Approved Grants

Fiscal Year 2015


Strong Local Economies

57 grants totaling $9,090,000


Alliance for a Just Society

Seattle, WA - $200,000 (24 months)

To partner with Accelerate Change to carry out rapid experimentation to test and identify membership benefits that are highly valued by business owners and help Main Street Alliance grow by attracting new members under a more financially sustainable business plan.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Aspen Institute

Washington, DC -$75,000 (12 months)

To disseminate the ideas contained in the "Build Ladders and Raise the Floor" paper and conduct a roundtable dialogue about career pathways in the technology sector.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


B Lab Company

Wayne, PA - $250,000 (24 months)

To accelerate Measure What Matters, a pilot project to engage a critical mass of businesses across all sectors in measuring and managing their impact.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Brightline Defense Project

San Francisco, CA - $45,000 (12 months)

To support Brightline's continued transition into a larger scale organization that will further its policy work in creating strong local economies.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Center for Popular Democracy

Brooklyn, NY - $48,000 (12 months)

To enable the Fed Up campaign to hire a press secretary who will increase the campaign's visibility in local and national media.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Center for Popular Democracy

Brooklyn, NY - $315,000 (36 months)

To support the growth of Local Progress, the national municipal policy network of local elected officials.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Center for Story-based Strategy

Oakland, CA - $45,000 (12 months)

To support Center for Story-based Strategy in challenging anti-worker narratives by experimenting with proactive content generation and producing curriculum resources to increase basic communications strategy across the sector.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Chicago United Inc.

Chicago, IL - $150,000 (24 months)

To take the Five Forward program from pilot phase to full scale and self-sufficiency and to increase procurement opportunities for local Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs).

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Community Catalyst

Boston, MA - $45,000 (12 months)

To support Community Catalyst's work engaging local community advocates and the Montefiore medical systems to explore the creation of community benefit activities.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Coro New York Leadership Center

New York, NY - $230,000 (24 months)

To support Coro's Neighborhood Leadership program aimed at developing the skills and networks of leaders who are improving NYC's commercial corridors.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Demos: A Network for Ideas & Actions

New York, NY - $200,000 (24 months)

To develop and advocate for changes to economic development policy that incentivize the creation of double and triple bottom line businesses.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Detroit Economic Growth Association

Detroit, MI - $45,000 (12 months)

To develop a strategic economic development plan for Detroit that delivers a sustainable, inclusive, resilient, and growing economy over the long-term.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


East Bay Community Foundation

Oakland, CA - $100,000 (12 months)

To support a planning process for a regional initiative intended to strengthen collaboration across sectors to advance more equitable and sustainable economic development policies and outcomes.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Economic Policy Institute

Washington, DC - $100,000 (12 months)

To provide data analysis and communications support for federal and state campaigns to increase the minimum wage and to support the Raise America's Pay initiative.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Economic Policy Institute

Washington, DC -$10,000 (12 months)

To support the Economic Policy Institute's (EPI) 2015 Annual EARN Conference.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Emerald Cities Collaborative, Inc.

Washington, DC - $75,000 (12 months)

General operating support to increase the capacity of Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) to transform the energy sector and produce high road outcomes that improve the quality of life in under-resourced communities. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Fourth Sector Network

Raleigh, NC - $20,000 (12 months)

To support the "Mapping the Fourth Sector" convening that will bring leaders from across the country to discuss the alternative business sector.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Fund Good Jobs

Oakland, CA - $100,000 (12 months)

To assist the building of operational capacity of Fund Good Jobs by addressing financial systems, fiscal controls and communication efforts.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Good Jobs First

Washington, DC - $45,000 (12 months)

To support Good Jobs First’s work around the issuance of the first-ever national accounting rule on tax breaks for economic development from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Good Work Network

New Orleans, LA - $250,000.00 (24 months)

To grow the capacity of minority and disadvantaged enterprises and connect them to the mainstream economy and to develop a business training program for performing artists and culture-bearers.

Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Greenlining Institute

Berkeley, CA - $300,000 (24 months)

To advance supplier diversity and increase contracting opportunities among minority businesses in California.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Washington, DC - $45,000 (12 months)

To produce policy research and popular education materials for key stakeholders, mobilize business groups to advance policy change, and support a national convening of 25 stakeholders, policy analysts and organizers to craft a shared policy agenda.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD - $85,000 (12 months)

To support a pilot program focused on well-established local minority owned companies, helping them expand into new product lines to better connect with the local purchasing and hiring needs of the areas larger institutions.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Juma Ventures

San Francisco, CA - $48,000 (12 months)

To provide general operating support for Juma Ventures' new replication sites in New Orleans, Seattle, and Santa Clara.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

Los Angeles, CA - $20,000 (12 months)

To build on LAANE's previously established comprehensive communications strategy and implement key social media components for the Jobs to Move America (JMA) campaign. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Make it Work

