up with asthma. After her father died in a car accident, she was raised by her mother. It was not easy navigating spaces that treated them differently because of broken English, the color of their skin, and their lack of wealth – it was often lonely. As an organizer, Hillary saw the power of community in creating well-being, specifically to help people heal from trauma. Moreover, she saw the power of having people in the community to lead the healing because they knew what their neighbors needed and there is power in seeing people in similar circumstances to you lead. However, those people were heavily under-resourced compared to outside stakeholders (the latter often created harm through their lack of connection to the communities they served). Hillary founded BOLT to redistribute and give power to people in under-resourced communities to lead the change they want to see. She sees that as an act of healing, and thus, long-term, creating sustainable change. That led her to create two programs, one for youth and one for adults, that would break down barriers to knowledge, skills, network, resources, and capital, so they could help their communities thrive. At BOLT, our mission is to empower grassroots leaders to bring the change their communities want to see. | From ideation to implementation, BOLT incorporates the perspectives of those most often gatekept from conversations about social change. Among them, BIPOC women and girls, and non-binary individuals tend to find themselves outside of decision-making rooms. BOLT seeks to model what it looks like when women lead these conversations and help shape their own communities. >With staff leadership consisting of two women of color, BOLT embodies what it means to uplift the voices of women and bake them into the fabric of the organization. Leadership is actively involved in the facilitation and design of our programs. >We have created procedures that encourage more women/non-binary leaders to apply. And unlike other organizations, we have systems in place that allow participants to fully engage in our programs including flexible participation options and funding opportunities. >At BOLT, 75% of staff; 63% of the Board; and 76% of participants identify as women or non-binary. Not only are the principles of justice embedded in our ideals, we demonstrate what it means to hold space for women and non-binary individuals, and empower them to thrive. >Our onboarding process for new employees instills in staff the difference between charity and justice. Charity asks: “What is wrong, how can I help?” Justice asks: “Why is this happening and how do we change it?” That is reflected in our organizational values, which includes: “Always ask why?” The primary constituents of our work are those who are marginalized - majority low-income, BIPOC, women / non-binary. | This grant will fund 50 young people in leadership development to mobilize their communities for change | ||||||||||||||
62 | Bvlbancha Public Access | New Orleans | LA | www.bvlbanchapublicaccess.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Bvlbancha Public Access is a collective of Indigenous collaborators who create content they feel accurately reflects their life experiences; and display this to provide de-mystified, publicly accessible content on Indigenous Gulf South culture to the general public. Members of Indigenous communities in the Gulf South often struggle with their Indigenous identities. They often feel a burden to prove their Indigeneity, and are often treated as non-Indigenous, in spite of enduring personal legacies of ancestral discrimination, genocide, displacement, and segregation on the basis of being Indigenous. This burden often takes the form of a necessity to constantly establish validity as individuals, communities, and cultures. This burden can be a point of tension outside of Indigenous communities, as interested non-community members seek to find accurate information on local Indigenous culture, and often further burden Indigenous communities with difficult or inappropriate information requests. Established in 2021, Bvlbancha Public Access is a fiscally sponsored project of the National Performance Network (NPN) led by Hali Dardar (Houma, cis female) and Ida Aronson (Houma, Two Spirit trans), and also including Jean-Luc Pierite (Tunica-Biloxi, gay male), Koni Achafa (Monacan, Saponi, Lenni Lenape, cis male). The project works with Indigenous artists, thought leaders, and creators in the Gulf South to advocate for higher visibility for the Indigenous Peoples of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama whose voices are often unheard, and whose cultural and artistic artifacts are often overlooked. The media created in the project is publicly accessible and broadcast on our Twitter (https://twitter.com/BvlbanchaAccess), Youtube (https://tinyurl.com/BPA-YouTube), and Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/bvlbanchapublicaccess). Bvlbancha Public Access: https://www.bvlbanchapublicaccess.com/home | Collaborators within the project are artists and community language activists who have an active interest in the preservation of their community's heritage language. Our target audience is the greater Gulf South general public, and Indigenous youth of the Gulf South. Through a process of relationship building, interviewing, art commissions, and public programming Bvlbancha Public Access seeks to contribute to the following questions: How can we strengthen Indigenous relationships in the Gulf South? Who is the Indigenous Gulf South, and what are their thoughts and art? Are there interaction patterns among people of Indigenous Gulf South communities? What is a digital ceremony? How can the oral history interviewing and public media content reflect Indigenous intellectual property values and documentation concerns? | Bvlbancha Public Access requests $25,190 to hire legal support in drafting non-profit bylaws reflective of Indigenous principles ($2,400), convene with Bvlbancha Liberation Radio to improve work ($13,300), and rest funding for self-care ($7,200). | ||||||||||||||
63 | California Black Womens Collective Empowerment Institute | Carson | CA | www.cablackwomenscollective.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute, a 501C3 non-profit organization, focuses on improving the lives of Black Women and Girls throughout the state. Through partnerships with corporate, social, not for profit, and advocacy entities, the Empowerment Institute develops programs and initiatives that have a meaningful impact on dismantling systemic social, economic and physical barriers. The purpose of the Empowerment Institute is to: Serve as the anchor organization for the CA Black Women’s Think Tank with academic partner, California State University at Dominguez Hills, which is the first policy think tank in the nation focused exclusively on Black females; Elevate our voice, power, and participation to secure adequate representation and reparations; Amplify our issues and priorities that are vital to elevate Black Women; organize and leverage Utilize our extensive talent, influence, networks, and brilliance into areas of collective alignment; Eliminate the racist and sexist attacks on Black Women and Girls; and Elevate the agenda and collective power of Black Women locally and nationally to secure the social and economic safety-net. Our mission is to uplift the voices and issues of Black Women and Girl in California. This includes non binary, Trans and those who identify as female. Our vision is to improve the lives of Black Women and Girls in California. Our values Resilient, Elevate, Advocate, Collaborate, and Hopeful (REACH) drives our work. | We focus on the 1.1 million Black Women and Girls in California, their family and the communities that they live in. | This grant will be used for us to create a digital solution to more effectively engage and inform Black Women about issues, campaigns, initiatives, etc. | ||||||||||||||
64 | California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative a fiscally sponsored project of Asian Health Services | Oakland | CA | www.cahealthynailsalons.org | What is your organization's background and mission? CHNSC's mission is to mobilize the nail salon workforce to transform the health, safety, and working conditions of the nail salon industry to build a healthy, sustainable, and equitable community. | The nail salon industry has been one of the country’s fastest growing industries with a long history in theVietnamese refugee and immigrant community. California has the largest nail salon workforce in thecountry, with over 428,000 licensed cosmetologists and manicurists. Prior to COVID-19, cosmetology wasone of the fastest growing professions in California with an estimated 13% growth over the next decade. As it is the case with other low-wage service industries, COVID-19 profoundly exacerbated nail salonworkers’ economic precarity. Since 2020, the nail salon community has been devastated, with estimated30-40% of salons permanently closed and tens of thousands of jobs lost. Owners have grappled with howto cover payroll and ongoing expenses, and workers have struggled to find work while those who did workfound themselves at high risk for COVID-19. Manicurists were found to be paid less than pre-COVID dueto a decreased customer base and less generated income. Asian immigrant workers have also beeninvisibilized in the broader story of employment and workers of color. An MSN article found that AsianAmerican women accounted for the highest rates of long-term unemployment, with nearly half ofunemployed Asian American women being out of work for 6 months or more. As an industry, nail salons are mostly small businesses with 9 out of 10 salons having fewer than 10employees and 68% having less than 5 employees. This poses unique and complex challenges foremployers who are expected to provide services at low costs without steady revenue as salons are openall year yet tend to have seasonal "peaks" of customers during major holidays and during warmer weather.Vietnamese salons charge approximately 30% less for services than average rates. These “race to thebottom” prices drive owners to cut corners to break even. Key findings from our Nail Files study, in collaboration with the UCLA Labor Center, also show that: 1) Self-employment rates are 30% - three times higher than the national average, 2) In addition to low wages,workers are paid a flat rate (rather than hourly), and have minimum wage and overtime violations, and 3)There is a high rate of independent contractors. Some may be true independent contractors, but many are purposely misclassified by employers and avoid labor protections. | This grant will be used for healing, rest, and restoration of staff to invest in their wellness and long term sustainability in the organization. | ||||||||||||||
65 | Caribbean Equality Project | South Ozone Park, NY | NY | https://www.caribbeanequalityproject.org/ | What is your organization's background and mission? The Caribbean Equality Project (CEP) is a New York City-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that empowers, advocates for, and represents Black and Brown, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, and queer Caribbean immigrants in New York City. Through public education, community organizing, civic engagement, storytelling, and cultural and social programming, the organization focuses on advocacy for LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights, gender equity, racial justice, immigration, mental health services, and ending hate violence in the Caribbean diaspora. Caribbean Equality Project was founded by Mohamed Q. Amin in response to an incident of anti-LGBTQ+ hate violence in Richmond Hill, Queens that took place in the summer of 2013. That hate crime incident resulted in further troubling expressions of homophobia from the predominantly Caribbean-American local community as well as troubling interactions with various law enforcement agencies in pursuing justice. Alongside local activists Andy Bishun and Krishna Ramsarran, Amin launched a year-long listening tour to assess the challenges and experiences of other queer immigrant New Yorkers of Caribbean descent. Once it became clear that there was a need for leadership, advocacy, support, and affirming culturally congruent spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer+ (LGBTQ+) people in West Indian communities in NYC, the three young, Guyanese-American activists started the Caribbean Equality Project. Since being founded in 2015, the organization has been hosting bi-monthly healing community spaces through its Unchained support groups in Queens and Brooklyn, facilitates immigration legal services for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, curates oral history and storytelling interdisciplinary art exhibitions, organizes culture-shifting programming and builds political power through civic engagement, Census outreach, redistricting, voter registration, and legislative advocacy to advance LGBTQ+ and voting rights in New York State. | The vast majority of our service population are black and brown immigrants living in southern Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Our services are primarily for working-class and low-income queer, trans, non-binary individuals of Afro-Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, and Latino-Caribbean descent. We have regular clients in their late teens to their 60s who are irreligious, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and some multi-faith individuals, of varying immigration statuses including undocumented immigrants and asylum-seekers. The Caribbean LGBTQ+-identified population in New York is not monolithic and each one of our services is tailored to (or attracts) a different subset within this group. For instance, our immigration support work primarily serves recent immigrants, asylum-seekers, and undocumented individuals; our social programming primarily serves individuals in their late 20s to early 40s off all economic statuses; and our material aid work (food pantries, emergency relief payments, medical expense coverage) primarily serves our lowest-income population including those that are in transitional housing, are unemployed, or are underemployed. It is worth noting that our service population is primarily (though not explicitly/exclusively) focused on individuals with ties to the English-speaking Caribbean. | The funds from this grant will be directed towards the expansion of our Trans Justice Unit, with a focus on recruitment, education, capacity building, and the development and implementation of navigation services for trans immigrants of color. | ||||||||||||||
