Black Voices for Black Justice Fund
OVERVIEW: The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund supports racial justice leaders who make a significant contribution to health, education, civic engagement, jobs, and economic development in Black communities.
IP TAKE: BVBJF gives awards to both local and national black leaders and does not appear to prioritize either type of awardee. The strength of an awardees’ impact seems to matter more than the extent of their reach. This funder does not support groups and only makes awards to individuals. Various philanthropic foundations are supporting partners of BVBJF. BVBJF is still relatively new on the scene so this may change, but, for now, it remains true to its founding mission.
PROFILE: Established in 2020, the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund (BVBJF) is a social justice organization that supports Black leaders and Black-led organizations that are working to build an anti-racist America. It was launched and seeded with an initial $350,000 investment by the Moriah Fund, a New York City philanthropy started by brothers Robert and Clarence Efroymson that supports work in racial justice, educational equity, human rights, and reproductive justice, as well as work in Israel.
BVBJF aims to “amplify clarion voices about racial justice; connect new and established Black leaders to one another; and support Black-led efforts to build meaningful economic and political power for their communities in the context of police brutality and the disproportionate impact of the pandemic along racial lines – including disparities in access to healthcare, jobs, education, justice and the right to vote.” Top grantmaking interests include racial justice, civil rights issues, criminal justice reform and education.
BVBJF is led by a group of co-chairs that has included Kristen Clarke and Stacy Abrams. In addition to current co-chair Kerry Washington, other fund leaders include Wes Moore, a Rhodes Scholar who now serves as CEO of Robin Hood Foundation (Moriah Fund supports the organization); Jean Desravines, CEO of New Leaders; Kristen Clarke, President of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Shavar Jeffries, President of Education Reform Now; and Tenicka Boyd, National Organizing Director of the ACLU.
Grants for Racial Equity, Civil Rights, Criminal Justice Reform, and Education
The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund “amplifies and elevates ongoing efforts to address the national crisis surrounding racism, white supremacy, police brutality, and racial inequality. BVBJ seeks to accelerate the leadership trajectory of the next generation of Black leaders and support Black-led efforts to build meaningful economic and political power for their communities.”
In this vein, BVBJF aims to identify the social entrepreneurs and activists that are doing grassroots work and empower them with unrestricted support. It supports black leaders at the national and community level. However, it only recognizes individuals and does not make grants to organizations.
BVBJF awards work to amplify black community leaders’ voices, bring leaders together to exchange knowledge and support each other, and advance “Black-led efforts to build meaningful economic and political power for their communities.”
BVBJF relies upon a nomination process to bring black leaders to the fund’s attention. It accepts these year-round via an online submission form. The nomination form is here.
Important Grant Details:
The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund accepts nominations on a rolling basis for all of its areas of focus. Awardees receive grants of at least $20,000 to support their work fighting racism and “building an anti-racist America.” The fund also operates a fellowship program in which each fellow receives a personal grant of $30,000.
PEOPLE:
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