Washington, DC -$300,000 (36 months)

To support the Make It Work campaign in order to train and spotlight women of color and working women as the experts and spokespeople on issues related to women, work and families.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Maryland Institute College of Art

Baltimore, MD - $15,000 (8 months)

To develop and plan for the Baltimore Artists Support for Economy and Equity initiative (B.A.S.E.), a creative enterprise incubator for artists and designers in Baltimore. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders

San Antonio, TX - $300,000.00 (24 months)

To support the members of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) Small Business Lending Consortium to increase lending to the small businesses they serve, the large majority of which are Latino-owned.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


National Domestic Workers Alliance

New York, NY - $10,000 (12 months)

To support the Caring Across America book tour, that aims to expand the national conversation on care, and sustainable, quality jobs for the care workforce.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


National Employment Law Project

New York, NY - $45,000 (12 months)

To enhance NELP's capacity through support for training of managers and staff and for long-term organizational planning.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


National Employment Law Project

New York, NY - $525,000 (36 months)

To develop research, policy and legal interventions that increase family incomes and economic security for low wage workers and communities by improving job quality.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


National Housing Institute

Montclair, NJ - $150,000 (24 months)

To create an economic development desk to produce regular informative, useful, engaging and accessible articles in Shelterforce’s print and digital media.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


National People's Action

Chicago, IL - $150,000 (24 months)

To improve job quality across large-scale employers through a Responsible Business Certification policy; to raise public awareness and advance a community-driven process under the proposed Clean Power Plan. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Neighborhood Funders Group

Oakland, CA - $100,000 (24 months)

General operating support for NFG to continue building the capacity of philanthropy to advance social justice and community change. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program and Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Neighborhood Funders Group

Oakland, CA -$27,000 (12 months)

To support Project Phoenix, which aims to create a community of diverse funders that share understanding, language, and vision of a just and sustainable U.S. economy, and the philanthropic interventions that will help support it.

Category: Other


Neighborhoods Organizing for Change

Minneapolis, MN - $35,000 (12 months)

To build a strategic alignment of organizations led by people of color and indigenous people working toward systemic equity and structural change.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Neighborhoods Organizing for Change

Minneapolis, MN - $25,000 (12 months)

To support Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) in rebuilding stronger and more intentionally than before the fire that destroyed their office and community.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


New Orleans Business Alliance

New Orleans, LA - $100,000 (12 months)

To support the growth of small and mid-sized minority-owned businesses and to solidify a focus on equity as a pillar of New Orleans' long-term economic growth strategy.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


New Orleans Startup Fund

New Orleans, LA - $125,000 (12 months)

To increase the number of minority-founded high-growth businesses in New Orleans and support the development of the minority business ecosystem in Detroit.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


NewCorp, Inc.

New Orleans, LA - $49,000 (12 months)

To help NewCorp complete a feasibility study and business plan for their New Orleans Black Mardi Gras Indian producer cooperative.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Nexus Community Partners

St. Paul, Minnesota - $200,000 (24 months)

To identify, prepare and support people of color and low income people in leadership roles through the Twin Cities Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Pacific Community Ventures, Inc.

San Francisco, CA - $200,000 (24 months)

To develop the second phase of a national impact investing policy platform to strengthen the small business sector and create quality jobs in economically distressed communities.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates

Philadelphia, PA - $150,000 (36 months)

To support three inter-related programs of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program: Art Education for Teens, ARTrepreneurs, and Restored Spaces. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program and Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


PICO National Network

Oakland, CA- $250,000 (24 months)

To secure better wages, benefits, and increased access to good jobs for low/moderate wage workers by leveraging the influence of faith groups among the PICO network.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Positive Futures Network (YES!)

Bainbridge Island, WA - $100,000 (12 months)

To diversify YES! magazine’s core group of writers which would enable the magazine to deepen and broaden the perspectives it offers.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Race Forward

New York, NY - $100,000 (12 months)

General operating support to help Race Forward (RF) advance racial justice and address inequalities in key areas through research, media, and practice (training).

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Rising Tide Capital

Jersey City, NJ - $100,000 (12 months)

To enhance and expand Rising Tide Capital's advanced services program for high-growth entrepreneurs.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Social Enterprise Alliance

Minnetonka, MN - $150,000 (12 months)

General operating support as the Social Enterprise Alliance transforms from a membership association to a movement builder through SEA’s 2.0 strategy.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


The American Prospect

Washington, DC -$125,000 (12 months)

To support the Prospect's Writing Fellowship Programand its economic opportunity coverage.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


The Regents of the University of California

Berkeley, CA - $45,000 (12 months)

To support part of a series of Convenings on Race and Economics (CORE) hosted by UC Berkeley's Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Transform Finance

San Francisco, CA - $48,000 (12 months)

To support the development of implementable job quality standards to enable impact investment funds to focus on the creation of good jobs in underserved communities.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


United Workers Congress

Oakland, CA - $75,000 (12 months)

To develop research, policy analysis, communications strategy, and organizational capacity among worker center networks to support job quality guarantees for excluded sectors of workers in the US economy.

