How much funding does ASCEND:BLO Accelerator provide?

ASCEND:BLO Accelerator provides $25,000 stipend plus up to $300,000 investment over three years in funding.

When is the deadline for ASCEND:BLO Accelerator?

The funder has not published a deadline for this grant.

Who is eligible for ASCEND:BLO Accelerator?

Eligible applicants: Black-led nonprofit organizations; Operating in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, or San Mateo Counties.

ASCEND:BLO Accelerator

East Bay Community Foundation

Foundation Grants for Nonprofits Capacity Building Grants Grants for BIPOC

Funding Amount

$25,000 stipend plus up to $300,000 investment over three years

Deadline

Deadline not published

Grant Type

Foundation

Can we apply?

Check your organization against each line. Taken from the listing; confirm with the funder's guidelines.

Eligible organizations

Black-led nonprofit organizations
Operating in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, or San Mateo Counties
Collaborators: Akonadi Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, County of Alameda, Kapor Center for Social Impact, The San Francisco Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Y & H Soda Foundation

Other requirements

Organizations with vision for growth, promising ideas, and willingness to work in new ways
Contact: Byron Johnson, Capacity Building Officer, East Bay Community Foundation

Overview

A capacity building program designed to strengthen and support the growth, sustainability, and impact of Black-led nonprofit organizations (BLOs) in the Bay Area. The accelerator is a six-month intensive program for emerging, innovative BLOs.

Geographic Scope: Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties

Focus Areas:

Black-led nonprofit organizations
Organizations serving as anchor institutions in communities of color and low-income communities
Organizations addressing vital community services and needs

Program Components:

Six-month accelerator for emerging, innovative BLOs
Three-year stabilizer for mature BLOs
Peer learning community with networking and workshops

Support Provided:

Training in strategy, feasibility, fundraising, and sustainability
Access to coaching and technical support
$25,000 stipend for inaugural cohort participants
Opportunity to pitch bold ideas for up to $300,000 investment over three years

Eligibility:

Black-led nonprofit organizations
Organizations with vision for growth, promising ideas, and willingness to work in new ways
Operating in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, or San Mateo Counties

Collaborators: Akonadi Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, County of Alameda, Kapor Center for Social Impact, The San Francisco Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Y & H Soda Foundation

What East Bay Community Foundation actually gave

Source: IRS Form 990, 2025

Grants in 2025: 842
Total given: $62.84M
Median grant: $25K
Range: $5,011–$5.5M

By dollars: California 55%, Massachusetts 11%, District of Columbia 10%. Top recipient cities: Oakland, CA; San Francisco, CA; Berkeley, CA.
39% of grants with a stated purpose were for general or operating support.
34% of recipients were new grantees, not repeat recipients.

Example grants

Health Resources in Action · Boston, MA

Center for gun violence research & education

$5.5M
Fire Aid · Inglewood, CA

Supporting fire relief and recovery by community partners

$3.86M
Vose River Charitable Fund · Bethesda, MD

Cityhealth: continuing to advance policy change to support health in large cities

$2.29M
American Public Health Association Inc · Washington, DC

General support - american public health association/kaiser permanente community…

$2.26M
Common Health Coalition · Washington, DC

Common health coalition 2.0

$2.01M