Grants
We had another epic year of grantmaking. We made $6.4 million dollars in grants via our Community Funding Committees and our philanthropic partnerships and other grants. Yes, dear reader, this page is long but worth it!
Here’s some quick links to help you out.
- Hudson Valley grants
- Let Us Breathe Fund grants
- New York City grants
- Future of Organizing Fund grants
- Philanthropic partnerships and other grants
Looking for DAFs? Donor-advised fund grants are here.
Hudson Valley
Since we expanded into the Hudson Valley in 2017, we’ve moved over $3 million dollars into supporting grassroots organizing in communities of color in the region. This year’s grantees include communities working on food justice, police violence, gentrification, the housing crisis, immigration justice and more. With grants from the Albany area to Westchester, we’re supporting communities throughout the Hudson Valley. And a growing number of our New York City grantees are connecting with their constituencies in the Hudson Valley so they can build power and create change statewide.
30 Grants, $410,000
Hudson Valley Community Funding Committee
This volunteer committee made these grants:
Callie Mackenzie
Diana Sánchez
Emma Kreyche
Frangelin Pozo
Gemma Calinda
Guisela Marroquín
Rae Leiner
Sandra Cuellar Oxford
Suzie Ximenez
Hudson Valley Grants
#100Sistas
ADELANTE Student Voices
Birth From The Earth
Columbia County Sanctuary Movement
Community Governance & Development Council (CGDCNY)
Community Resource Center
Community Rising Project
Evergreen Garden
For the Many Education Fund
Free Peoples Market
Freedom Food Alliance / Sweet Freedom Farm
Grace Immigrant Outreach
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition
In Our Own VoicesJaago Hudson
Kite’s Nest
MHAction
Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center
Proyecto Faro
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP)
Rise Up Kingston
Rock Steady Farm
Saratoga Black Lives Matter
Sustainable Port Chester Alliance
The Underground Center
Troy 4 Black Lives
VOCAL-NY
Worker Justice Center of New York
Yonkers Sanctuary Movement
The Let Us Breathe Fund
In 2022, the Let Us Breathe Fund turned seven, and remains the only New York-based fund led by and for Black communities organizing for police reform and building Black liberation. We’re continuing the work toward a vision for justice and joy.
We started the Let Us Breathe Fund in 2015 as a call to action to individual New Yorkers and philanthropic institutions to make specific, long-term commitments to Black-led organizing and social change. In the initial years we focused on support for the wave of protests against police brutality sparked by the death of Eric Garner at the hands of police.
Now, in addition to supporting organizing against police violence, the Let Us Breathe Fund resources the leadership of veteran and emerging Black organizers who are reshaping our state. We fund both New York City and Hudson Valley groups, and this year’s grants have raised the total grantmaking of the fund to over $2.5 million. With new grantees and a commitment to multi-year grantmaking, we’re on pace to fulfill the $2 million commitment we made in 2021.
45 Grants, $900,000
Let Us Breathe Fund Community Funding Committee
This volunteer committee made these grants:
Abby Dobson
Anthonine Pierre
Callie Mackenzie
Christina Samuels
Darian X
Janis Rosheuvel
Kesi Foster
Rae Leiner
Vincent Pierce
Let Us Breathe Fund Grants
African Communities Together
AfroResistance
All Of Us
Alliance of Families for Justice
Beacon for Black Lives
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP)
Black Trans Media
Black Trans Nation
Black Youth Project 100 Education Fund
Brooklyn Movement Center
Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC)
Caribbean Equality Project
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR)
Community Governance & Development Council (CGDCNY)
Community Rising Project
Community Voices Heard
East New York Community Land Trust
Equality for Flatbush
Faith in New York
Families and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted
Families for Freedom
FIERCE
Freedom Agenda
G.L.I.T.S.
Girl Vow
Girls for Gender Equity
GrowHouse NYC
HAVEN Media
Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition
Just Making A Change For Families
Justice Committee
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center
NYC Justice Peer Initiative
Open Doors NYC
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP)
Rise
Rise Up Kingston
Saratoga Black Lives Matter
Troy 4 Black Lives
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB)
UndocuBlack Network
Urban Youth Collaborative
Women’s Community Justice Association
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
New York City
Our New York City Organizing Grants program is our longest-running program, and has reached a scale we could have only imagined years ago. Across the five boroughs we are funding grassroots organizations working on issues as varied as our city itself. Land, housing, ending violence, immigrant justice, calling our local government to accountability, organizing some of the smallest workplaces in the city along with some of the largest.
We welcomed ten new grantees into this program this year. We’re now funding dozens of organizations who are also combining into powerful coalitions to push for change in our city. And increasingly, they are partnering with their peers outside of New York City to press Albany for change so that we can truly share the resources of our state.