Category: Job Quality and Career Pathways


Urban Innovation21

Pittsburgh, PA - $250,000 (24 months)

To create and implement an inclusive and equitable economic development strategy by accelerating high growth businesses owned by under-represented minorities.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration


Valley Economic Development Center

Van Nuys, CA - $2,000,000 (84 months)

For a $2 million Program Related Investment to the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) Small Business Lending Consortium to demonstrate a new approach to expanding lending for Latino small business owners.

Category: Program Related Investment


Workers Defense Project, Inc.

Austin, TX - $45,000 (12 months)

To engage in strategic research that will provide evidence of the impact of economic development policies on low-wage workers in Texas.

Category: Equitable Economic Development


Working World, Inc.

New York, NY - $200,000 (24 months)

To support the Working World's US growth campaign and partner affiliates and to increase capacity for managing a growing deal pipeline.

Category: Business Development and Acceleration

Sustainable Environments

46 grants totaling $10,480,000


Alliance for a Greater New York

New York, NY - $150,000 (12 months)

To continue to support the adoption of Jobs to Move America transportation procurement and quality jobs initiative in New York, Chicago and Illinois and build capacity for the local campaign.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Washington, DC - $200,000 (24 months)

To expand the role of local and state-level engagement on energy issues in long-term planning for emissions reductions opportunities and utilities of the future.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


Blue Green Alliance Foundation

Minneapolis, MN - $200,000 (24 months)

To extend and continue to provide technical support to the Jobs to Move America campaign to expand domestic transportation sector manufacturing, while ensuring, good jobs and environmental outcomes.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


Center for Neighborhood Technology

Chicago, IL - $350,000 (24 months)

To test and promote a community engaged framework for adopting best practices that addresses variable weather impacts (flooding and drought); expands analysis of property stormwater retrofitting; and uses the findings to shape state and federal policy.

Category: Urban Water Management


Center on Wisconsin Strategy

Madison, WI - $300,000 (24 months)

To provide mayors and their senior staff with information, examples and tools to implement equitable, resilient and practical next generation infrastructure systems.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Ceres, Inc.

Boston, MA - $300,000 (24 months)

To foster and strengthen the "green bonds" market to help bring financing for next generation infrastructure to scale.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy

San Francisco, CA - $150,000 (24 months)

To support Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy, a new national network of local chambers of commerce that support next generation energy solutions.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


City of New Orleans

New Orleans, LA - $150,000 (24 months)

To build internal capacity within the City of New Orleans to shepherd the Urban Water Plan and support its first Stormwater Manager position.

Category: Urban Water Management


Clean Energy Group

Montpelier, VT - $200,000 (24 months)

To develop the Resilient Power Project which assists communities and states in making informed decisions about the deployment of resilient power by creating the necessary policies, finance tools, and forums.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


Climate Interactive

Washington, DC - $450,000 (24 months)

To apply the newly developed Green Infrastructure (GI) Decision Support Tool to help decision-makers explore the financial, social, environmental, and climate resilience costs and benefits of GI within Milwaukee and expand to application to other US cities.

Category: Urban Water Management


Common Market Philadelphia, Inc.

Philadelphia, PA - $450,000 (36 months)

To support Common Market in its efforts to build more vibrant, resilient, and equitable local food systems both locally and nationally. Investment will support increased physical and social infrastructure.

Category: Regional Food Supply


Corbin Hill Food Project

New York, NY - $225,000 (36 months)

To support build out of staff and systems infrastructure capacity to expand Corbin Hill Food Project's external reach while scaling its operations to supply fresh produce to vulnerable populations.

Category: Regional Food Supply


Eastern Market Corporation

Detroit, MI - $175,000 (12 months)

To support the expansion of the Detroit Kitchen Connect program and pre-development planning for the White Box+ Accelerator program.

Category: Regional Food Supply


Emerald Cities Collaborative, Inc.

Washington, DC - $600,000 (24 months)

General operating support to increase the capacity of Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) to transform the energy sector and produce high road outcomes that improve the quality of life in under-resourced communities. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


Eno Center for Transportation

Washington, DC - $150,000 (24 months)

To continue advancing the availability of public-private partnerships and transportation investments that support environmental, economic and social benefits by recommendations and building professional capacity among public officials.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


Environmental and Energy Study Institute

Washington, DC - $125,000 (12 months)

To help communities across the U.S. move forward with more efficient and equitable energy systems by engaging with the federal government and key state and local stakeholders.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


Fair Food

Philadelphia, PA - $100,000 (12 months)

To expand the reach and impact of Fair Food's Value Chain Facilitation work and develop a framework for measuring the organization's ability to better serve the local food community.