66 | Center for Third World Organizing | Oakland | CA | www.ctwo.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) is a racial justice organization whose mission is to help build and sustain a thriving social justice movement for collective liberation led by communities of color and frontline communities. CTWO was founded by welfare rights community organizers Gary Delgado and Hulbert James in 1980. Compelled by both the social, political, and economic conditions confronting communities of color in the ‘70s and the lack of a racial analysis in the emerging community organizing networks, the founders envisioned an institution focused on racial justice, led by and for people of color that would combine analysis and action to achieve significant social change for communities of color. Today, the Center for Third World Organizing is a training and resource center that promotes and sustains direct action organizing in communities of color in the United States. CTWO provides organizer-training programs, including the renowned Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) and Community Action Training (CAT), and builds an active network of organizations and activists of color working to achieve racial justice in its fullest dimensions. Additionally, CTWO provides consultation and customized training. We provide formalized spaces and technical support for folks looking to experiment and take risks. | Our constituents are organizers and future leaders of social justice movements. Our communities represent marginalized and vulnerable populations, largely composed of Black and Brown people, LGBTQ people, and multiple religious and non-religious communities. Our organizers in training are often 18-30 years old and of various physical abilities. Some notable alumni are: Rinku Sen, formally of Race Forward; Marisa Franco, #Not1More Deportation Campaign; Gina Acebo, Akonadi Foundation; Philip Ting, Assemblyman; Jamilah King, journalist; and Dawn Phillips, Right to the City Alliance. Our current constituency is approximately 70% African American, 18% Latino, 7% Asian Pacific Islander, 2% white, 2% American Indian, and 1% Arab American. We are national in scope with intentional work in St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, North Carolina, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, and Jackson. | This grant will be used to support our Movement Vision Project, a resilience-based project that supports Black movement organizers in recharging and cultivating personal and collective care practices. | ||||||||||||||
67 | Centro Corona Inc. | Corona | NY | https://www.instagram.com/centrocorona/?hl=en | What is your organization's background and mission? Centro Corona is an intergenerational community center in Corona, Queens born from the experience, leadership, and knowledge of working-class and immigrant communities in our neighborhoods to build a self-determined, collectively-imagined future. | Centered around our working-class migrant members who have long roots in Corona, Centro Corona is an intergenerational, multiracial, mixed immigration status, and cross-class community who understand we all have a stake in abolition. Many of Centro Corona's leaders in our past and present have been mothers, caretakers, and kids. | In 2024, Centro Corona will strengthen our hybrid and interpretation skills and tools to create safer, more accessible gatherings: the basic building blocks we lay now to further organize long-term collective safety networks in our neighborhoods. | ||||||||||||||
68 | Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Unido Inc. | Las Marías | PR | www.cambu.org/new-index | What is your organization's background and mission? Our organization was born after the passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Initially, it focused on providing supplies, prepared food, and support in reconstruction efforts. After the emergency phase, we conducted a community census where we identified various needs. The Bucarabones community in Las Marías expressed a desire for educational and entertainment spaces for children and youth and health-related events. Taking this into consideration, and with our interest in organizing and empowering the community, we redirected our efforts towards creating spaces and educational programs and coordinating various health and cultural events to develop a strong foundation of leaders in the long term. Our mission is to support communities like Bucarabones and others through self-management practices, collectively cultivating better relationships across present and future generations based on democratic, inclusive, compassionate, and loving principles. As a project, we create comprehensive spaces for educational, technological, recreational, cultural, and healing experiences to improve individual and community well-being. The palpable effects of intergenerational trauma on our bodies and communities drive our efforts to bring tools that alleviate symptoms resulting from these life experiences. | Our organization's team consists of a diverse leadership group, primarily women (six women and two men) from the working-class, impoverished, and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities in rural areas of Puerto Rico. These women have actively participated in CAMBU since its inception in 2017, contributing their unique talents and skills to benefit the project and the broader community. They have facilitated art, sculpture, photography, documentary, and auriculotherapy workshops while also coordinating brigades, cultural and health events, donation deliveries, and preparing meals for hundreds of people. | This grant aims to provide healing justice events/ experiences to alleviate symptoms- related to intergenerational trauma for communities in the municipality of Las Marías. | ||||||||||||||
69 | TENT | Austin | TX | http://transtexas.org | What is your organization's background and mission? TENT is an organization dedicated to furthering gender diverse equality in Texas through a racial justice lens. We work to accomplish this through education, networking, and advocacy in both public and private forums. Through our efforts we strive to halt discrimination through social, legislative, and corporate education. Our organization is the only transgender policy organization in Texas, and the largest state focused transgender organization in the country. Other programs include our Gender 101 and TransSafe workshops, community and parent outreach, back to school outreach, HIV and sexual health education and research, legislative advocacy, and much more. | Centro's membership base is composed of nearly 3,000 household that are 95% working-class people of color. Centro SWU works as a multi-lingual, multi-racial organization and utilizes a community-labor strategy to confront the many faces of injustice in an intergenerational organizing model. This model is membership- based, member-led, and committed to developing local leadership. Our organizations primary constituents are transgender Texans, non-binary Texans, transgender people of color, transgender youth, families of transgender individuals, and so on. | The funds from the Activist Collaboration & Care Fund will be used to offer two weeks of rest days for staff in 2024 and offer a series of healing sessions for sectors of our membership. | ||||||||||||||
70 | Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents | Charlottesville | VA | www.pharcville.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Founded in 1998, PHAR's mission is to educate and empower low-income residents to protect and improve our own community through collective action. PHAR is focused on community organizing and advocacy around housing issues effecting people living in public housing in the city of Charlottesville. PHAR is unique because the board is made up of public housing residents with a majority of board members being black women. All of PHAR's board officers are low-income black women. | Our primary constituency is public housing residents in Charlottesville Virginia. Because of the demographics of public housing a majority of our constituency is black women and other women of color. Public housing in Charlottesville also increasingly providing housing for immigrant families who are almost all people of color. | This funding will support collaboration between the Public Housing Association of Residents and the housing authority, to empower residents to protect and expand deeply affordable housing in Charlottesville. | ||||||||||||||
71 | Chica, INC. | Quincy | MA | www.chicaproject.org | What is your organization's background and mission? HERstory: In 2011, Nurys Camargo launched chica project (CP) because she saw the need for a Boston organization that would enhance the assets and respond to the needs of resource-restricted but culturally-rich, young Latinas and young Women of Color by connecting them with successful, multicultural professional women. Recognized by First Lady Michelle Obama as a high-quality youth development program, our history includes serving over 3,000 participants through mentoring, career exploration, college readiness, and racial justice focused public health programming. Mission: Rooted in our culturally affirming, intergenerational, and asset based framework, we support chicas* on a lifelong journey of community and self discovery to build collective power. *chica - what two women call each other affectionately, in support of solidarity and sisterhood. chica project’s programs are designed to center, affirm, and empower: Black, Latina, & Indigenous identities, we also welcome Asian, Arab, Pacific Islander, & Multiracial Women of Color (WOC) Anyone who identifies as girl/woman, regardless of gender assigned at birth. We also welcome people who identify as femme, non-binary, or gender nonconforming who feel aligned with experiences of girlhood and womanhood Youth beginning at 11 years old, young, and adult women Those whose sense of identity and belonging has been shaped by immigrant or diaspora experiences Vision: We are working towards a world where women, girls, and all people experiencing oppression at the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender have the opportunity to rise to their full potential. | chica project works with Latinas and young Women of Color (WOC) ages 11-18 who are predominantly from culturally rich but underserved and economically marginalized neighborhoods in Framingham, Lawrence, Lowell and Boston MA. Overall, 70%+ of CP participants identify as Latinx and over half as African-American, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Mixed race. Most of our youth’s families come from the Caribbean and Latin America. Almost all participants live in resource-restricted neighborhoods challenged by high levels of violence and poverty, and educational deficits. A significant number of our youth are recent immigrants. We’re extremely supportive of youth who identify as LGBTQIA, and our programming directly addresses homophobia and transphobia. One of our greatest strengths is creating a welcoming environment for girls from a wide variety of language abilities and backgrounds (race, culture, class, immigration status, sexual orientation, etc.). | This grant will be used to move forward chica project's vision of working towards a world where women, girls, and all people experiencing oppression at the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender have the opportunity to rise to their full potential. | ||||||||||||||