New York City Community Funding Committee
This volunteer committee made these grants:
Anisah Sabur
Darnell Benoit
Jamie Tyberg
Kesi Foster
Krystal Portalatin
Leah Obias
Michael Velarde
Prarthana Gurung
Rebecca Bailin
Shu’aib Abdur-Raheem
New York City Grants
African Communities Together
Alliance of Families for Justice
Arab American Association of New York
Audre Lorde Project
Black Youth Project 100 Education Fund
Brandworkers
Brooklyn Movement Center
Bushwick Housing Independence Project
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC)
Carroll Gardens Association
Centro Corona
Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association
Coalition of Institutionalized Aged and Disabled
Cooper Square Committee
CUNY Rising Alliance
Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation
Damayan Migrant Workers Association
East Harlem/El Barrio Community Land Trust
East New York Community Land Trust
Faith in New York
Families and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted
Families for Freedom
Families Organized in Unity for a New Democracy
Farm Training Collective NYC
FIERCE
Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project
Flatbush Development Corporation
FPA-Foundation
Girl Vow
Guardians of Flushing Bay
House Lives Matter (HLM)
IntegrateNYC
Jahajee Sisters: Empowering Indo-Caribbean Women
Just Making A Change For Families
Justice Committee
La Colmena
Laundry Workers Center
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Masa
Mekong NYC
Metropolitan Council on Housing/MCREF
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Neighbors Together
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
New York State Youth Leadership Council
NY Teamsters for a Democratic Union
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice
NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives
Parole Preparation Project
Project Hajra
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP)
Street Vendor Project
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Teachers Unite
Teens Take Charge
Unidad Comunal (Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation)
Urban Youth Collaborative
Veterans Organizing Institute
Visión Futuro
Voces Ciudadanas
Women Against Racist Violence
Women’s Community Justice Association
YA-YA Network
Young Women of Color Health Advocacy Coalition
Youth Alliance for Housing (YAH)
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
Future of Organizing Fund
The Future of Organizing Fund, our COVID-19 emergency fund, awarded $1.1 million in its fourth and final round of grants. Founded in March 2020, the fund was powered by “automatic” grants that we distributed with a minimum of paperwork to grantees. In 2022, the final round of $10,000 grants went to 107 current grantees, without any additional application process.
With this round of grants, the fund awarded over $3.6 million to 140 organizations. Grantees have consistently given us the feedback that these funds served as a lifeline in these difficult times.
107 Grants, $1,070,000
Future of Organizing Fund Grants
#100Sistas
ADELANTE Student Voices
African Communities Together
All Of Us
Alliance of Families for Justice
Arab American Association of New York
Audre Lorde Project
Beacon for Black Lives
Birth From The Earth
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP)
Black Trans Media
Black Trans Nation
Black Youth Project 100 Education Fund
Brandworkers
Brooklyn Movement Center
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC)
Caribbean Equality Project
Carroll Gardens Association
CASA: Community Action for Safe Apartments / New Settlement
Centro Corona
Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association
Clemency Coalition of New York
Coalition of Institutionalized Aged and Disabled
Columbia County Sanctuary Movement
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR)
Community Governance & Development Council (CGDCNY)
Community Resource Center
Community Voices Heard
Cooper Square Committee
CUNY Rising Alliance
Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation
Damayan Migrant Workers Association
East Harlem/El Barrio Community Land Trust
East New York Community Land Trust
Equality for Flatbush
Evergreen Garden
Faith in New York
Families for Freedom
Farm Training Collective NYC
FIERCE
Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project
Flatbush Development Corporation
Flushing Workers Center
For the Many Education Fund
Freedom Agenda
Freedom Food Alliance / Sweet Freedom Farm
G.L.I.T.S.
Girl Vow
Girls for Gender Equity
Grace Immigrant Outreach
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
House Lives Matter (HLM)
Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition
In Our Own Voices
IntegrateNYC
Jaago Hudson
Jahajee Sisters: Empowering Indo-Caribbean Women
Just Making A Change For Families
Justice Committee
Justice for All Coalition
Kite’s Nest
La Colmena
Laundry Workers Center
Masa
Mekong NYC
Metropolitan Council on Housing/MCREF
MHAction
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Neighbors Together
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
New York State Youth Leadership Council
Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center
NY Teamsters for a Democratic Union
NYC Coalition for Educational Justice
NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives
Open Doors NYC
Parole Preparation Project
Project Hajra
Proyecto Faro
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP)
Rise
Rise Up Kingston
Street Vendor Project
Sustainable Port Chester Alliance
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Teachers Unite
Teens Take Charge
The Underground Center
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB)
UndocuBlack Network
Urban Youth Collaborative
Veterans Organizing Institute
Visión Futuro
VOCAL-NY
Voces Ciudadanas
We Rise
We Stay / Nos Quedamos
Women’s Community Justice Association
Worker Justice Center of New York
Worker’s Justice Project
YA-YA Network
Yonkers Sanctuary Movement
Young Women of Color Health Advocacy Coalition
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
Youth Power Coalition
More Grants!