Category: Regional Food Supply


Fair Food Network

Ann Arbor, MI - $500,000 (120 months)

A a ten-year, low interest loan, to Fair Food Fund.

Category: Program Related Investment


Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities

Coral Gables, FL - $600,000 (36 months)

To continue to catalyze the growth of the Partners for Places Grant Program (formerly the Local Sustainability Matching Fund).

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Greater New Orleans Foundation

New Orleans, LA - $200,000 (12 months)

To support Phase Three of the Urban Water Series to implement green infrastructure and stormwater management strategies in New Orleans.

Category: Urban Water Management


Groundwork USA

Yonkers , NY - $45,000 (12 months)

To develop a plan to expand community-based stormwater green infrastructure programs in select cities.

Category: Urban Water Management


Innovation Network for Communities

Tamworth, NH - $48,000 (18 months)

To support a national strategy to deepen coordination between the Urban Sustainability Directors Network and eight regional sustainability networks.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design

Oakland, CA - $150,000 (12 months)

To expand Streetwize, a new community-engagement tool to improve design, infrastructure strategies, and help decision-makers assess short and long-term implications of public infrastructure investments. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


ISAIAH

St. Paul, MN - $375,000 (36 months)

To build a powerful grassroots base and align critical constituencies to advance sustainable growth and transportation equity in Minnesota.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


Kounkuey Design Initiative

Los Angeles, CA - $80,000 (24 months)

To provide general operating support to Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) to continue supporting neighborhood improvement and community-scaled infrastructure upgrades. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

Los Angeles, CA - $20,000 (12 months)

To build on LAANE's previously established comprehensive communications strategy and implement key social media components for the Jobs to Move America (JMA) campaign. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


Meridian Institute

Dillon, CO - $250,000 (24 months)

To support Agree’s platform for change and collaborative work on local food systems.

Category: Regional Food Supply


Metropolitan Planning Council

Chicago , IL - (12 months)

To support the facilitation of the Calumet Stormwater Collaborative to coordinate management tools/tactics and tackle policy and planning challenges affecting low-income communities.

Category: Urban Water Management


Move NY

New York, NY - $40,000 (12 months)

To continue to build public support for the Move NY Fair Tolling and Transportation Reinvestment Plan through targeted outreach to stakeholders and a comprehensive media campaign.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


National People's Action

Chicago, IL - $200,000 (24 months)

To improve job quality across large-scale employers through a Responsible Business Certification policy and to raise public awareness and advance a community-driven process under the proposed Clean Power Plan. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


Natural Resources Defense Council

New York, NY - $755,000 (36 months)

To provide technical support to cities and communities to implement community-driven solutions to address climate change and inequitable development practices.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Neighborhood Funders Group

Oakland, CA - $100,000 (24 months)

General operating support for NFG to continue building the capacity of philanthropy to advance social justice and community change. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program and Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation

New York, NY - $75,000 (12 months)

To support the general operations of NYCEEC and continue to build its early-stage capacity.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


Next City

Philadelphia, PA - $400,000 (24 months)

To continue support for daily online editorial and reporting coverage of next generation infrastructure topics with weekly coverage of urban water management issues.

Category: Other


One Day on Earth Foundation

Brooklyn, NY - $48,000 (12 months)

To support the completion of the Future of American Cities, a three part series on the topic of infrastructure, in preparation of broadcasting and expansion of the project’s reach into new metro areas.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Partnership for Working Families

Washington, DC - $150,000 (24 months)

To continue conducting a proactive education and action initiative to include jobs and equity standards alongside sustainability standards into discussions and actions related to Public Private Partnerships and urban infrastructure investments.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc.

Buffalo, NY - $45,000 (12 months)

To support the coordination of the New York State Energy Democracy Initiative, which is aimed at organizing low-wealth communities to provide input into New York’s Renewing our Energy Vision (REV) and Clean Energy Fund Processes.

Category: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment


People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc.

Buffalo, NY - $345,000 (36 months)

To provide general operating funds to support PUSH Buffalo's capacity and the expansion of the PUSH Blue program and the Green Development Zone.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates

Philadelphia, PA - $110,000 (36 months)

To support three inter-related programs of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program: Art Education for Teens, ARTrepreneurs, and Restored Spaces. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program and Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Urban Water Management


Public Advocates

San Francisco, CA - $150,000 (6 months)

To support the plan to expand the 6 Wins principles to other regions in California and into state policy.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


River Network

Portland, OR - $49,000 (12 months)

To continue to promote green street programs in midsized cities, and leverage transportation funding to implement stormwater management strategies.