72 | Cia Siab, Inc. | La Crosse | WI | www.ciasiabinc.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Cia Siab, Inc. (CS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit agency founded on September 22, 2016 with the bold vision to build a culturally vibrant Hmoob (Hmong) community. We provide culturally and linguistically appropriate Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault (DV/SA) services to the Hmoob community in La Crosse County, which is home to approximately 6,000 Hmoob residents. Our goal is to be a safe, supportive space for Hmoob people of all ages to seek assistance with basic needs (including housing, food, and utility assistance), cultural and language instruction and support, and opportunities for healing from the trauma caused by decades of war, displacement, and ongoing discrimination and violence that our community has experienced. We are a racial and gender justice organization with deep ties to our community. We move with intention to identify and address systemic, institutional barriers to success while also helping We invest significant time and energy in planning meaningful, culturally-grounded intergenerational programming that empowers and prioritizes the ever-evolving needs of victims and survivors. | Our services, programs, and advocacy are designed with the needs of the Hmoob community in mind, with a specific focus on Hmoob women and girls who are victims of crime. Hmoob refugees began arriving in the Coulee Region of Western Wisconsin more than 40 years ago after enduring decades of war, trauma, and displacement. La Crosse County consistently ranks in the top five counties for per-capita Hmoob population in Wisconsin, which has the third largest statewide population of Hmoob people in the nation (after California and Minnesota). Most Hmoob people live in large, multigenerational households, more than half of which meet the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ definition for “working poor”: people who spent at least half of the year working or looking for work but whose incomes never rise above the poverty level. Nearly half of all Hmoob people in the United States (41%) do not communicate in English proficiently and many older Hmoob people do not read or write well in any language. Hmoob youth (defined as age 17 or younger) make up 36% of the total Hmoob population, the highest proportion of youth for any US Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) population. Hmoob families continue to face higher rates of poverty, unemployment, and low wage jobs, resulting in significant challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Anti-Asian and anti-Hmoob hate, bias, and discrimination are more pronounced here than in other parts of the state. Our agency recently concluded a two-year study into the prevalence of anti-Hmoob violence from 1975-2019 and found that Wisconsin has the highest counts of anti-Hmoob violence in the nation. La Crosse had the highest documented incidence rate of anti-Hmoob violence in Wisconsin during the same time period. | Cia Siab, Inc. will collaborate with its community partners to build a culturally vibrant Hmoob community and work toward a world free of institutional and interpersonal violence. | ||||||||||||||
73 | Climate Critical | Baltimore | MD | http://www.climatecritical.earth | What is your organization's background and mission? Climate Critical is a generative community space for creative practice, seeding strategy rather than tactics, and enabling radical care for every one of us in the fight for climate survival. We need you to engage the evolution of environmental work for the generations. Climate Critical is reinforcing a movement of climate activists who are committed to anti racism, feminism, liberative practice and radical care in the fight for climate survival. In the fight to avert climate disaster, our people are a precious resource. Practitioners, organizers, and activists in community are the ones who will make survival possible — but only if we can bring radical rest, restoration, and community care into our movement. Doing this will require new models of leaders who can envision the urgency of this moment and understand the centuries-long struggle of which this is one part. MISSION Climate Critical Earth reinforces the people who fight for the planet. PURPOSE In the struggle to avert climate disaster people are a precious resource. Leaders, organizers and activists, in community, are the ones who make survival possible, but only if we can bring radical reset, restoration and community care into our movement imperative. Disposability culture got us into the climate crisis. We need a different type of leader to get out of it. | Racilaized Environmentalists, Environmental Justice Advocates, organizers and community members; women; | To support our climate mental heath programming for workers experiencing burnout, and for rest practices to support recovery. | ||||||||||||||
74 | The Climb | Brambleton | VA | N/A | What is your organization's background and mission? The Climb is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to the professional and economic advancement of women of color through fostering community, mentorship programming and professional development training. The Climb helps women of color in corporate, government and nonprofit industries navigate everyday workplace challenges, and gain the tools needed to attain managerial and executive leadership positions. Our Mission is to provide support for women of color aspiring to become managers or executives through shared experiences, connections, and leadership development. We provide community and a safe space for women of color to grow and develop through shared experiences, connection, development. The Climb is one of the few organizations dedicated to supporting the personal and professional development needs of women of color across a broad spectrum of industries and sectors. Our board brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, passion, and cultural sensitivity, providing a robust platform and a safe space that actively supports the professional development of women of color, propelling them to advance in their careers. We are offering the only women of color coaching and mentorship network which is of particular benefit considering women of color preferred to be mentored by other women of color. Studies show that people prefer mentoring relationships with those who share their demographic identity. | women of color in corporate, government and nonprofit industries that desire to attain managerial and executive leadership positions. | The “Stand on Her Shoulders” Leadership Development Program | ||||||||||||||
75 | Colectiva Feminista en Construcción | San Juan | PR | http://www.colectivafeminista.org | What is your organization's background and mission? La Colectiva Feminista en Construcción is a grassroots feminist Puerto Rican organization led by Black queer women, following a long radical tradition of feminist, antiracist, anti-colonialist, and LGBTTIQ+ struggle resisting structural oppression and violence while achieving system change. We envision equity as distributions regarded as what's fair, where fairness is based on doing justice to Black, Latinx, and immigrant communities, women and LGBTTIQ+ folks, and other historically marginalized groups. Our organization has scored essential victories by combining grassroots movement-building work with advocacy and direct-action tactics. Moreover, addressing these critical issues requires an intersectional approach toward public policy, aiming for a problem-solving strategy and centering on a collective-based decision-making process. As part of our model, we are committed to doing politics without guarantees, focusing on generating power-building processes that allow us to achieve defined objectives for the benefit of Black, women, indigenous, LGBTQ people, and impoverished communities. We do not focus only on the specific objectives but on the power generated through those processes. With this strategy, we aim to achieve two general goals: in the short term, improve the living conditions of the people who live in Puerto Rico, and in the long term, build the popular power needed to eradicate the systems that oppress marginalized communities. In recent years, La Colectiva has been able to generate a massive social movement that raised awareness around the issue of gender-based violence to the forefront of collective consciousness and as a national priority for the State to address. We were the proposals of a State of Emergency against gender-based violence in 2018, approved in 2021. We also have concentrated our work on the agenda against austerity, the protection of essential services, the citizen debt audit, the non-privatization of public services, and the protection and expansion of sexual and reproductive rights. More recently and as a part of our intersectional analysis of the political situation in Puerto Rico, we have decided to concentrate our work in the agenda against displacement and gentrification in our country. This problem, linked to our colonial status, is also related to the previously mentioned subjects we have been working on. The Colectiva Feminista en Construcción was founded in 2014. Initially, it emerged in response to immediate needs to develop self-defense efforts, defend sexual and reproductive rights, avoid deportations and anti-migrant violence, and develop animal rights work. Various news outlets reported that a serial rapist was attacking women in the communities of Río Piedras, Loíza, and Santurce. We organized to produce a counter-hegemonic narrative to challenge the dominant discourse of women as victims projected in news coverage and the patriarchal prescription for women to avoid going out alone at night as the solution to the problem of sexual assault. One of the first actions that the organization took was to organize a feminist self- defense camp. This camp was inspired by the organization’s anti-capitalist and feminist orientation and the writings of scholars like Sharon Smith (2015) who place the phenomenon of sexual assault in the broader structural context of capitalism. For us, the idea of a self-defense camp was first to empower themselves, feel comfortable again walking alone and claiming the right to dress the way we wanted and to interact with others the way we want. This camp also aimed to portray the workings of economic and political systems that govern us as predatory, sexist, racist, exploitative, and homophobic. Beyond this immediate need, we were also driven to create an organization after realizing that the Puerto Rican political and community organizations in which we were active were not invested in doing intersectional work. Instead, feminism was perceived as women’s jobs or an auxiliary of women’s caucuses in those organizations. For many months, we had to divide our time to engage in political work in separate spaces. During this time, we organized a campaign to oust the mayor of the municipality of Cidra, Wiso Malavé, who had been accused of sexual harassment. After various months of performing this work, and having conversations about our lived experiences, about the issues that we wanted to confront and the kind of political work that we wanted to do, we founded la Colectiva. After realizing that our respective organizations were not prepared to listen to our claims and to work inside the organization to eradicate sexism, it became evident that we needed to organize autonomously and intersectionally. Initially, we held meetings to develop a structure and political orientation that went beyond denouncing the sexism that women, and especially working class women of color, suffer in Puerto Rico. We initially had two goals: 1) to break with all the patriarchal structures that we witnessed in their political organizations and 2) to fight all forms oppressions simultaneously. | Our members are primarily Black and POC femmes from working and/or impoverished families and members of the LGBTTIQ community. Likewise, we are residents of the community of Río Piedras in San Juan, where our organization do political work. Río Piedras is a community whose residents are Black, impoverished, and working-class people, Dominican immigrants, and students from the University of Puerto Rico. In particular, the members of our leadership staff are residents of this community who also participate in the community governance spaces. During the last decades, our community has been impacted by racist public policies and austerity measures, as well as the abandonment of these spaces by the government. Right now, we are actively fighting against the gentrification and displacement of our community and the lack of basic essential services like transportation, affordable health care, and affordable housing. | This grant will be a used for a membership retreat in celebration of our 10-year anniversary; the "re-founding" will serve for grounding, reflecting, and assessment, we'll incorporate healing practices and strategic planning for the many years to come. | ||||||||||||||
76 | Colectivo Ilé Corporación | Caguas | PR | www.colectivo-ile.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Colectivo Ilé is an organization made up of fourteen afro-descendant women dedicated to anti-racist community organizing and leadership development in Puerto Rico since 1992. Through our workshops, processes and community campaigns, we work towards the creation of systemic, institutional and cultural changes that lead to the eradication of racism, violence against women and other interconnected forms of violence and oppression such as patriarchy, heterosexism and colonialism. | Our Community Advisory Circle, which seeks to be a non-eurocentric alternative to conventional and institutionalized “board structure,” represents, through members’ own lived experiences dealing with racism and layers of intersecting oppressions, the diversity of issues Colectivo Ilé deals with survivors of gender-based violence, racism, colonialism, ableism, classism, and heterosexism. This Community Advisory is composed of 19 Black and Afro-descendant women who lead program design, strategic planning, organizational capacity building, fiscal management, fundraising, program evaluation, and other administrative and programmatic aspects. Members are people of color, queer, trans, and gender non-conforming community organizers, educators, activists, parents, workers, and people otherwise involved in community struggle. Most members have participated in our programs and are all involved in our organizing efforts. | Identify the needs and articulate reproductive justice claims from the women/femme’s voices that survive access barriers and inequities. | ||||||||||||||
