Groundswell is proud to announce $1,350,000 in grants for 30 organizations in its inaugural round of grantmaking through the Liberation Fund, a joint project of Groundswell Fund ( a 501c3 ) and Groundswell Action Fund ( a 501c4 ). Grantees were recommended for funding by 15 leading women of color movement leaders who serve as advisors to the Liberation Fund, including Alicia Garza, Linda Sarsour, Mary Hooks, Isa Noyola and Ai-jen Poo, among others.
In today's political environment, it is more vital than ever that we organize to hold public officials accountable in their home districts to defend and advance the rights of vulnerable communities. Grassroots organizing efforts led by women of color and transgender people of color are at the forefront of these efforts, leading smart and effective multi-issue campaigns that build a vibrant grassroots base of support and leave no one behind.
Statement from Vanessa Daniel, Groundswell Executive Director:
"Groundswell has teamed up with 15 of the most prominent women of color leaders in the country to bridge a longstanding gap that exists between the funders in this country and the grassroots organizing work that is offering the boldest and most effective solutions to white supremacy and misogyny. Since the election, billions of dollars have flowed into progressive movements, and nearly all of it is going to large national organizations. While many of these organizations play an important role in the social change ecosystem, they cannot protect communities or advance bold change on their own. Most of us don't believe in trickle-down economics, so why do we fund trickle-down social justice? The Liberation Fund gives funders and donors an easy way to support powerful change that is surging up from the grassroots."
The Liberation Fund uplifts and supports the strongest of these organizations across the country with a demonstrated track record and commitment to racial and gender justice on issues ranging from: economic and environmental justice; to LGBTQ, immigrant and Native sovereignty rights; to halting gender-based violence, climate change, mass incarceration, immigration detention and deportation, and anti-Black and anti-Muslim forces, among other key issues.
501c3 grantees on the inaugural docket include:
Black Mesa Water Coalition; BreakOut!; CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities; Desis Rising Up & Moving ( DRUM ); The Marsha P. Johnson Institute; Mujeres Unidas Y Activas ( MUA ); Racial Justice Action Center; Southerners On New Ground ( SONG ); Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project ( TGIJP ); and TransLatin@ Coalition.
501c4 grantees on the inaugural docket include:
Asian Pacific Environmental Network ( APEN ) Action; Black Progressive Action Coalition ( BPAC ); BYP100 ( Black Youth Project Not for Profit ); Californians for Human and Immigrant Rights Leadership Action Fund ( CHIRLA Action Fund ); Domestic Worker Legacy Fund; Jobs With Justice; Montana Native Vote; Mpower Change Action; ROC ( Restaurant Opportunities Centers ) Action; Southwest Workers Union; and Texas Organizing Project.
The path to large-scale progressive change in this country is one of bold, multi-issue, solidarity-based organizing represented by these organizations who are lighting the path that social movements writ large must travel in order to win. The Liberation Fund encourages more donors and foundations to help leading organizations turn that light up even brighter by donating to the fund or directly to its grantees.
Statement from Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter:
"The Liberation Fund will make it easier for donors and funders to identify and resource some of the most effective and innovative organizing at the grassroots led by women of color and transgender people of color. To elevate women of color and trans people of color at a time when our communities are under extreme duress is not only smart but essential for our survival. There's never been a better time for donors and funders to put their money directly where change is happening."
Liberation Fund grants have been awarded at the recommendation of the fund's advisors by 15 prominent women of color leaders from various U.S. social justice movements from environmental, racial and economic justice, to immigrant, Native and transgender rights: Ai-jen Poo, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Alicia Garza, National Domestic Workers Alliance & Black Lives Matter; Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights ( CHIRLA ); Bamby Salcedo, The TransLatin@ Coalition; Dr. Charlene Sinclair, Center for Community Change; Cindy Wiesner, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; Chrissie Castro, Native Voice Network; Denise Perry, Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity ( BOLD ); Elle Hearns, Marsha P. Johnson Institute; Isa Noyola, Transgender Law Center; Linda Sarsour, Mpower Change; Mary Hooks, Southerners On New Ground; Miya Yoshitani, Asian Pacific Environmental Network; Sarita Gupta, Jobs With Justice; and Saru Jayaraman, Restaurant Opportunity Center ( ROC ) United.
To find out more, please visit: www.groundswellfund.org and www.groundswellaction.org .