Category: Urban Water Management


RSF Social Finance

San Francisco, CA - $100,000 (24 months)

To build the staff capacity and increase the lending capability of RSF Social Finance’s (RSF) PRI Program.

Category: Regional Food Supply


THE POINT Community Development Corporation

Bronx, NY - $150,000 (24 months)

To develop the South Bronx Community Resiliency Agenda and strategically influence the next phases of the Hunts Point “Lifelines” project. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


TransForm

Oakland, CA - $175,000 (24 months)

To identify and communicate economic benefits from California's climate programs, with an emphasis on engaging disadvantaged communities. It will also support expanded regional planning to include water, energy, and related issues.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure


Transportation for America

Washington, DC - $700,000 (24 months)

To continue to support Transportation for America's efforts to build capacity at the local and state level to implement the 2012 Transportation Reauthorization Act (MAP-21) and leverage innovative financing for sustainable infrastructure investments.

Category: Transportation Networks and Equitable Development Patterns


Verde

Portland, OR - $300,000 (36 months)

To continue supporting Living Cully to concentrate infrastructure investments at the neighborhood scale to stimulate environmental benefits as well as community and individual wealth creation. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Thriving Cultures Program.

Category: Integrated Infrastructure

Thriving Cultures

69 grants totaling $7,981,600


Arizona State University Foundation

Tempe, AZ - $107,000 (24 months)

To support NOGALES, a new play by Richard Montoya and Sean San Jose, with Visual and Community Engagement Design by Joan Osato that includes a state-wide community engagement project, film, media, and site.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


ArtPlace America

Brooklyn, NY - $1,500,000 (36 months)

For a collaborative project working to position arts and culture as a core sector of community planning and development through a national grants program; six community-based investments; field building; and research strategies.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Arts, Culture and Social Justice Network

Atlanta, GA - $30,000 (12 months)

To support a national collaborative network of art-leadership, and to investigate and build on the practice of art and social change.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Artspace

New Haven, CT - $82,000 (12 months)

To support The Jerome Project, created by Titus Kaphar, which highlights the urgent need for reform of our criminal justice system.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


AS220

Providence, RI - 225,000 (36 months)

To support the core programs at AS220 Youth and the expansion of offerings related to design, design-thinking and entrepreneurship at all three teaching sites.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Brooklyn Arts Exchange Inc.

Brooklyn, NY - $82,000 (21 months)

To support three interconnected initiatives that expand Dancing While Black’s engagement platforms beyond New York City’s Black experimental dance world in order to build community, develop agency and shift the artistic and cultural landscapes.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Building Community Workshop

Dallas, TX - $200,000 (24 months)

To support two of bcWORKSHOP's projects: Low Impact Drainage & Public Space project in the Lower Rio Grande Valley; and People Organizing Place Dallas, a public design effort to strengthen the physical, social, and economic health of city neighborhoods.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Center for Arts in Education at Boston Arts Academy

Boston, MA - $35,000 (12 months)

To support the Community Legacy Project, a set of activities to connect past Fellows of the Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship Program with the opportunity to attend the final, 15th Anniversary Convening and share workshops about their work with communities.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Community Arts Stabilization Trust

San Francisco, CA - $150,000 (12 months)

To support the creation of CAST's core operational team and full execution of a suite of strategies to create affordable workspace for arts organizations in San Francisco, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the US.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Community Capital Works

Philadelphia, PA - $50,000 (24 months)

To support Championing Revival, Empowering Artists, Transforming Economies (CREATE) which supports creative entrepreneurs in West Philadelphia and Chester, PA.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


D-Rev

San Francisco, CA - $75,000 (18 months)

Support for D-Rev to build a toolkit for design practice that encompasses the life cycle of the product, and also to refine project selection criteria and processes.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Roxbury, MA - $75,000 (12 months)

To support a 12-month planning process that focuses on strategies to: increase economic opportunities for artists; build a strong creative economy along the Corridor; and measure the economic impact of creative placemaking activities.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Economic Community Development Institute

Columbus, OH - $100,000 (24 months)

To support the UpTown Toledo Arts Entrepreneur Initiative (AEI)

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Enterprise Center Capital Corporation

Philadelphia, PA - $100,000 (12 months)

To support Philly Food Innovation’s Loan Fund.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


The Evergreen State College Foundation

Olympia, WA - $31,500 (12 months)

To support the design and development of the Indigenous Arts Campus at Evergreen State University. The process will include artists and architects and reflect traditional and contemporary Maori and Northwest Salish cultures.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Four Bands Community Fund

Eagle Butte, SD - $100,000 (24 months)

To support rediscovering Native Art on the Cheyenne River.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society

San Francisco, CA - $57,000 (12 months)

To support "Conversations With Gay Elders", a series of single-character video documentaries of varying length, focused on older gay men.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Good Work Network

New Orleans, LA - $80,000 (24 months)

To grow the capacity of minority and disadvantaged enterprises and connect them to the mainstream economy; and develop a business training program for performing artists and culture-bearers. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Grantmakers in the Arts

Seattle, WA - $10,000 (6 months)

To support the 2014 GIA conference for programming focused on racial equity and grantmaking through an equity lens.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance

Baltimore, MD - $50,000 (12 months)

To support emerging artists and professional arts administrators of color in two programs: Artists U/Baltimore and the Urban Arts Leadership Program (UALP).