77 | Collective Climb | Philadelphia | PA | www.collectiveclimb.org | What is your organization's background and mission? There is a sunlit absence behind the prison bars, dust scintillating where the kids used to be. Collective Climb is an experiment in freedom designed to eradicate youth incarceration and antiblackness. We empower BIPOC youth, especially black girls and femmes, in West Philadelphia through three programs: The Restorative Community Project, The Restorative Justice Diversion Program, and The Youth Advisory Board. We are committed to black joy, security, and freedom. | How do I put this? Language destroys. It utterly and frenetically destroys the experiential world. Like a child with a needle in a city filled with red balloons, language bursts life apart from its shape and place in the air, leaving something collapsed and bloody on the pavement. Walk around West Philly often enough, and you’ll find a lot of words on the pavement. Like this morning, I am making my way to Malcolm X Park and on the sidewalk is a spray painted tag of an inspirational saying which I am reading because I am a fan of inspirational sayings. I also just like sidewalks that can teach me things. It's like those t-shirts that say ‘Keep Philly Weird’ or ‘Just Breathe.’ Who ever remembers to breathe anyways? I don't think I was thinking about breathing when I approached this inspirational sidewalk; I just remember having to catch my breath: ‘black joy is important’. Who wrote it? I like to think that the mystery author of this public lesson is who our work serves and our community more broadly. Her name is Destiny, a child of the foster care system, 18, shaking her spray paint awake with something important to say. Their name is Nia, 17, a new immigrant from Barbados dreaming of big things like having less curly hair and hearing fewer gunshots at night. Her name is Sahfeeah and she is gluing on her fake lashes, looking into the reflection of her amber pupils, her own rings of saturn that her late mother gave her so she could see the world through courage and light. If you met him, you would shake their hand, and ask them their name. Basir. And you know them from somewhere… Chick fil a! I know somewhere deep in my toes, somewhere language has no home, that the artist we are talking about is 15, 16, 17, eighteen, 19, and even 20 years old. They’re struggling with Spanish class and they’re transitioning genders without health insurance. They’re black, muslim, left handed, and sometimes a teen mom too. They are their neurodiversities and their school scholarships. They are their clothing lines and lower thigh tattoos. They live in Cobbs Creek or moved into a house on 60th and Girard to get away from all the old block beef. They go to Sayre High School or run track for West Philly High. Maybe they’ll say home is 19139, 19143, 19131, 19104, or maybe they'll just call it “west.” You would see them and ask us to call them “high risk” or “opportunity youth” but that's not their name. It's Janiyah. It’s Ne’ahjay. It’s Khoumbare. That's who we serve. That's our community. | The Restorative Community Project is a paid 3-month violence prevention fellowship training BIPOC West Philadelphia teenagers as Restorative Justice Practitioners to advance healing within our community and in our youth. | ||||||||||||||
78 | ComConnect Foundation | South Bend | IN | http://22610498.hs-sites.com | What is your organization's background and mission? ComConnect Foundation is a 501 c 3 organization that exists to provide opportunity and education for marginalized small business owners to build capacity, acumen, and social impact. Created by Felicia Seals-Buchanan in 2022, herself and African American woman, ComConnect was created to impact BIPOC, female small business owners through connection, education, and mentoring. After recognizing gaps in service for her own small businesses, our creator formed ComConnect Foundation to help facilitate strategic connections that not only benefit local small and emerging businesses, but also the communities that depend on their goods and services. ComConnect is dedicated to creating opportunities for cooperation and collaboration for small and growing businesses. We want to see everyone have the opportunity to participate in the American Dream. | Our program is targeted to and attracts primarily BIPOC, female small business owners and organizational leaders. These include African American, Philippino, Hispanic, and other female small business owners. While many individuals start small businesses, BIPOC women are starting businesses at the highest rate. Our research and experience proves that these populations are in need of our services. | The grant will be used to actively expand B2B, education, collaboration and information sharing that help small business owners overcome systemic economic mobility challenges through relationship building. | ||||||||||||||
79 | Comfrey Films (fiscally sponsored by Allied Media Projects) | Detroit | MI | www.comfreyfilms.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Comfrey Films is a Film Training Program and Production House designed to launch Black trans, gender nonconforming, and intersex (TGNCI) storytellers into the film industry and to tell stories woven at the intersection of being Black and TGNCI. Comfrey Films is focused on cultural organizing and narrative power led by and for Black TGNCI people. We believe that there is no racial justice nor trans/gender justice without economic justice, so we invest in the economic development of our community. Our work is an ode to the comfrey plant used for wound closure. We are utilizing the filmmaking process to bring access to healing justice services and opportunities for individual and collective healing to our Black genderqueer community. This looks like utilizing services such as individual and group therapy, reiki, yoga, meditation, somatic healing and body work during pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution phases of our filmmaking process. How can a community member who shares their story of survival access healing for the trauma that they survived? How can a film editor or crew member release the stories of survival that travel through their eyes, ears, and body prior to an audience’s engagement with the film? When our cast takes on reenacting a traumatic scene, how can we utilize this as an opportunity to move collective trauma out of and through the body of the folks committed to telling this story? There is more room to explore the healing capacity of storytelling/filmmaking for the film’s creators. It takes a village to create a film. Our work in 2023 and beyond explores how this village can access individual and collective healing from trauma through the filmmaking process. | Our work advances progressive change and builds power through narrative power and healing justice organizing for Black transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex (TGNCI) communities in North Carolina and throughout the south. Through our commitment to healing justice, we are returning access to healing justice and wellness resources to Black trans communities in order to support our wellness, sustainability, and resilience in the fight for Black trans liberation and our livelihood. We are combating Black trans erasure, especially in the South as well through our archival footage of Black trans communities and storytelling. We have 190 hours of archived footage of Black trans folks. We have this to build narrative power, especially for Black trans folks in the South to be able to say we are here, this is what we look like and our stories, these are our contributions. We are reviving and building on the legacy of Pauli Murray, our Black trans patron saint from the civil rights era who moved and walked through the streets of Durham, NC and touched the lives of so many Black trans folks—who ultimately made incredible contributions to the civil rights movement and freedoms for Black people but whose legacy has largely been erased from history books and popular culture. | Comfrey Films is partnering with Under False Colors to produce the Under False Colors film. Written, directed and produced by Black trans femme director, Mickaela Bradford, UFC tells the story about the first Black trans woman to testify before Congress. | ||||||||||||||
80 | Community Partners (ORALE (Organizing Rooted in Abolition, Liberation, and Empowerment, A Fiscal Project of Community Partners) | Los Angeles | CA | www.orale.org | What is your organization's background and mission? ÓRALE, formed in 2006, organizes for the dignity, healing justice, and intergenerational power of immigrants and undocumented people of color in California. Our work and purpose are rooted in community, with the goal of abolishing the criminalization of immigrants of color, fortifying community safety and healing, and securing opportunities where immigrant communities thrive. ÓRALE works to ensure that impacted immigrants of color have access to life affirming programs and services that support dignified health justice and care while mobilizing and organizing for widespread transformative systemic change. ÓRALE’s work centers, organizes, and builds power amongst the diverse undocumented community, and advances bold protections and policies that directly aim to dismantle the deeply entrenched racism and xenophobic systems of oppression at the national, state and local level. Not only does ÓRALE work with directly impacted undocumented immigrants of color, but as an organization, ÓRALE’s staff and board members are members of communities in which we organize and build power with. ÓRALE's mission to build and sustain a thriving immigrant-led movement to end the criminalization of immigrants and secure bold protections and opportunities that allow immigrant communities to thrive. | ÓRALE builds power amongst our diverse immigrant community to advance bold protections, dismantle systemic racism, shift narrative, and enervate root causes of systems of oppression on a national, state and local level—while also securing critical resources and education that serve as a catalyst for communities to thrive. ÓRALE works for and with immigrants, the children of immigrants, and members of mixed (immigration) status families, focusing on those who are most marginalized and underserved like: low-income families, survivors of intimate partner violence, BIPOC queer and trans individuals, individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities, single parent/ family households, undocumented community members, LGBQTIA+ community, and those whose English language proficiency is limited. For over a decade, ÓRALE has organized, mobilized, and fortified power within the Long Beach community to ensure that immigrants and undocumented families who are criminalized by the immigration system can live full dignified lives which means that we work specifically with individuals who are survivors of the carceral punitive system that is the criminal justice system and those who have experienced detainment and imprisonment at the detention centers. | We imagine the grant will support our healing and transformative approaches to change, to how we build power, how we adapt together, and to how we honor our highest selves in our work by centering rest and renewal. | ||||||||||||||
81 | Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim | Omaha | NE | www.pixanixim.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Background: Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim: Reinforcing Our Roots, Living Our Maya Heritage (CMPI) is a 501 (c)(3) organization of the Maya Community in Nebraska dedicated to empowering the Maya people through community development programs. CMPI was formed in 2007 by the Q'anjob'al Maya community in Omaha, NE and received 501(c)(3) status in 2012. Through an innovative and indigenous-led model, CMPI and the Q’anjob’al Maya leadership support the estimated 5,000 Q’anjob’al Maya living in Omaha, NE and the estimated 10,000 living in rural Nebraska. CMPI’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of Mayan people through community development strategies in Omaha, Nebraska and Q’anjob’al Maya territory consistent with the Q’anjob’al Maya system of social organization and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. With our regenerative agriculture, health, arts, education, financial empowerment and human rights programs, CMPI envisions contributing to the social, cultural and economic vitality of the wider society we live in. Mission: To improve the health and well-being of Mayan people through community development strategies in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States, and Q’anjob’al Maya territory consistent with the Q’anjob’al Maya system of social organization, in honorable relationships with U.S. sovereign tribal nations, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN DRIP). | The primary constituents of CMPI's work are Maya indigenous peoples and indigenous people groups. Though CMPI services do not discriminate as legal services and case management services have served non indigenous peoples and migrants from Central American countries. Constituents are mainly located in Omaha, Nebraska though our legal services serve families all over the US. | This grant will be used by CMPI to develop leadership skills in girls and women, serve victims of domestic violence, and work to prevent violence against women in children in the Maya community. | ||||||||||||||
