2022 FUNDING CYCLE NOW OPEN | CLOSES MAY 24, 2022 at 5 pm Eastern 

Background 

Decolonizing Wealth Project is an Indigenous and Black-led racial justice organization that envisions a world where racial equity has become a societal norm – where new systems ensure everyone can live their best lives, thrive in their cultures, and heal from generations of colonial trauma. Our work aims to disrupt the existing systems of moving and controlling capital by offering truth, reconciliation, and healing from the ails of colonization through education, radical reparative giving, and narrative change.

Last year, through our fund, Liberated Capital, we announced the redistribution of $1.7M to our inaugural cohort of 23 #Case4Reparations grantee partners to support movement-building & advocacy efforts to advance reparations in the U.S. This first-of-its-kind funding initiative aims to fuel and amplify movement building & campaigns efforts to achieve reparations where wealth (money or land) can be redistributed by institutions and/or governments to Black & Native American communities in the U.S. 

#Case4Reparations is a multi-year, multi-million dollar initiative, and we are excited to announce an additional $2 million funding opportunity for both current #Case4Reparations grantee partners and new organizations, supporting systemic and policy change efforts in service of reparations.

What is the #Case4Reparations?

The United States was built on a history and practice of enslavement, genocide, and extraction of and from Indigenous peoples and African descendants – resulting in more than 400 years of policies and procedures that fueled economic extraction and systemic violence in Indigenous and Black communities.

In 2020, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) reintroduced legislation to fund the first commission to study and develop proposals for providing reparations to African Americans. The bill was reintroduced in 2021 (as it has been at every congressional session since 1989) and is gaining traction with national support from leaders. This year, the momentum has continued with the legislation nearing the required House votes to pass through to the Senate and pressure building for President Biden to sign an Executive Order. There are also a number of reparative efforts underway to address the historical and ongoing theft and control of land that has led to the extreme concentration of wealth among a small group of people that exists today.

Because of the effectiveness of social movements over the past few years – coupled with the successful philanthropic organizing of Decolonizing Wealth Project – we are seeing new opportunities to unearth, support, and scale efforts to actualize reparations for Black and Indigenous peoples.

To support this progress, Liberated Capital will provide untethered resources to support organizing and advocacy for community-driven reparations efforts that will help build the case for local, regional, and national policy opportunities that will inform ways wealth can be redistributed by institutions and/or governments.

This funding opportunity aims to source both the spaces and places where reparations campaigns are taking hold, provide vital funding to fuel their efforts, and utilize our platform as a reparations fund and field disruptor to document and share this reparations movement ecosystem with our network of philanthropic institutions and donors. The spirit of reparations is that those who hold the bulk of ill-gotten resources and influence (including philanthropy) must hold responsibility for repairing the harms done.

Eligibility 

• Priority is given to organizations and/or coalitions led by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color).  
• We will also prioritize current grantee partners engaged in active reparations campaigns and policy work. 
• Grant dollars must be paid to a 501c3 nonprofit organization or a federally recognized tribe. We accept applications from fiscal sponsors. Individuals are not eligible.
• Applicants must be based in the United States.
• Coalitions and organizations working on advocacy campaigns to shift policies and systems that result in the payback of money or land from governments or institutions in the United States to Black and Indigenous peoples.  This does not include subsidies for direct services, such as affordable housing.  
• Funding must be used for a charitable purpose (no direct lobbying).
• Approximately 25-30 organizations will be selected for funding and grant awards will average $50,000. Proposals will be evaluated by an advisory committee of Black and Indigenous leaders.

Key Dates 

• Proposal Submission Deadline:  Tuesday, May 24, 2022,  5 PM PST
• Decisions Announced: July 2022

How to Apply 

Applications will be submitted via the JustFund platform.  The links below provide step-by-step instructions on how to submit your proposal.

Click here if you are a current #Case4Reparations grantee partner.  Not sure?  To be a current grantee partner means you applied and received funding for the first #Case4Reparations funding initiative in 2021.  For a video on how to use /update your previous application data, go here.

Click here for organizations that have never received #Case4Reparations funding from Liberated Capital (even if you previously applied).  For a video to learn how to apply, go here.

If you have questions about the JustFund platform and proposal submission process, please reach out to the JustFund team at info@justfund.us.  They are standing by to assist!

PROPOSAL QUESTIONS

The following questions are for new applicants, if you are an existing #Case4Reparations grantee partner, please click the link above to access your previous proposal and respond to additional questions designed specifically for existing #Case4Reparations grantee partners.

JustFund utilizes a Common Proposal with four narrative questions

• Proposal Summary (140 characters): Think of this as a tweet. Please tell us about the mission of this proposal in a couple of sentences.
• Proposal Description (2500 characters): Tell us about your proposal.
• Team Description (1250 characters): Tell us about who comprises the team.
• Financial Need (500 characters): Please describe what you will use the funding for.

We also will ask for the following additional information:

• What specific reparations policy or institution are you seeking to change and what movement building strategies are you employing (e.g. base building, communications, networking building, policy, etc.)?
• What partners/coalitions are actively engaged in your campaign? Who are your targets?
• What’s your communications strategy? How are you engaging media?

Requested Attachments

• Campaign Plans: Please attach any document that clearly outlines your specific campaign goals (if not included in the text above).
• Budget: what is the budget for the campaign? What is your organization’s budget size? What funding is secured or pending?
• Leadership: Please share a list with information on the race/ethnicity and gender of your leadership (e.g. board/staff/community advisors).

Informational Webinar – April 12, 2022, at 2 pm Eastern 

April 11, 2022, we held an informational webinar to share moe about the #Case4Reparations funding, application processes, and decision-making.  This webinar is available on our YouTube channel. 

FAQs

Have questions? We have answers.  Check out our FAQ page for responses to common (and not-so-common) questions. We will update this page as new questions come in.

Don’t see your question on the FAQ document? Reach out to us at reparations@decolonizingwealth.com!

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Meet the First Cohort of #Case4Reparations Grantee Partners (2021 Funding Cycle)

ACRE Action Center on Race & the Economy – Chicago, IL 

African American Community Service Agency – San Jose, CA

Alaska Community Action on Toxics – Anchorage, AK

Blackroots Alliance – Chicago, IL

DC Justice Lab – Washington, D.C. 

Drinking Gourd – Adel, GA

Equity And Transformation (E.A.T.) – Chicago, IL 

Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance – East Point, GA 

GES Coalition – Denver, CO

Gullah Geechee Group, Inc. – Hallandale Beach, FL

Healing and Reconciliation Institute – Monterey, CA 

Justice for Bruce’s Beach – Manhattan Beach, CA 

Justice for Greenwood – Tulsa, OK

Kanenhi:io Ionkwaienthos – Nedrow, NY 

Marijuana Justice –  Richmond, VA

N’COBRA – Washington, D.C.

New Jersey Institute for Social Justice –  Newark, NJ 

Racial Justice Coalition of Asheville – Asheville, NC 

RAW (Redistribute Agency & Wealth) Trust –  Baltimore, MD

Restitution Study Group – New York, NY 

Taller Salud – Jersey City, NJ  

Tiwahe Foundation –  Saint Paul, MN

Women Engaged – Atlanta, GA

READ THE PRESS RELEASE ANNOUNCING THE FIRST COHORT

What’s Next?

We keep raising money and awareness to support this multi-year campaign.

And the work doesn’t stop with our grants. We’re committed to identifying the best ways to elevate the work of our grantee partners, and other organizations, through field and capacity-building and digital tools that will bolster the collective reparations movement.