Category: Artists and Economic Development


The Housing Fund

Nashville, TN - $100,000 (24 months)

To support the Make A Mark Loan Program.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design

Oakland, CA - $50,000 (12 months)

To expand Streetwize, a new community-engagement tool to improve design, infrastructure strategies, and help decision-makers assess short and long-term implications of public infrastructure investments. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Institute of Contemporary Art

Boston, MA - $240,000 (36 months)

To support ICA in connecting high-need teens with contemporary art, artists, and mentors via a range of out-of-school programs that support artistic growth, creativity, critical thinking and leadership skills, and overall well-being and health.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Japanese American Cultural and Community Center

Los Angeles, CA - $30,000 (12 months)

To support the JACCC's participation in Sustainable Little Tokyo, a community-driven initiative transforming Little Tokyo with a focus on economic, environmental, and cultural/historical sustainability.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center

Haines, AK - $107,000 (24 months)

To support the planning, creation, and installation of six original artworks for a Cultural Landscape exhibit to express the intimate relationship between the Chilkat Tlingits and their natural environment.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Junebug Productions, Inc.

New Orleans, LA - $107,000 (24 months)

To support Junebug's Homecoming Project 2015-17 with three new place-based storytelling performance projects in the Ninth Ward, Treme and Mid-City.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Khmer Arts Academy

Long Beach, CA - $82,000 (24 months)

To support an interdisciplinary performance work which casts a history of ritual lovemaking into the dancing bodies of gay men.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Kiva MicroFunds

San Francisco, CA - $255,000 (24 months)

To support the launch of an online platform to empower American artisan entrepreneurs by enabling them to access 0% interest capital to start or grow their creative enterprises, while developing new brand ambassadors, business advisors, and customers from their lender pool.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Kounkuey Design Initiative

Los Angeles, CA - $250,000 (24 months)

To provide program support to Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) to continue supporting neighborhood improvement and community-scaled infrastructure upgrades. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Los Angeles Poverty Department

Los Angeles, CA - $107,000 (24 months)

To support a new exhibition/archive/performing arts center curated by LAPD, utilizing art and historical consciousness to defend a neighborhood facing repeat and immense gentrification pressures.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center

San Pablo, CA - $100,000 (24 months)

To support hands-on cultural arts immersion training for Latino teens built on role modeling and mentorship.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


MAPP International Productions, Inc.

New York, NY - $15,000 (6 months)

To support the NYC premiere of Ralph Lemon’s critically acclaimed Scaffold Room. The production will run for seven performances, integrating a new installation and additional performance features.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame

New Orleans, LA - $20,000 (12 months)

To support and advance programs of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame. This includes the perpetuation of authentic New Orleans-specific cultural expressions through youth education, funeral rituals, documentation, performances, and professional development activities for culture-bearers.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Maryland Institute College of Art

Baltimore, MD - $41,600 (8 months)

To develop the plan for the Baltimore Artists Support for Economy and Equity initiative (B.A.S.E.), a creative enterprise incubator for artists and designers in Baltimore. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Boston MA - $75,000 (12 months)

To support Artward Bound, a multi-year, year-round college access program for underserved Boston teens that provides the artistic, academic and life skills needed for admission to and success at a visual arts college or other post-secondary institution.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts

Brooklyn, NY - $67,000 (12 months)

To support a cross-disciplinary exploration of mental illness' impact on the lives of Black Americans, curated by choreographer Marjani Forté.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

Santa Fe, NM - $10,000 (12 months)

To produce six (6) two to three minute Native Youth films to be evaluated in a mini competition and public screening at MIAC.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


National Day Laborer Organizing Network

Los Angeles, CA - $107,000 (24 months)

To support "The Infiltrators”, a cutting-edge documentary that tells the real and surreal story of five immigrants in America who purposely get themselves apprehended by Border Patrol, and placed inside the shadowy system of immigration detention centers.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Neighborhood Funders Group

Oakland, CA - $48,500 (6 months)

To support a two-day convening with grantmakers, practitioners, scholars, and NFG staff members on community-engaged design.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Neighborhood Funders Group

Oakland, CA - $100,000 (24 months)

General operating support for NFG to continue building the capacity of philanthropy to advance social justice and community change. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program and Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Community Engaged Design


New Mexico Community Development Loan Fund

Albuquerque, NM - $100,000 (24 months)