82 | Constructing Our Future | Indianapolis | IN | www.constructingourfuture.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Constructing our Future (COF) was created by and continues to be led by previously incarcerated women. Our vision is that previously incarcerated women leaving prison who have a strong desire to restart their lives need to have a home base where they feel supported and welcomed back to the community and to have a path to permanent housing and sustainable employment. | Women leaving incarceration and previously incarcerated women are the primary target of our work. With a current board member currently incarcerated and our outreach efforts with the Indiana Department of Corrections, we assist women in planning their return to the community. For women looking for a stable and supportive reentry path, we provide a home base where they can live. We also support alumni who have successfully transitioned out of incarceration and are living in their own housing. | Enhancing our home base so that women reentering into the community from post-incarceration can focus on a stable path forward including personal safety and healing, in addition to employment and housing. | ||||||||||||||
83 | Contact Center Inc. | Cincinnati | OH | http://contact-center-34cc.mailchimpsites.com | What is your organization's background and mission? Contact Center is a membership based community organization whose mission is to build the leadership and civic participation of our members, a majority of whom live in inner city neighborhoods of Cincinnati. Contact Center organizes issue campaigns that our members identify as most important to our lives. We are committed to organizing for gender, racial and economic justice in Cincinnati and Ohio, as well as join in national organizing with other partners. | Our primary leaders and members are Black women who are raising children and grandchildren in inner city neighborhoods of Cincinnati. | Funding will be used for non-partisan voter registration and Get Out the Vote activities, as well as educate on voter rights. | ||||||||||||||
84 | Coordinadora Paz Para la Mujer, Inc. | San Juan | PR | https://pazparalasmujeres.org/ | What is your organization's background and mission? Coordinadora Paz para las Mujeres (CPM) is the Puerto Rican Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. Our mission is to strengthen gender equality, human rights and violence prevention. CPM is made up of 40 organizations and 14 individual members, including shelters, service organizations, universities, government agencies, and human rights activists. Founded in 1989, CPM was at the forefront of efforts to urge the PR legislature to enact Law 54 to address intimate partner violence. In 1997, the Puerto Rican Coalition Against Domestic Violence was established to carry out promotion, intervention, and prevention activities. In 2002, it added the component of sexual assault. CPM supports organizations that provide services for survivors and their families, conducts research, and mobilizes people to demand changes in public responses to GBV. These actions have been instrumental in changing laws, public opinion, and official policies and practices. Since 2018, CPM has been developing the Centro Paz Para Ti (CPPT) in Adjuntas to strengthen women's protective factors against gender violence in rural areas. From CPPT, we work with 2 protection factors that reduce rural women's risks: 1) the creation economic development opportunities and 2) strengthening community support networks that integrate gender awareness. | CPPT focuses its efforts on the population of rural women residing in the municipality of Adjuntas and surrounding neighborhoods. Most of women participating in our workshops, markets, activities and programs are retired, housewives and/or farmers. Because CPPT is a broad primary prevention effort, it is not necessary for women to state that they are survivors of gender violence to participate in our services. Yet, we know from experience that survivors are present in the room. Physical and economic barriers serve to justify the continuation of a violent relationship. This is the case in the mountain area, where many women live isolated from support services and depend on their partners for their income and that of the family. Traditionally, rural municipalities have had more limited access to transportation, health, education, and income generation services than the island's metropolitan areas. Of the 6 towns with the highest poverty rate in Puerto Rico 2014-2018, 4 (Adjuntas, Maricao, Jayuya and Comerío) are from the central mountain region (PR Institute of Statistics, https://estadisticas.pr/en/ mean/3393; 2020). Furthermore, a gap in transportation and elder/childcare services limits women's access to employment opportunities and other support services. A lack of economic opportunities contributes to increasing stressors in the family and increases the dependence that many women have on their partners. These are factors that contribute to the proliferation of gender violence. According to statistics from the Puerto Rico Police, 206 incidents of Domestic Violence and 44 cases of sexual assault were reported in 2022 in the Utuado police region (A total of 10 of these 250 cases, resulted in a conviction). | To develop and facilitate bi-weekly healing spaces and provide necessary support services for rural women in Puerto Rico to address intergenerational and interpersonal trauma. | ||||||||||||||
85 | Creating Freedom Movements | Richmond | CA | www.creatingfreedommovements.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Established in 2017, Creating Freedom Movements (CFM) is an intensive 18-month cohort-based leadership development program centering those most impacted by multiple oppressions, and designed to balance rapid response work with the slower work of alternative institution-building and healing needed for systemic change. We nurture visionary grassroots leaders who build beloved communities across multiple lines of difference, cultivate cross-issue solidarity, and incubate justice & joy projects that push our world in a liberatory direction. Starting as an in-person program rooted primarily in Oakland and Richmond, CA, CFM pivoted to being 100% remote in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We discovered that this shift allowed us to create increased accessibility for those located in places without access to this kind of programming, including rural populations, as well as for disabled people for whom attending an in-person program every week would create barriers. Maintaining radical accessibility in our work has served as a key successful strategy to ensure this capacity-building training is open to all, regardless of education, income level, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or location. Towards this end, we also offer a sliding scale that starts at $0, and employ a mixed-levelism approach, wherein we expect that people will be experts in some areas and novices in others. We create intentionally diverse cohorts, and meet weekly for facilitated workshops in 4 areas: political analysis, the arts, healing practices, and practical skills. We study current exploitative and oppressive systems (white supremacy, colonialism, cisheteropatriarchy, ableism, capitalism) and examine how these systems manifest in present-day lived experiences. We develop the creativity, skills, healing and relational capacities to collaborate with others to resist these oppressive systems and create alternatives. We also provide mentorship as cohort members launch or deepen projects that increase justice and joy in their communities. To date, we have completed three 10-month cohorts, including 165 workshops. Our 75 alumni, many of whom continue to attend bi-annual alumni gatherings, maintain active email and text message threads in which they share resources and support each other, and each other’s work. Because this is a leadership development program, there is a wide ripple effect in our impact as each cohort member goes on to impact many other people through the work they do in their communities. For example, three members of our first cohort who were all part of a radical queer Black church in Oakland, took learnings from our program back to that space to make it much more accessible for people with disabilities. A member of our second cohort applied the disability-, healing- and transformative justice teachings from our program to the work he leads at a Basic Needs center at a major University in Berkeley, dramatically shifting the work culture there, resulting in “the health and relationships of the team being the best they have ever been” and shifting the emphasis of the work they do from an “access and affordability model to an economic justice and anti-poverty model.” A member of our third cohort received the support she needed to organize disabled and senior performers in Chicago to insist on more accessible performance venues. Our fourth cohort started in January 2023, and has been expanded into an 18-month program, allowing us to strengthen the breadth and depth of our workshops. We are also now offering cohort members micro-grants as seed money to support their projects, and created a Care Team to offer one-on-one support, as needed, to cohort members during workshops. Later this year, we are hoping to form an Advisory Circle to further support this work. | While CFM is open to all, focusing on building cross-issue solidarity and meaningful relationships across multiple lines of difference, we are committed to centering those most (and often multiply) marginalized within dominant society, including Disabled people; Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC); 2SLGBTQIA+ (2 Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and additional sexual identities); women and gender nonconforming individuals; and low income and poor people. We believe change needs to be led by those most impacted by the issues. This is why we center multiply marginalized people in our cohort, and why we make sure that our planning team and workshop facilitators are also representative of the communities living through the experiences our cohort topics cover. Of our 8 core leadership members, 3 identify as Black, one as Black & Latinx, one as Indigenous (Taino-Borikua), one as South Asian, one as mixed race East Asian (Korean/white), and one as white. 100% are Women & Gender Non-Conforming, 100% are 2SLGBTQIA+, 75% are Disabled, and 62% low-income. Our workshops are led by 45+ cultural workers, policy workers, community organizers, educators, direct service providers, artists, healers, and direct action activists. Collectively, our current 25-member cohort, 4 Core Team Members (which includes 1 alumnus from a previous cohort), 4 Care Team Members (including 2 alumni), and 45+ Facilitators are 87% BIPOC, 80% Poor & Low-Income, 95% Women, Non-Binary & Trans, 75% Disabled, and 90% LGBTQ. | To establish a health & wellness fund and professional development fund for staff, and to provide four healing workshops for the cohort and staff. | ||||||||||||||
86 | Creciendo Juntos | Charlottesville | VA | www.cj-network.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The mission of Creciendo Juntos is to provide a platform for the voices, needs and wants of the Latinx community in Charlottesville and surrounding counties through education and leadership development. As agents of advocacy and equity, our volunteer network of individuals and organizations strive to strengthen Central Virginia by ensuring that all Latinx individuals have access to the opportunities they need to become resilient leaders in our community. | Latinx Youth and their families, and Latinx Women and Self-identifying femmes | This grant will be used to partially fund 2 of our wellness and arts progams, as well as provide additional wellness support for staff, volunteers and program participants to continue to engage, and advocate for our Latinx community. | ||||||||||||||
