Raikes Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Seattle-based Raikes Foundation works in Washington and across the U.S. in the areas of education, youth homelessness, democracy and racial equity. It also supports equitable change in the philanthropic ecosystem.
IP TAKE: In a recent annual report, Tricia Raikes, a co-founder of the Raikes Foundation, wrote, “We believe it’s possible and necessary to shift attention (and dollars) away from fear and divisiveness and toward shared values and collective aspirations.” Raikes, an equity- and youth-focused funder, supports work that aims to dismantle structural inequity, not only in the issues it supports, but also in “the philanthropic ecosystem.” It works collaboratively with its grantees and other philanthropies, often producing research that informs policy.
Unfortunately, Raikes does accept applications. This will be a difficult funder to approach; networking with staff or past grantees will be key.
PROFILE: The Seattle-based Raikes Foundation was established in 2002 by Jeff and Tricia Raikes, who met in the early 1980s while working for Microsoft. The couple later married, and Jeff Raikes went on to serve as the CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation’s goal is “to bring people together to break down barriers that prevent communities from thriving and to support solutions that allow all of us to determine a fair and just future.” Its grantmaking programs include Education, Housing Stability for Youth, Impact-Driven Philanthropy and Resourcing Equity and Democracy.
Grants for Education
The foundation’s Education grantmaking works to support “youth, educators, and policymakers to reimagine and redesign our public education system so that all young people have an excellent education, no matter who they are or where they live.” Grantmaking spans PK-12 and higher education. The foundation names four focus areas for its education grantmaking.
PK School and System Redesign refers to the foundation’s support for schools, districts and programs that emphasize “developmentally rich and challenging educational experiences” that place student needs at the center of instruction and learning. The foundation’s main partner in this pursuit is the Bele Network, which works to “transform experiences and outcomes” through “research-backed best practices.”
Grantmaking PK-12 Resource Equity focuses on reforming school funding so that schools are better able to meet the needs of every young learner. The foundation is a founding member of the Resource Equity Funders Collaborative, which works at the state and national level to “drive durable, systemic change in the public education system.”
Raikes also supports PK-12 Equity Advocacy, which works to inform and educate policymakers and others on the science of learning and development so that they are able to make better decisions related to education policy at the state and national level.
The Raikes Foundation also invests in Post-Secondary Student Success. This subprogram focuses on first-generation college students, students of color and “public, broad-access institutions.”
Past education grantees include the National Public Education Support Fund, the New Schools Fund, Education Leaders of Color, the East Harlem Tutorial Program in New York and the Student Experience Project, which works “to develop practical approaches to advancing equitable student experiences and outcomes” at the post-secondary level.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Urban Development
The Raikes Foundation’s giving for Housing Stability for Youth works in the state of Washington and elsewhere in the U.S. to prevent and respond to youth and young adult homelessness. Raikes names four specific focus areas for this giving program.
Working mainly in Washington, the foundation works to Prevent Youth Homelessness by supporting organizations and agencies that support young people as they transition from foster homes, behavioral health care or youth justice programs to safe and stable housing.
The foundation also supports School Partnerships with agencies through which students can find or be placed in safe housing.
Raikes invests in efforts to provide young people at risk of becoming homeless with Immediate Access to Stable Housing, including efforts to provide stakeholders with “the data necessary to quickly match young people’s needs with housing options.”
Representation Matters refers to the foundation’s support fro “youth advocacy groups and community coalitions to educate policymakers on issues most pressing to young people experiencing homelessness.” The foundation established its Housing Our People Equity (HOPE) Initiative “to learn from young people with lived experience of homelessness and partner with them in grantmaking and leadership development opportunities.”
More than half of Raikes’s grantmaking for youth homelessness stays in the state of Washington, where its grantee partners include A Way Home Washington, Building Changes and Community Solutions. Other grantee partners include the National Center for Youth Law, SchoolHouse Connection and Education Leads Home, “a national campaign focused on improving educational outcomes for children and youth who experience homelessness.”
Grants for Civic Engagement, Democracy and Racial Justice
Resourcing Equity & Democracy (RED) is the Raikes Foundation’s newest initiative. The program “strives to build capacity for democratic life by investing in organizing that builds the power of communities who have not had equal voice in our country’s institutions.” Still in its earliest stages, the foundation has indicated that it will begin its work in this area “by co-developing an analysis of current organizing structures and will take counsel from youth organizers, veteran base-builders, and peer funders to guide our approach.”
Grantees working in this area include the Association of Black Foundation Executives, the North Star Fund, the Urban Impact Foundation, the Muslim Association of Puget Sound and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
The Raikes Foundation established its Impact Driven Philanthropy program to help individual donors, whose giving accounts for “two-thirds of the total philanthropic dollars in the U.S.,” give more effectively to “dismantle the root causes of inequity and transform the systems that created them.” To these ends, the foundation invests in organizations what “work to change how donors give,” prioritizing organizations serving and led by underrepresented groups. The foundation names three strategies for this work.
Reimagining How We Give refers to Raikes’s investment in “promising new models of donor support,” including restructured giving models for equity, equitable decision-making and “research that explores how we understand the donor landscape, behavior and support systems.”
Strength in Relationships is the foundation’s strategy to “build alignment, connectivity and develop trusting relationships” among organizations to accelerate both giving and movement toward justice and equity in the philanthropic ecosystem.
Giving Compass is an online resource launched by the Raikes Foundation that connects “givers to personalized learning resources and giving opportunities.”
Grantees of the Impact Driven Philanthropy initiative include the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Donors of Color Network, Solidaire, the Center for Effective Philanthropy and Philanthropy Northwest.
Important Grant Details:
With only a few exceptions, the Raikes Foundation’s grants range from $5,000 to $300,000.
While this is a national funder, a significant portion of funding stays in the foundation’s home state of Washington.
National funding tends to support large, well-known organizations and collaboratives.
The Raikes Foundation partners with some of its grantees on research and data analysis in the areas of education, youth homelessness and philanthropy.
This funder does not accept applications for funding.
For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s Grants & Partners page or its annual reports.
General inquiries may be submitted to the Raikes Foundation via email at info@raikesfoundation.org or telephone at (206)-801-9500.
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