Brooklyn Community Foundation Announces Multiyear Grantmaking for Justice and Social Change
Today, we are excited to announce over $4.4 million in multiyear grantmaking commitments to 25 nonprofits advancing racial justice and advocating for long-term change in our borough, made possible with the critical continued support of our donors.
60% of the new funding focuses primarily on Black communities, in accordance with our commitment to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy’s call to action. Additionally, 92% of grantee organizations are led by Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, and 65% have budgets under $1 million.
This also marks Brooklyn Community Foundation’s shift to having all of our unrestricted grantmaking conducted in partnership with community advisory councils.
Investing in Social Change
Seven organizations will receive $70,000 per year for the next five years through the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund’s Community-led Social Change grants:
- The Black Institute
- Brooklyn Movement Center
- Center for Law and Social Justice
- Girls for Gender Equity
- IntegrateNYC
- Muslim Community Network
- VOCAL-NY
Grantees are advocating and organizing across a spectrum of issues to dismantle and reimagine policies and systems that have prevented Black, Indigenous and other communities of color from thriving both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acknowledging that change does not happen overnight, these new grants represent the Foundation’s longest-ever funding commitment for a single cohort of organizations.
Immigrant Rights and Elder Justice
Through our Immigrant Rights Fund, we are committing at least $1.2 million over the next three years to support the critical work of grassroots organizations fighting oppressive policies while expanding access and opportunities for immigrants living in Brooklyn. This is the first round of grants made in partnership with our Immigrant Rights Fund Advisory Council, whose members bring to the table their diverse experiences of being immigrants in Brooklyn — including their unique knowledge of the immigration system — as they review and select grant recipients together.
- Caribbean Women’s Health Association*
- Carroll Gardens Association*
- Documented
- Freedom to Thrive
- Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees
- Mexican Coalition for the Empowerment of Youth & Families*
- Mixteca
- The New York Immigration Coalition
- Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
- Sakhi for South Asian Women*
- Sauti Yetu*
- Street Vendor Project
- Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
- Workers Justice Project
*One-year grants made possible with support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation
Additionally, we are pleased to announce four new grants through our resident-led Brooklyn Elders Fund to promote the rights of older adults in Brooklyn to age in place and access benefits, while advocating for critical changes to elder care systems:
- The Brownsville Partnership
- Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership
- UHAB (Urban Homesteading Assistance, Inc.)
- United Chinese Association of Brooklyn