87 | Dancing Grounds | New Orleans | LA | www.dancingrounds.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Promoting health & wellness. Developing young leaders. Advocating for social change. Dancing Grounds (DG) is a Black feminist-led multigenerational, multicultural arts space that brings inclusive and accessible dance programs to New Orleans residents of all ages. DG works from a Black feminist lens and strives to be a model for creating caring, healing, inclusive, and liberated movement in youth and adult spaces. With youth dance companies, summer camps, and the annual Dance for Social Change (DSC) Festival and teen leadership program, DG creates safe and celebratory spaces in which youth can improve their health and mental wellness. DG trains and supports the girls of color in its programs to become local leaders and advocates using the arts to create social change. With recreational adult dance and fitness classes five days a week, DG creates warm and welcoming spaces for people of all bodies and ability levels to move with a supportive adult community. Since its 2012 founding, DG has reached over 3,500 young people, 8,000 adults and 12,000 audience members with year-round dance education programs for all ages. | While New Orleans is a place with some of our country’s richest legacies of Black freedom creation through arts and movement, our participants face many overlapping and compounding impacts of violence and oppression that limit their access to wellness, freedom, and opportunity. Our flagship youth program, DSC, is a teen arts and leadership program serving young people ages 13-18 in New Orleans. 91% of program participants are Black girls and non-binary young people. The majority of DSC participants come from historically disenfranchised New Orleans neighborhoods, including the Ninth Ward, Seventh Ward, and New Orleans East. DG also functions as a community center for Black New Orleans artists and culture bearers. The mostly Black artists who lead our adult and youth sessions are also working artists around New Orleans – in dance as well as music, movement, and visual arts. Our adult classes also serve numerous artists and culture bearers, contributing to the growing role our studio plays as a gathering place for Black artists and gig economy workers in New Orleans. We have seen first hand how these artists have been largely abandoned by all forms of government during the pandemic-induced economic upheaval and ongoing climate disasters. These workers, who largely do not have paid sick leave, health benefits, or full-time work with one employer, need additional support to maintain their economic, mental, and physical health. DG seeks to provide them with economic support through their artistic work at our studio, and the support they need to lead healthy lives. | DG seeks $24,000 from Ms. Foundation to expand our wellness fund as part of our commitment to supporting the health of our staff and movement workers, who are predominantly Black women. | ||||||||||||||
88 | Dandelions NYC | New York | NY | N/A | What is your organization's background and mission? The Dandelions Encuentro is a project of Dandelions NYC born two years ago from conversations between indigenous women and trans activists meeting in land defense movements and international governance spaces. Knowing that our local movements are most powerful in unity, they identified a need for (1) stronger solidarity between local queer and indigenous movements and (2) an alternative to UN international gatherings to facilitate intergenerational knowledge within queer and POC movements on our own terms. They took action, and last year hosted the first of three annual/pilot Dandelions Encuentros in New York City parallel to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, with a mission to build solidarity, understanding, and working friendships in previously disconnected communities of queer-feminist resistance. We use the term “queer-feminist resistance” to describe movements that struggle for the rights of queer people and women as an act of resistance against patriarchy. The Encuentro specifically began with and centers queer/trans movements and indigenous feminist movements, but welcomes all other aligned movements that have intersections with queer-feminism and tackle the same intertwined threats of colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy. The Encuentro facilitates a safe space where participants can be vulnerable enough to form unlikely connections. It is a space for indigenous leaders from across Turtle Island and Abya Yala to broaden the solidarity network supporting their work, and for activist youth to learn from the experiences of their elders. | The coordination team and participants of the Encuentro are primarily made up of queer-feminist activists, specifically (1) Indigenous women, including elders, and (2) trans and gender non-conforming people who are part of resistance movements. Intersectionality is a core value of Dandelions. We encourage and have received participation from activists working in many intersecting movements such as worker rights, food sovereignty, antiracism, and immigrant rights. While we appreciate a need for spaces that are exclusively for an oppressed identity group, the Encuentro aims to embody a future of solidarity across the many people with myriad identities that are affected by the same threats. More than 95% of Encuentro participants are queer and/or cis-women. However the Encuentro is a space with no identity-based prerequisites, only a requirement for self-awareness, respect for all other participants, curiosity, and the ability to form healthy relationships. | An NYC-based gathering to strengthen solidarity, understanding, and unity between trans organizers, indigenous organizers, and other communities of queer-feminist resistance. | ||||||||||||||
89 | The DC Abortion Fund | Washington | DC | www.dcabortionfund.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The DC Abortion Fund helps pay for the abortion care of anyone living in or traveling to the DC Metro region, without restrictions or requirements. DC is a vital access point for the entire East Coast, so we help break down the legal, financial, and geographic hurdles that abortion seekers, near or far, are forced to face—all thanks to the power of mutual aid. Alongside our sibling funds, national organizations, and clinics around the DMV, we work to supersede any and all systemic barriers to abortion access. | DCAF operates without restrictions or requirements--as long as you are getting your abortion in the DC region, we are here to support you. That said, the majority of our callers are DC residents having abortions in the first trimester (1-10 weeks, approximately). They are Black, Brown, White, poor, and already have children. Because the DC region is a haven for abortion access, we support callers from every state in the country. This has only increased since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We are seeing more callers, of every race, age, and income level, traveling to the DC region for abortion care at any stage of pregnancy. DCAF also supports a statistically larger number of callers having abortions in the third trimester because the DC region is one of only two places in the entire country with all trimester clinics. These procedures range in cost from $9,000 to $25,000 and are never covered by insurance. | DCAF will use these funds to support the influx of callers who are being forced to travel to the region for their abortion care. | ||||||||||||||
90 | Dear Diary, Inc | Madison | WI | www.deardiaryinc.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Our mission is to promote the social and economic advancement of Black girls and women. Dear Diary began in Madison, Wisconsin in 2019 as an organization that strived to bridge gaps for Black girls in the justice system, schools, and communities with Dane County. Data showed how Black girls were disproportionately suspended, jailed, or excluded from opportunities in comparison to other racial counterparts. There | We primarily serve women and girls who identify as Black. | "We are seeking funds for HER Space Sisterhood Soiree programming to facilitate meaningful connections, provide essential resources and support, and empower Black girls and women to thrive personally and professionally. | ||||||||||||||
91 | DecrimSexWorkCA | San Francisco | CA | www.decrimsexworkca.com | What is your organization's background and mission? DecrimSexWorkCA(DSWCA), is a young organization established in 2020, concentrating our work within the state of California. As a coalition, we began our work specifically challenging the effects of policing and state violence against sex workers and sex work through our Policy Advocacy, Mutual Aid and Fundraising, Arts, Media, and Communication, Political Education and Mobilization, and Conflict Resolution. However, most of our recent work to date has been within our Policy Advocacy where our team and membership utilized specific strategic goals to understand the impacts, policies, and laws along with police and state violence. We confirmed what we’ve historically known to be true, that folks in the sex trade are under fire from white supremacist policies and laws, local police, and religious groups. DecrimSexWorkCA is a coalition of current and former sex workers, organizers, and allies who use political education, advocacy, and community outreach to promote the human rights, health, safety, and well-being of people in the sex trade. We intentionally set ourselves in a position to build on the groundwork laid by those before us. We are continuing the work that Black women, trans women of color, and sex workers have been doing for generations and across movements. | Our constituents are current and former sex workers, primarily street-based Black TGNC, Latinx immigrants, and cis women of color. Our constituency, membership, and potential members are people who live in marginalized communities and are impacted by poverty, lack of equitable resources, police sexual assault, surveillance, and violence in addition to incarceration. Always at high risk of victimization, including assault, rape, robbery, and kidnapping, sex work has not been acknowledged as reputable employment, therefore, making the existing outlets unsafe and exploitative. Sex and sex workers have yet to receive the dignity and labor protections this long-standing profession deserves. | DecrimSWCA (DSWCA) will use this funding to enhance, and strengthen our existing relationships with our partner organizations. | ||||||||||||||
92 | Democracy Green | Raleigh | NC | www.democracy-green.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Founded in 2018, Democracy Green has led numerous successful campaigns and environmental justice movements that have produced real change in North Carolina and nationwide. Through community education workshops, enviro-democracy tours, legal petitions against dirty polluters, and online petitions organized by our dedicated team and community members, we work to hold leaders and decision-makers accountable for their actions, moving them to rethink what is possible. Initially known as Green Responders, Democracy Green was birthed in the storm waters of Hurricane Florence, delivering life-saving rescue assistance, direct relief, and mutual aid and waging a statewide demand to state lawmakers to release critical disaster aid dollars. Out of this crisis came a long-term vision for justice for Environmental and Climate Justice communities and the need for democracy reform to achieve these justices. From this, Democracy Green became the official name carefully chosen by experienced community organizers, policy analysts, educators, and native-North Carolinians, who stood together to be ready to weather every storm, whether natural disasters or human-made. Democracy Green leads campaigns, programs, and community outreach. Water, air and soil quality testing and policy advocacy that promotes real solutions to some of the biggest challenges faced by frontline communities. We challenge the notion that the way things are is the way things should always be, and are proud to be a force for positive transformation. | Our primary constituents are Black, Afro-Indigenous, Tribal nations, people-of-color, and low-wealth populations concentrated in the rural US South, and marginalized urban populations. Our constituents are the historically silenced, over-polluted by corporations, landfills, legacy contamination, the economically disadvantaged, and the civically disenfranchised. | This grant will be used for healing, rest and restoration and collaboration support. | ||||||||||||||
93 | Educational Video Center | New York | NY | http://evc.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Mission and History: Founded in 1984, the Educational Video Center (EVC) teaches documentary video as a means to develop the artistic, critical literacy, and career skills of youth, while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change. Over 39 years, EVC has grown into an acclaimed leader in media-arts education, supporting positive life and career paths for over 28,000 young artists. We have shared our signature curriculum, Youth Powered Video, with 15,000 practitioners, trained over 1,100 teachers in our pedagogy, and created 220+ acclaimed youth-produced documentaries, which continue to ripple through communities worldwide, and which have won over 180 awards, including two White House honors and an Emmy. Programs, Activism, Systems Change, and Audiences: EVC’s media-arts education programming and broader social justice initiatives help young people heal, grow, and thrive as learners, activists, and artists; change harmful systems by building capacity of teachers and public schools to create youth-centered, culturally responsive learning environments; and mobilize original media to disrupt systems and oppressive narratives harming BIPOC youth and their communities. | 1) Youth: EVC annually works with 725 public school students (age 16-21) from BIPOC communities who are underserved, overlooked, stigmatized, and often traumatized by the public systems meant to serve them. Frequently when they come to EVC, they are court- and systems-involved or in last-chance alternative schools and struggling to reconnect to their innate love of learning. Youth demographics: 45% male, 40% female, 15% gender nonconforming/non-identified. 40% Latinx, 35% African-American, 10% Afro-Latino/a, 10% Asian, 5% Caucasian. 70% Court- or systems-involved, 60% recent immigrants and ESL learners, 80% live in poverty, 15% LGBTQIA+. 