Many individual donors and funding institutions are not able to fund grassroots organizations working at the local and state level, and this becomes a barrier to funding Reproductive Justice and Women of Color-led work. In this section, we highlight the Catalyst Fund as a way in which individual donors and funding institutions can support this work at the national, state and local levels. The Fund was created by the Women of Color Working Group of Funders for Reproductive Equity to increase resources for Reproductive Justice and Women of Color organizations, and thus, it is highly featured in this toolkit. We also provide a list of other funding intermediaries that include in their priorities support for Reproductive Justice. They are all tax-exempt, public charities and are national, state, and local funds. The document represents our first effort to compile a list of intermediary funds that are committed to Reproductive Justice and Women of Color-led work. It is by no means a comprehensive list. If there are funds you think fit this category, please let us know by leaving us a message in the “Contact RJ Toolkit” section of this toolkit.
Tides Foundation
Tides is the proud home of The Catalyst Fund, the only national fund dedicated to supporting women of color-led efforts to advance reproductive justice. The Catalyst Fund provides matching grants to women’s funds and community foundations across the nation that, in turn, support local women of color-led organizations. Taken as a whole, these groups are building a formidable and unified movement for reproductive justice—a movement with the power to win gains for all women.
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Tides Catalyst Fund Brochure
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document
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View a presentation about the Catalyst Fund, created by the Women of Color Working Group Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights.
Download Powerpoint:
document Catalyst Fund Powerpoint Presentation (7.81 MB)
Chicago Foundation for Women
Chicago Foundation for Women is a grantmaking organization dedicated to increasing resources and opportunities for women and girls in the greater Chicago area. The Foundation advocates on behalf of women and girls and makes grants to emerging and established nonprofit organizations. The Foundation receives its support from individuals, foundations, and corporations. The Foundation engages in advocacy, provides public and grantee education, peer-to-peer networking, capacity building, and leadership development, and it serves as the premier convener of women in Chicago. The Foundation awards grants to organizations throughout Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties that address issues related to three principles of women’s human rights: economic security, freedom from violence, and health. In addition to actual grants, the Foundation provides technical assistance, peer-to-peer networking, and issue-based informational programming. The Chicago Foundation for Women is a Catalyst Fund partner.
Ms. Foundation for Women
The Ms. Foundation for Women funds across four broad areas: Building Democracy, Economic Justice, Ending Violence, and Women’s Health. The Foundation has three strategies: Grantmaking, Networking and Alliance-Building, and Skills-Building. The Foundation funds local, state, and national organizations and invests in bringing its grantee together to learn from and network with one another and to strategize around common social goals. The Foundation also offers its grantees leadership development, strategic communication, evaluation and other skills-building opportunities. Within the area of Women’s Health, the Foundation focuses on: Reproductive Rights, Health and Justice; Women and AIDS; and Sexuality Education. While the Foundation funds across the country, It has made a special commitment to building the strength and power of social justice organizations and coalitions throughout the Southern region.
New Mexico Community Foundation
The New Mexico Foundation provides opportunities for individuals, families, businesses, and organizations to create charitable funds that support innovative projects that are inspired, driven and empowered by the communities they serve. The Foundation provides grants, technical assistance and training to many non-profits through various initiatives, including Rural Livelihoods, Strengthening New Mexico Families, and the New Mexico AIDS Partnership. Another Initiative is the Women Building Community Fund, which supports New Mexico women and girls in diverse rural, urban and immigrant communities. The Fund focuses on building strategies to strengthen the economic and human investment in women as leaders. It strives to strengthen local efforts across various distinct sectors: health, economic, and environment utilizing a reproductive/social justice framework and provides opportunities for consciousness-raising through exploration and discussion of issues impacting women, including health, economics, the environment, education, culture, and more. The New Mexico Community Foundation is a Catalyst Fund partner.
