Equity Fund Grant

The Equity Fund Grant, initiated by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, aims to empower BIPOC-led organizations and individuals through financial support. This initiative focuses on racial and social justice, economic empowerment, educational equity, health equity, and leadership development. It prioritizes applications from Black, Indigenous, and communities of color, ensuring that underserved voices are included in decision-making processes. With an average grant amount of $10K, the fund endeavors to foster impactful community engagement and support.

Overview
The Equity Initiative Fund is dedicated to supporting BIPOC-owned, BIPOC-centering, or BIPOC-led organizations. Cultural Workers, leaders, artists and entrepreneurs may also apply as individuals for micro grants. This grant opportunity is one component of BTCF's Equity Initiative.
Grant Information
Key areas of focus for the Equity Fund include:
Racial and Social Justice: Programs that address racial disparities and promote social justice.Economic Empowerment: Initiatives that create economic opportunities and reduce income inequality.Educational Equity: Projects that ensure equal access to quality education for all students.Health Equity: Efforts to improve healthcare access and outcomes for marginalized communities.Leadership Development: Supporting emerging and new leaders and leveraging our collective brilliance to mentor each other.Cultural Heritage: Individuals who contribute to the preservation of BIPOC cultural heritage and/or who create or facilitate music, art or literature that addresses the BIPOC experience and who contribute a significant amount of their time and talents to the Berkshire Taconic community.
BTCF works in collaboration with the Leadership Advisory Committee and donor Learning and Giving Circle to secure philanthropic resources to support the growth of the Equity Fund.
The Equity Fund will provide grantmaking resources to support new and established leaders and BIPOC-led organizations. A key goal of this effort is to empower underserved communities to be at the forefront of decision-making and grantmaking, with long-term commitments from BTCF to lift up and support the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) partners who lead this effort.
The BTCF board has seeded the Equity Fund with the largest commitment of discretionary resources made by the Foundation, which has been leveraged with gifts from other donors and funders.

Eligibility

Who Can ApplyNonprofits, community groups or coalitions with fiscal sponsorship, within the Berkshire Taconic region (Columbia and Northeast Dutchess Counties, N.Y., Berkshire County, MA, and the Northwest Corner of Litchfield County, Conn.,) may be eligible to receive funding on a case by case basis; Micro grants for cultural workers, leaders, artists, entrepreneurs will require a W9. Leadership Development and Community Engagement programs should demonstrate inclusivity and potential for impact. When using the term BIPOC, we are including the region’s growing immigrant community.AwardsThe average for BTCF Grants is $10K; Equity Fund Requests Exceeding $10K will be considered by the Leadership Advisory Committee.To ApplyApplicants can resubmit after 6 months. Funded applicants must have completed their follow up. Applicants that did not receive funding should have a feedback session before reapplying for the same projects.