2) Public School Teachers: EVC annually works with 25 teachers, training them in EVC’s curriculum. They, in turn, work with a student population with similar demographics. One Example of How EVC Lifts Up Young Women and Families as Activists: For over 39 years EVC has been developing life-long learners and leaders like Millie Reyes and Raelene Holmes, who have used their films to create positive change in their homes and communities' living conditions. In the seminal 1986 multi-award winning film “2371 Second Ave,” we see Millie leading the residents of her building to sign a petition reporting 94 housing violations of unhealthy living conditions the landlord had been ignoring for months. She organized residents to confront her landlord with their petition, and inform him if the violations were not addressed they would withhold paying rent. After getting thrown out of the landlord's office, Millie shared a segment of the documentary with an investigative journalist who specialized in housing at City Limits magazine to take further action against her landlord. Raelene, the third generation of her family to live in the same public housing apartment in Harlem, faced many systemic challenges growing up and struggled throughout her schooling. In fact, she dropped out of high school for nearly three years. Raelene eventually made her way to EVC and participated in our Youth Documentary Workshop where she and her classmates produced the 2012 film Breathing Easy on environmental hazards in public housing. In the film we see Raelene leading her family to advocate against the toxic mold infestation, lead poisoning, and pests in their NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) apartment with West Harlem Environmental Action (WeACT). She and her fellow youth producers developed an outreach plan, with the support and guidance of EVC, to screen the film at schools, with health professionals, and elected officials. After screening her film for Council Members and gaining support from Senator Gillibrand’s office, NYCHA finally renovated her apartment. Raelene and her mother became community advocates to get other public housing apartments fixed. They continue to screen the film, share their story, and testify with local and state elected officials, mobilizing other NYCHA residents in alignment with WeACT’s environmental urban agenda including advocating for Lead Free NY, enforcing the Asthma Free Homes Act, and organizing around the Green New Deal. Raelene had a transformative educational experience at EVC and went on to graduate from Community College, majoring in communications, and just received her Bachelor’s Degree in theater at Lehman College. Raelene has also returned to EVC as the YDW Teaching Assistant, serving as a credible messenger mentor and inspiration for the next generation of youth leaders. | EVC seeks a grant from the Ms. Foundation for Women to help us build capacity to build trauma-informed policies and protocols to support the mental wellbeing of our staff, youth leaders, and communities. | ||||||||||||||
94 | Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Inc | Alexandria | VA | http://www.epip.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), is a national network of changemakers who strive for excellence and equity in the practice of philanthropy, and our mission is to empower emerging leaders and elevate philanthropic practice in order to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. EPIP’s mission is to empower emerging leaders and elevate philanthropic practice in order to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable society. | EPIP fosters an inclusive workplace culture, grounded in anti-racist practices and policies. Our work is grounded in the personal and professional development of sector individuals who are new, emerging, mid-career, and want to learn more about philanthropy and social justice. Our three leading strategies are: 1. Providing professional and leadership development to the next generation of philanthropic leaders. 2. Growing and supporting a community where diverse emerging professionals can build career sustaining relationships and put down roots in this sector. 3. Advocating for equitable grantmaking practices and internal culture change to build anti-racist, pro-Black institutions. Over 50% of EPIP members identifying as BIPOC, 80% as women, and 17% as LGBTQ+. | Growing and supporting EPIP’s communities of practice Women of Color network where diverse emerging professionals can build career sustaining relationships and put down roots in this sector. | ||||||||||||||
95 | Empower House SA | San Antonio | TX | http://www.empowerhousesa.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Empower House provides transformative community health services, youth development programs and advocacy opportunities that empower women and girls of color. We envision a world where all women and girls are empowered to transform themselves, their families and their communities. Serving women and girls in San Antonio for over 23 years, Empower House (formerly Martinez Street Women’s Center) was founded by a passionate group of diverse women in 1999 to improve reproductive health services and access for primarily brown and Black women on the East Side of San Antonio. In response to rising rates of crime, teen pregnancy, unemployment, and low educational attainment in our low-income, working-class communities, our founding board members envisioned a space where women and girls could access the support and education they needed to thrive. Since then, based on the needs of our clients, youth, and community, we expanded to provide community health services and education, advocacy opportunities, and youth programming – all through the lens of restorative justice. To accommodate the growth of our organization and the growing number of the people we serve, we expanded to two locations on the East and West sides of San Antonio, creating deep roots in the communities we serve. Today, Empower House centers the needs of girls and women, while inviting all genders to participate in programming, knowing that all who are in search of connection, healing, and equity, are welcome. | Since inception, we have walked alongside community to address and empower women to solve a multitude of issues in their own lives, and in their community. We are an organization that specifically serves brown and black women and girls of color. Our staff and our leadership are almost exclusively brown and black women of color, oftentimes, from the exact communities we serve. This is an important distinction from well-meaning organizations, who oftentimes sit outside of the perspective of historically marginalized communities. As an organization, we build trust in community by having shared narratives and life experiences with the people we serve, and know that our role is to support, uplift, and often problem solve with those who come to our door, knowing that their success is our success, and each person who is working towards their own healing and development, is also healing our communities. We serve Brown and Black communities of color, with an emphasis on women and girls. Based on demographic data, we serve approximately 90% women, 10% men/other genders, 83% Hispanic, 16% Black, and 97% are considered low-income and live at or below the poverty level. | Funds will support healing circles for victims and survivors of domestic violence, offering culturally competent practices with the help of trauma-informed circle keepers; participants will have access to incentives, direct assistance, and case management | ||||||||||||||
96 | Empowering Pacific Islander Communities, project of Community Partners | Los Angeles | CA | www.empoweredpi.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Established in 2009, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC) is a pro-Black, pro-Indigenous and anti-racist national organization based on Tongva land in Los Angeles. Our mission is to advance social justice through culture-centered advocacy, leadership development, narrative change, and research in education, health, and immigration. Our organization was established by a group of young NHPI leaders who recognized the urgency to address the growing needs of NHPI families. With experiences ranging from grassroots organizing to higher education administration, these emerging leaders sought to build political power for NHPIs; collect data that spoke to the issues impacting NHPIs; and to develop a pipeline of strong leaders who can be advocates and influencers in, and on behalf of, the community. Since our inception, EPIC has centered culture while establishing partnerships within and outside of the NHPI community; creating tools and resources to support organizational and community capacity; and fostering the personal, professional, and political growth of youth. | Our vision is a world where Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders (NHPI) are thriving and empowered to realize liberation for all. EPIC focuses our leadership development and advocacy work in California and the Pacific Northwest, primarily. We serve NHPI populations including Native Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans, Chamorro, Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants, Marshallese, Palauans, Fijians, low-income, NHPI LGBTQ+, transition age youth (18-24), NHPI students in higher education, and multiethnic/multi-cultural NHPIs. Most often, we serve NHPI and other multi-ethnic coalitions as appropriate in the counties of Sacramento, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Fresno, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, and San Diego. In 2022, we served 6,500 people across our organizational priority areas, of which 80% were low-income. In the last decade, EPIC has developed over 210+ NHPI leaders across 15 cohorts through our Pacific Islander Leaders of Tomorrow (PILOT) Summer Institute program. About 98% of the young leaders served through PILOT are of NHPI descent and range in age from 18-24. Most are the first in their families to attend college and nearly half (49%) of PILOT students attend community colleges. In gender demographics, 65% of all PILOTs identify as womxn, 35% identify as male, and roughly 90% are from low-income households. PILOT alumni reside all throughout the U.S. including California, Hawai'i, Alaska, Utah, Arkansas, Washington, and Oregon. NHPIs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaiʻi, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands. According to the 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimate, there are roughly 1.5 million NHPI alone or in combination with one or more races who reside within the U.S. This group represents about 0.4 percent of the U.S. population. Of that, about 355,000 NHPI reside in Hawaiʻi. In 2019, ten states with the largest NHPI populations were: Hawaiʻi, California, Washington, Texas, Utah, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, New York, and Arizona. It also is significant to note that 29.9 percent of this group is under the age of 18, as compared to 18.6 percent of the non-Hispanic white population. In California specifically, where the largest population of NHPIs live in the continental U.S., the majority of the NHPI population is composed of the Native Hawaiian, Samoan, and Chamorro American populations (55% of the NHPI alone population). The fastest-growing NHPI groups are Other Melanesian and Other Micronesian Americans, which more than doubled between 2010 and 2020. Tongan, Chamorro, and Samoan American populations saw single-digit growth rates between 2010 and 2020. | As an organization composed of all Pasifika/NHPI women and nonbinary staff, who are at the helm of our communities and families, we are committed to our rest and wellness and would like to host a staff retreat rooted in Indigenous restorative practices. | ||||||||||||||