To support enhanced delivery of affordable credit and technical assistance to artistic and creative entrepreneurs.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Philadelphia Fringe Festival

Philadelphia, PA - $100,000 (36 months)

To support Artists U in creating a toolkit for community organizing and convening artists to build sustainable, mission-driven lives. Artists U will focus on the "first rungs" on the professional development ladder: planning, accountability, and community.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates

Philadelphia, PA - $240,000 (36 months)

To support three inter-related programs of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program: Art Education for Teens, ARTrepreneurs, and Restored Spaces. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Strong Local Economies Program and Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


THE POINT Community Development Corporation

Bronx, NY - $75,000 (24 months)

To develop the South Bronx Community Resiliency Agenda and strategically influence the next phases of the Hunts Point “Lifelines” project. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Community Engaged Design


The POINT Community Development Corporation

Bronx, NY - $40,000 (6 months)

To support The POINT in collaboration with the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA) to strategically influence how the City of New York allocates CDBG-DR funds granted by HUD after the Rebuild by Design (RBD) process.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Project Row Houses

Houston, TX - $37,000 (12 months)

To support the OJBK FM Radio Project to create space for residents to communicate a narrative of self-sufficiency and self-empowerment often embedded in Black communities.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Queens Council on the Arts

Astoria, NY - $40,000 (12 months)

To support Queens Council on the Arts' Build Your Own Business Program which focuses on artistic entrepreneurship, leadership & life skills for emerging individual artists, arts organization leaders and cultural citizens.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Queens Council on the Arts

Astoria, NY - $120,000 (36 months)

To support Queens Council on the Arts' tuition-free High School to Art School (HS2AS) Program that offers low-wealth students in New York City, a visual arts and life skills training program.


Rebuild Foundation

Chicago, IL - $40,000 (12 months)

To support the production of the second Black Artist Retreat (B.A.R.) in Chicago in August 2014. The funding will be allocated toward the ambition of an exhibition, programming, documentation and administrative support.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


The Regents of the University of California/Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA

Los Angeles, CA - $150,000 (12 months)

To support the collaboration between artists and researchers working to link the art and science of memory, in experiments that seek to inform both the development of artistic practice and technology.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


The Reinvestment Fund

Philadelphia, PA - $100,000 (24 months)

To support the development and pilot a strategy for targeting arts investments in low-income communities where they can catalyze and build on other complementary efforts.

Category: Artists and Economic Development


Roots of Music, Inc.

New Orleans, LA - $100,000 (24 months)

To provide free, year-round, after-school music education and mentoring to students from low-income households throughout New Orleans.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


SAY Sí (San Antonio Youth Yes!)

San Antonio, TX - $225,000 (36 months)

To support SAY Sí's tuition-free afterschool creative youth development programs and the multiple public exhibits, film screenings, performances and community engagement opportunities offered to students and the general public.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Skid Row Housing Trust

Los Angeles, CA - $175,000 (24 months)

To support Skid Row Housing Trust's Department of Community Design and Planning programming, which includes the engagement of Skid Row residents in re-shaping, re-imagining and establishing itself as a vibrant cultural center in downtown Los Angeles.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Soulsville Foundation

Memphis, TN - $50,000 (12 months)

To support Stax Music Academy's Senior Academy, which provides after-school music education programming and life skills to high school students.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Tacoma Art Museum

Tacoma, WA - $157,000 (24 months)

To support a multi-year national documentary project dedicated to photographing 562 Federally Recognized Tribes in The United States.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Tectonic Theater Project, Inc.

New York, NY - $82,000 (12 months)

To support “Square Peg Round Hole”, a play about living on the autism spectrum.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Temple Contemporary

Philadelphia, PA - $57,000 (12 months)

To support the commission of a significant new installation project informed by extensive community engagement that responds to the complex social implications of recent Philadelphia public school closings.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


The Theater Offensive

Boston, MA - $225,000 (36 months)

To support True Colors: Out Youth Theater, a program that uses a community-based theater approach to train and activate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight allied youth leaders who use arts as a tool for social change.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Porcupine, SD - $25,000 (12 months)

To support the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (TVCDC) staff and design partners to engage the community in the creation of the "One Planet Communities Action Plan" for a 34-acre development on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Porcupine, SD - $25,000 (6 months)

To support the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (TVCDC) staff and design partners to begin implementing the “One Planet Communities Action Plan.”

Category: Community Engaged Design


United States Artists

Chicago, IL - $15,000 (12 months)

To support the Chicago Artists Assembly in March 2015 in Chicago and a following meeting in Miami that provides artists a forum to discuss professional issues and their work, share ideas, and form new projects and collaborations.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Urbano Project, Inc.