The New York Women’s Foundation
The New York Women’s Foundation funds organizations and programs within the five boroughs of New York city that have developed strategies to move low-income women and girls toward long-term economic security. The Foundation provides general operating, program-specific, and capacity-building grants to support strategic areas: community organizing and advocacy, economic security and justice, health and sexual rights, positive development of girls and young women, and safety. The foundation is often the first institution to offer significant support to community-based nonprofits serving women and girls. In the area of health and sexual rights, the Foundation’s includes support of organizations and/or programs that work to ensure access to high quality, comprehensive health care services and information—such as reproductive, sexual, HIV/AIDS, mental and primary health care—that are linguistically and culturally appropriate and medically and scientifically accurate. It also supports organizations working to protect and promote human rights related to sexuality and reproduction within a social justice context. The New York Women’s Foundation is a Catalyst Fund partner.
Third Wave Foundation
The Third Wave Foundation funds organizations across the nation through the Reproductive Health and Justice Initiative. The Initiative was created in 2003 to help build solidarity and movement between young people, particularly young women of color and transgender youth, who have been overlooked, unheard, or tokenized within the larger movement. Their communities are also the ones still struggling for a very basic notion of reproductive freedom. The Initiative is grounded in the view that reproductive rights are a fundamental human right, and that these rights cannot be fully expressed or enjoyed unless people have access to the means to fulfill them. Third Wave support includes grants, technical assistance, training, and networking opportunities for young leaders to meet and collaborate with one another.
Tides Foundation, Reproductive Justice Fund
The Reproductive Justice Fund of the Tides Foundation is a collaborative fund supported by individual and institutional donors. The Fund supports organizations that are actively building bridges between reproductive justice and other social justice work, such as work involving the reproductive health impact of environmental pollution. The Fund supports efforts to engage women underrepresented in the reproductive rights movement, including Women of Color, low-income, young, rural, immigrant, LGBT, and incarcerated women.
Women’s Foundation of California
The Women’s Foundation of California funds organizations across the state that work to eradicate the root causes of inequity, that work toward systemic change, building grassroots strength, knowledge and connection. The Foundation supports organizations and programs that apply a gender, racial, and human rights filter to the issues. Its two broad funding priorities areas are Health and Safety and Economic Prosperity. The Health and Safety area includes reproductive health and justice, environmental health and justice and efforts against gender-based violence. The Foundation encourages cross-issue and cross sector work that engages multiple strategies, and has extensive history and experience in bringing leaders together across multiple issues. It supports emerging grassroots efforts to build and strengthen broad-based movements led by women and girls, especially low-income women and girls and those from communities of color. The Women’s Foundation of California is a Catalyst Fund partner.
Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee
The Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee works for social change for women and girls in greater Milwaukee through three broad funding categories: Economic Justice, Social Justice, and Leadership Development. The Fund’s individual donors and national funding partners support organizations working for the empowerment of women and girls through the Women’s Fund, the African American Women’s Fund Project, Latinas en Acción, the Lesbian Fund, and the participants of the Reproductive Justice learning circle. The Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee is a Catalyst Fund partner.
Women’s Fund of Hawai’i
The Women’s Fund of Hawai’i provides resources to community-based organizations that help women and girls become safe, financially secure, and empowered. The Fund makes grants to organizations or programs that: help the most vulnerable women and girls realize their potential; promote women’s financial security and girls strengths and leadership; address the factors that stand in the way of women’s success; and build on the gifts, strengths and assets of women and girls and promote their well-being. The Fund supports organizations addressing a broad range of issues affecting women and girls in Hawai’i, including adolescent pregnancy, physical and mental health, substance abuse, incarceration, immigrant rights, reproductive rights, racism, and poverty. The Women’s Fund of Hawai’i is a Catalyst Fund Partner.
Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County
The Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County is a catalyst for social change and economic justice with the goal of creating a community where all women and girls reach their full potential. It combines grantmaking with advocacy, training and community-building. The Fund’s grantmaking supports organizations working to create long-term gender, racial, economic and systemic change. These organizations are elevating women’s economic security; developing young women into future leaders; striving for a world where women are free from violence; and fostering reproductive justice. The Fund supports reproductive justice and Women of Color-led organizations that reach the very diverse population of women and girls in Miami-Dade County, including African American, Haitian, and Latina women. The Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County is a Catalyst Fund partner.