97 | EmpowHer Institute Inc. | Los Angeles | CA | http://empowher.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The mission of EmpowHer Institute is to empower girls and young women in marginalized communities by giving them the skills necessary through education, training, and mentorship to become confident, college, and career ready. We envision a world where every girl is provided the opportunities and resources to: Embrace the power of her voice; make informed decisions about her body and her future; break cycles of generational poverty; and, contribute to the creation of an equitable society. Since 2003, EmpowHer Institute has been the only gender-responsive organization in Los Angeles County that provides a weekly class that combines social-emotional learning, mentoring, and skills-based learning in Title I middle and high schools that is fully integrated in the school day. We deliver our work through a social justice framework, aimed at examining the intersection between race and gender and equipping girls with the necessary skills and access to resources that will disrupt the systems that impede Black and Brown girls from reaching their fullest potential. Each year, EmpowHer Institute supports more than 1,000 BIPOC girls, ages 11 to 18, from marginalized communities across the county. Our programs deliver a trauma-informed, culturally inclusive, social emotional learning curriculum in a safe, gender-responsive space. We empower our girls to boldly break ceilings by encouraging them to unapologetically express themselves while exposing them to college and career opportunities. Through our programs, we aim to support girls in breaking generational cycles of poverty, healing from trauma while developing healthy social emotional skills, engaging in our Social Justice STEAM initiatives–which exposes BIPOC girls to STEAM careers while simultaneously exploring the role STEAM can play in addressing social justice issues, as well as hosting a youth-led advisory board that supports the organization's hiring, program delivery, and overall governance, and participating in immersive, hands on employment, educational, and cultural experiences. Our services also include intensive case management and emergency funds for our highest need families and college scholarships for our high school seniors. During the summer, EmpowHer provides a five-week intensive Social Justice STEAM Camp (the first and only of its kind in the nation) for girls ages 11-15 and paid internships for ages 16-20. EmpowHer has served over 5,000 girls in Los Angeles County since its inception. In May 2023, EmpowHer piloted its first Black Women Nonprofit Leaders Forum, the first of its kind in the country, which took place at The California Endowment Center in downtown L.A. One hundred Black women nonprofit leaders from across California and ten from three additional U.S. states attended the event. CNN political analyst April Ryan, the longest-serving African-American female White House correspondent in history , served as the forum’s keynote speaker. Career development expert, speaker, and author Minda Harts led the forum’s morning plenary, a fireside chat. Participants each received a copy of Ryan’s and Harts’ latest books and participated in break out sessions with some of L.A.’s most notable leaders. The forum, which will now become an annual convening at the request of its attendees, provides a trauma-informed and restorative justice approach to networking, empowerment, and professional development; and, builds a movement around supporting, uplifting, and maintaining Black women leadership based in justice instead of tokenism, assimilation, and/or misogynoir. The forum also marked the launch of our EmpowHer Women's Academy, also inaugurated in 2023. EmpowHer mentors had been asking, “What do you do for women?” because of what they’d been learning in the girls’ workshops. The Women’s Academy emerged as a professional development platform supporting adult women from marginalized communities, offering learning modules in navigating racial and gender bias in the workplace and building a cadre of support among peers and mentors. | EmpowHer’s work is based in a social justice framework and is designed specifically to serve BIPOC girls and gender expansive youth. EmpowHer’s primary constituents are girls of color ages 11 to 20. In 2022, EmpowHer served 1,014 girls, 96% living at or below the poverty level and attending Title I schools. Participants come from the communities of Hawthorne, Inglewood, Watts, Koreatown, Compton, South Los Angeles, Gardena, Playa Vista, East Los Angeles, and Crenshaw. Of the girls we serve, 30% are Black, 66% Latine, 2% Asian, 1.5% Native American, and 0.5% White. Some 3% of the youth we serve identify as non-binary. An estimated 15% of our girls are involved in the child welfare system and 10% identify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. EmpowHer’s secondary constituency, adult women, are 60% women of color and are in the early to advanced stages of their careers, live primarily in Los Angeles County and share community and cultural commonalities with our youth population. | Funding will support an overnight staff wellness retreat and the 2024 EmpowHer Black Women Nonprofit Leaders Forum, each aligned with one of two funding priorities: Collaboration, and healing, rest, and restoration. | ||||||||||||||
98 | Encampment for Citizenship | Berkeley | CA | http://www.encampmentforcitizenship.org | What is your organization's background and mission? The Encampment for Citizenship (EFC) was established in 1946 to provide an immersion experience in participatory democracy in a diverse residential setting focusing on the social justice issues of the day. EFC received the support of Eleanor Roosevelt and almost every industrial and farmers’ union in the U.S. The vision was and remains to prepare and support the next generation of social justice leaders. From the beginning, EFC has provided a unique, life-changing experience based on the tenets of progressive social change and civil rights organizing for young people. Through a multi-generational and alumni recruitment model based on developing young people, many of whom come from historically excluded communities disproportionately affected by racial, gender, and economic inequities, we have over 7,000 alums that make up the legacy of EFC through their social justice work, community organizing, and inclusive leadership across the country and in different parts of the world. We have seen the power of the Encampment residential summer experience in the ripple impact its graduates have had on a spectrum of progressive issues and institutions; they credit their Encampment experience for putting them on their social justice leadership path. Alumni include the following leaders: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton; Co-Director/Founder of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol Jason Warwin; Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer; Innocence Project Co-Founder Peter Neufeld; former Congressman Barney Frank; former Chinese Progressive Association Executive Director Alex Tom; former Assistant Secretary, Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs Ada Deer; and former Demos/Common Cause Director Miles Rapoport. | Young people between the ages of 15-24 serve as the primary constituents of EFC's work. The majority of youth that participate in the EFC programs are youth of color from historically excluded communities. In one of our key programs, the Pesticide Free Soil Project (PFSP), which serves as our regional year-round program in Ventura County, California, our primary constituency is young Latinx women coming from local farm worker families as well as children and youth in the Rio school district. | This grant will be used to support an in-person retreat for staff, Board members, and youth program alumni to engage in rest and restoration, deep reflection, leadership transition planning, and visioning. | ||||||||||||||
99 | Enterprising Latinas, Inc. | Wimauma | FL | www.enterprisinglatinas.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Enterprising Latinas, Inc.'s mission is to create pathways of opportunity for Latinas in Tampa Bay by teaching new skills, creating networks of mutual support, and advocating for innovative solutions to promote economic mobility and equity. Enterprising Latinas, Inc.’s (ELI) envisions Latinas as both contributors and beneficiaries of a thriving economy. As a women of color-led organization founded in 2009 and in operations since 2014, ELI knows that when women do well, their children and their community also do well! ELI is a highly recognized advocate of solutions to address inequities in women's wages and wealth with a strategy that supports individual low to moderate-income women on their path to economic prosperity while turning community challenges into economic opportunities for women. ELI centers these women's experiences and deeply affirms their knowledge, worth, and potential so they can make choices that set them on a path toward wealth-building and intergenerational change. ELI’s bilingual and culturally sensitive programs reduce the key drivers of wage disparities for Latinas, by providing workforce training certifications, entrepreneurship training, mentoring, employment support, and connections to community resources. ELI’s approach leverages best practices shared by women’s economic empowerment thought leaders that develop Agency, Assets, and Access for individual women and contribute to economic growth in local communities. Our approach involves four critical shifts: 1) Empowering women to shift their mindset and agency to make decisions in their self-interest and build a network of mutual support, 2) Creating opportunities to build assets such as workforce credentials or financial resources, 3) Working with local and national institutions to promote equity and cultural competence by facilitating women's access to higher paying jobs and the marketplace, and 4) Shifting power relationships within the community to promote women's leadership in public investments, cultural norms, and inclusive policies. ELI served over 400 individual members through our training programs in 2022-2023, and approximately 2,000 per year through information, referrals, and community initiatives. In the last year, 300 individuals acquired workforce skills and credentials and 75 women improved competencies for self-sufficiency. Our data shows members reporting increased focus, confidence, and clarity in decision-making, newfound inspiration and connection to other members that reduce isolation, as well as having taken action to build assets and achieve personal and family well-being. Also, 200 entrepreneurs have received business training since 2019, with 100 launching new businesses. ELI has also created access to capital for our member entrepreneurs. Since July 2022, we partnered with the national CDFI Raza Development Fund to facilitate the approval of loans for 19 small businesses in our area, resulting in a total injection of $579,000 in capital for these businesses. Understanding that our zip code impacts individuals' health and wealth, ELI has also chosen a place-based strategy from which to advance its work in the rural communities of South Hillsborough County, Florida that are undergoing rapid change, particularly in Wimauma. As part of its community asset-building strategy, we established the Wimauma Opportunity Center in 2018 which provides training and other support to over 2,000 individuals annually. We created a free Wi-Fi service to bridge the digital divide for 550 families. Additionally, we co-led a successful community campaign to update the rules of development in the area with the highest poverty rates. In the last 9 years, ELI has made visible the needs and the opportunities for low-to-moderate-income women of color in our area and enabled access to new public and private resources for economic prosperity. We take pride in our efforts to transform our communities into places of opportunity. | Overall, 85% of ELI's constituents are women, and 90% of them are Hispanics between 35-44 years old, with 3-4 dependents, which means they support larger households than the county average size of 2.2 individuals per household. Self-reported household incomes are low, on average less than $36,700, compared to Hillsborough County's area median income of $64,164. Among the women we serve, at least 50% have not completed high school, close to 10% didn't complete elementary school, and 40% show limited English proficiency, so they face multiple barriers to achieving self-sufficiency and economic stability. Beyond dwindling farmland and farm jobs and areas of entrenched poverty, access to workforce training, higher-paying jobs, transportation, and bilingual family supports is difficult. Moreover, we focus on women who were hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Latinas lost 1 million jobs during the pandemic and still have not recovered economically, and often times, healthwise. Women with low and middle incomes question the true economic opportunities offered by this post-pandemic job market to allow them to stay safe and healthy, take care of their families, and earn better wages that create a buffer against inflation. ELI wants to support women with low wages acquire tools to navigate and thrive in this challenging social and economic environment. However, the fast growth of suburban communities in this region presents economic opportunities for women with adequate skills and entrepreneurial capacity to seize the market's demand for new jobs, services and products. An example of great success is Yeny, a Leadership Circle member, came to ELI six years ago hoping to leave farm work for higher-wage employment. As an immigrant she faced crushing experiences being in a new country without close family, being swindled out of money, and mistreated at work. She – and eventually her husband as well– actively engaged in our mentoring, English proficiency, and business programs. Today, they own and operate their Mexican food truck, and are firmly in control of their financial future. | ELI's funding request aims to deepen collaboration among 5 women of color leaders of nonprofit economic development organizations in the Tampa Bay region of Florida to expand public support for economic policies benefitting women of color. | ||||||||||||||
100 | EQNY FUND INC | Brooklyn | NY | www.equalityny.org | What is your organization's background and mission? Equality New York (EQNY) is a grassroots advocacy organization that advances the lives of all LGBTQIA2S+ individuals and their families in New York State. The organization was founded in 2018 and has grown from a volunteer team to a staff of 8 people over the last 6 years. Today, EQNY is home to over 5,500+ members and 120+ organizational partners. All of our work is rooted in using an intersectional lens. We do this by collectively identifying five key domains that disproportionately affect LGBTQI+ individuals across New York State. Bodily Autonomy & Reproductive Justice Disability Justice, Physical & Mental Health Access Racial Justice Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, & Non-Binary Equity Youth, Families & Aging Communities | Our members and organizational partners identify as LGBTQI New Yorkers, their families and allies. | To provide a safe space for LGBTQI New Yorkers to collaborate and organize together. | ||||||||||||||