Boston, MA - $150,000 (36 months)

To support artists' projects and the Fellows programs as part of the afterschool programs at Urbano Project including youth-led interdisciplinary public art inventions and placemaking initiatives in the local community of Egleston Square, Roxbury/Jamaica Plain.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement


Verde

Portland, OR- $100,000 (24 months)

To continue supporting Living Cully to concentrate infrastructure investments at the neighborhood scale to stimulate environmental benefits as well as community and individual wealth creation. Additional funding for this grant comes from Surdna's Sustainable Environments Program.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation

Philadelphia, PA - $150,000 (36 months)

To support VONA's workshops for writers of color and to support the expansion of artist networks.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Wesleyan University

Middletown, CT - $45,000 (12 months)

To recruit and support low-income people and people of color to participate in the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance program -- primarily as participants, but also as visiting artists and guest lecturers.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Women Make Movies

New York, NY - $107,000 (24 months)

To support a documentary by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, following families affected by the Dominican Republic Supreme Court ruling that strips citizenship from individuals of Haitian descent.

Category: Artists Engaging in Social Change


Women's Housing And Economic Development Corporation

Bronx, New York - $50,000 (12 months)

To support the implementation of solutions for creative space-activation along the Southern Boulevard Business Mile that focus on the cultural and artistic heritage of the Bronx.

Category: Community Engaged Design


Working Classroom

Albuquerque, NM -$150,000 (36 months)

To provide high quality visual arts and theater training to teens, and develop key life skills.

Category: Teens' Artistic and Cultural Advancement

Capacity & Infrastructure

6 grants totaling $443,000


Foundation Center

New York, NY - $45,000 (12 months)

One-time capital grant to the Foundation Center for their relocation.

Category: Capacity and Infrastructure


Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

Washington, DC - $150,000 (24 months)

To support grantmakers as they make improvements in their work, through general operating support, and to support the Leading Change in Philanthropy initiative.

Category: Capacity and Infrastructure


Grants Managers Network

Washington, DC - $100,000 (24 months)

To operationalize GMN's three-year strategic plan to accelerate the adoption of effective practices; develop leaders in the field of grants management; and strengthen GMN's operational capacity to sustain its high-quality programs and services.

Category: Capacity and Infrastructure


Philanthropy New York

New York, NY - $23,000 (12 months)

General operating support.

Category: Capacity and Infrastructure


Philanthropy New York

New York, NY - $100,000 (24 months)

For The Fund for 2025, a major initiative to build out a new Philanthropy Information and Networking Center, including upgrading technology, expanding programming, and establishing a public policy fellowship program.

Category: Capacity and Infrastructure


Urban Institute

Washington, DC - $25,000 (12 months)

General operating support for the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute.

Category: Capacity and Infrastructure

Miscellaneous & Other

11 grants totaling $931,000


ACCE Institute

Los Angeles, CA | $160,000 (24 months)

To pursue municipal finance solutions through community organizing and educating city officials in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.

Category: Flexible Grantmaking Fund


Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute

New York, NY | $125,000.00 (12 months)

For the ReFund America Project to develop and disseminate policy solutions that create efficient municipal financing options, saving cities hundreds of millions of dollars.

Category: Flexible Grantmaking Fund


Grand Valley State University - Johnson Center for Philanthropy

Grand Rapids, MI | $10,000 (6 months)

Sponsorship for the 2015 Johnson Center National Summit on Family Philanthropy.

Category: Flexible Grantmaking Fund


One Voice

Baton Rouge, LA | $100,000 (12 months)

TO support the development and execution of an Integrated Voter Engagement program to grow and support greater civic engagement in New Orleans and statewide.

Category: New Orleans Fund


Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota

Saint Paul, MN | $25,000 (12 months)

For general operating support, in memory of Edith Thorpe.

Category: Other


Swamp Lily, LLC

New Orleans, LA | $25,000 (12 months)

To support a video project that features the voices of often-unheard community members at the events surrounding the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Category: New Orleans Fund


University of Minnesota Foundation

Minneapolis, MN | $1,000 (12 months)

For Samuel Skidmore Thorpe, III - Islet Transplant and Research Fund #11406.

Category: Other


University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA | $400,000 (24 months)

To build the capacity of the National Equity Atlas and produce regional profiles and reports, demonstrating why improving equity is good for social and economic health.

Category: Flexible Grantmaking Fund


Urban Habitat

Oakland, CA | $25,000.00 (12 months)

To support the publication of a book by urban sustainability leader, Carl Anthony.

Category: Flexible Grantmaking Fund


Vassar College

Poughkeepsie, NY $25,000 (12 months)

To support the Edith Davenport Scholarship fund, in memory of Edith Thorpe.

Category: Other


Vera Institute of Justice

New York, NY | $35,000 (12 months)

General operating support for the Vera Institute’s work to advance justice reform, working closely with national, state, and local leaders.

Category: Flexible Grantmaking Fund