The Movement Building and Systems Change grant application period has closed. Grantee Partners will be announced by the end of the 2024 calendar year. 

Purpose:

The Movement Building and Systems Change (MBSC) Grant Program supports nonprofits and community-based organizations that engage in organizing, power building, advocacy and structural change initiatives to transform power and resource distribution systems to advance equitable, vibrant, safe, and thriving communities.

This grant program explicitly seeks to fund organizations engaging in organizing, power building, policy, and advocacy efforts that address the issue areas of educational equity, arts education access and funding, community safety, and criminal justice reform. Because we recognize that these issues may not always be addressed in a siloed fashion, we encourage organizations to seek funding who are working to address them through an intersectional approach or in conjunction with other community-identified goals.   

We seek to support organizations who build and mobilize communities of those most impacted or with direct proximity to the challenges and issue areas they are working to address.

Given the focus areas of this Request for Proposals (RFP), organizations who directly engage youth, parents, returning citizens, and justice-informed individuals and leaders are encouraged to apply. 

We also seek organizations connected to other community groups collaborating for systemic change. Additional priority will be given to groups working on intersectional, intergenerational, and racial solidarity efforts.

Goals:

The goal of the MBSC grant program is to partner with organizations that utilize the methods below directly or through a combination of direct activities and partnerships to advance systems change through efforts that involve: 

• Community-driven and asset-based engagement, solution development, and problem solving. 
• Power building through a combination of healing practices, trainings, base and community building activities, including civic and leadership development opportunities. 
• In-depth political, issue, and systems analysis to address the direct issues and underlying historical, racial and systemic inequities. 
• Collective action including public accountability and civic engagement.  
• Unifying and collaborative efforts through coalitions, partnerships and strategic alliances within and across issue areas and sectors.    
• Expanding beyond traditional movement building approaches to include social media, the arts, narrative change work and alternative system development and planning.   
• Measuring progress and implications for impact at the individual, community, cultural, and systems levels with opportunities for routine reflection, redirection, and adaptation as needed to meet the evolving community and political landscape.

Through these integrated movement building approaches, organizational partners will be able to demonstrate the potential or proven ability to influence and foster change at the individual, community, cultural, and systems levels that leads to greater resource allocation and equitable and community-driven policy and systemic reforms in education, arts education, community safety, and criminal justice.

We believe the increased influence on policymaking and systems design will lead to local and state policies that are more just and foster opportunities for local, state, and federal policy influence and long-term opportunities for educational, economic, and social mobility. 

Grantmaking Criteria:

Organizations’ applications will be evaluated based on the criteria below.

• Organizational capacity and fiscal health.
• Organizational incorporation of those most impacted or in close proximity to issues through roles and decision-making, leadership, and solutions development.
• Organizational commitment to racial equity and justice.
• BIPOC leadership at the board, staff, or community levels.
• Proposal alignment with strategic goals and targeted issue areas.
• Potential for impact at the individual, community, and systems levels.
• Issue and system analysis to address the direct issues and underlying historical, racial, and systemic inequities.
• Active and relevant partnerships or engagement in coalitions, or strategic alliances.
• Incorporation of non-traditional movement building approaches to include social and new media, the arts, or innovation to system development and planning.