In addition to our grants made via CFCs, we also make grants via philanthropic partnerships. And in this fiscal year, we wrapped up our Innovative Activism grant program, which we ended in an intentional process that began in 2019.
Community Food Funders
Hunter College Food Policy Center
Teachers College of Columbia University
Change.org Partnership Grants
When Change.org wanted to move millions of dollars to support Black-led organizing for the first time, we partnered with them to convene a committee of informed and committed people to do it. We shared guidance about our democratic grantmaking model, designed a national process and facilitated a series of online grantmaking conversations. We hosted their fund and allocated $3 million in grants in early 2022. Grants ranged from $10,000 to $100,000.
Action St. Louis
Austin Justice Coalition
Beauty for Freedom
Black Equity Collective
Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP)
Black Mental Health Alliance
Black Organizing for Leadership & Dignity (BOLD)
Black Visions Collective
Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute
Black Women’s Blueprint
Black Youth Project 100 Education Fund
BlackOUT Collective
Bread & Roses Community Fund
Chicago Torture Justice Center
Chinook Fund
Crossroads Fund
Cypress Fund
Dream Defenders
East Oakland Collective
Essie Justice Group
Faith in Action Network
Freedom Agenda
Freedom Inc
Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability
Haymarket People’s Fund
Headwaters Foundation for Justice
Highlander Research and Education Center
Law 4 Black Lives
Leaders Igniting Transformation
Marsha P. Johnson Institute
Mass Liberation Arizona
Movement for Black Lives
North Carolina Black Leadership and Organizing Collective (NC BLOC)
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
People’s Advocacy Institute
Perinatal Health Equity Foundation
PICO California
Project South
Social Justice Fund NW
Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SNaPCo)
Southerners On New Ground
TAKE Resource Center (Transgender Advocates Knowledgeable Empowering)
Third Wave Fund
UndocuBlack Network
W.E.B. Du Bois Scholars Institute
Women on the Rise
Rapid Response Grants
We continued our program of quick-turnaround grants, typically $5,000, to support organizing, activism, and strategic convening in response to urgent threats or breaking opportunities, especially during critical junctures of a campaign. These grants generally have a short term but are part of a long-term goal or campaign to change New York. Our Rapid Response Grants totaled $120,000 this fiscal year.
Black Trans Blessings
Community Resource Center
Education Council Consortium
Faith in New York
For the Many Education Fund
Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition
Imani’s Safehouse
Incarcerated Nation Network
Just Making A Change For Families
Justice Committee
La Colmena
Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts
Metropolitan Council on Housing/MCREF
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
NEW Pride Agenda
New York Civic Engagement Table
New York State Prison Crisis Response Coalition
New York State Youth Leadership Council
Project Hajra
Teachers Unite
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB)
Upstate Downstate Housing Alliance
Faith in New York, VOICE-Buffalo
We Are Not Afraid Community Resource Center (WANA)
Innovative Activism Grants
Our Innovative Activism Fund had a broad set of criteria that included grants for arts and activism, training or tools for organizers, and the building of alternative economic institutions. Following a multi-year conversation about how to focus our grantmaking and make expectations more clear to grantees, we decided to sunset the Innovative Activism grants program in 2019. We communicated with grantees before making the final two rounds of grants–one in 2021 and this final round of $5,000 tie-off grants in 2022.
Advocacy Institute
Center for Third World Organizing
Hattie Carthan Community Food Projects
Rise
Sure We Can
The Black Feminist Project
Theatre of the Oppressed NYC
Women’s Organizing Network
Worker Owned Rockaway Cooperatives
Other Special Initiative Grants
We made a number of other special grants ranging from $2,500 to $30,000 in collaboration with some of our philanthropic partners. These grants supported organizations with:
- Leadership transitions in BIPOC-led organizations
- Food justice in the tri-state area
- Improving the community of practice in partnership with our allies in philanthropy
Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice
Community Voices Heard
CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute
Families for Freedom
Hunter College Food Policy Center
New York Community Trust
New York Foundation
New York Women’s Foundation
Rise Up Kingston
Teachers College of Columbia University
Tenants and Neighbors
Grantee Honorees
Each year we highlight just a few of our extraordinary grantees with the Frederick Douglass Award, and with the Community Food Funders Champion Award. This year’s honorees are:
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
Frederick Douglass Award Honoree
Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition
Frederick Douglass Award Honoree
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
Frederick Douglass Award Honoree
Food for the Spirit
Community Food Funders Champions Award