Gender Justice Organizing Fund Grant

The Gender Justice Organizing Fund Grant supports initiatives led by women, girls, trans, gender nonconforming, and LGBTQI+ individuals to achieve gender justice. Organizations must prioritize community organizing and demonstrate an understanding of systemic oppression. Grants from the Bread & Roses Community Fund are crucial for groups that lack traditional funding due to their commitment to amplifying marginalized voices. The fund emphasizes long-term strategies that foster sustainable social change in the Philadelphia area.

NOTE: This funder is in the midst of an active development and planning cycle for the Gender Justice Organizing Fund and has not yet released future funding details.Women, girls, trans, gender nonconforming, and LGBTQI+ people are the targets of systemic oppression based on gender identity and/or gender expression. Gender justice exists when all people— especially women, girls, trans, gender nonconforming, and LGBTQI+ people —are able to identify and express their gender and sexual orientation without fear, discrimination or harm, and have the economic, social, and political power and resources to create thriving, safe, and just communities.
The Gender Justice Fund makes grants to groups that:
Have a long-term vision for and engage strategies that focus on gender justice.Are led by people most affected by gender oppression, and build broad membership and leadership bases that can survive when key leaders step downUnderstand power differences based on identity and can talk about how they are trying to challenge those power imbalances both within their organizations and in their communities.Prioritize ongoing education/consciousness raising for constituents and allies that broadens their membership base.Have a plan, including short term and long term goals that are specific, achievable, and relevant to gender justice.Are knowledgeable about other organizations working on the same issue, and are able to work in coalition across movements, issues, and communities to amplify impact.Are less likely to be funded by more traditional funders, because of their commitment to challenging power and prioritizing the leadership of marginalized people; therefore, a grant from Bread & Roses Community Fund would be critical to seeding or sustaining their work.
Bread & Roses makes grants to organizations that have a long-term vision for social justice and engage in strategies that promote sustainable social change, including:

• A focus on community organizing and activism (not social service, self-help, or educational programs).
• A clear understanding of the root causes of the problem or issue that they are working to resolve.
• A vision that emphasizes changing the systems that create or perpetuate the problem or issue being addressed.

A strategy that includes building a local base for taking collective action by the community affected by the problem or issue and results in concrete outcomes at the neighborhood, city, state or national level.
Leadership that is primarily composed of people most affected by the problem or issue that is being addressed.

Eligibility

Organizations must meet all of the following basic requirements to be eligible for a grant from Bread & Roses:Must be located in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Camden counties.Must be designated by the IRS as a 501(c)3 organization or have a fiscal sponsor that is designated by the IRS as a 501(c)3 organization or have documentation of a pending 501(c)3 application with the IRS.Must be current with all progress reports from previously awarded Bread & Roses grants.Must submit a complete application prior to the deadlinebecause of the volume of applications we receive, we cannot make exceptionsMust be using community organizing to create sustainable social change.

Ineligibility

Bread & Roses does not make grants for:Direct service work/social services, self-help/empowerment programs, educational programs, or advocacy.Research.Schools.Capital campaigns or building projects.Scholarships, fellowships, or grants to individuals (except through the Lax Scholarship Fund).