Until She's Free Fund Grant

The Until She's Free Fund is a participatory grantmaking initiative launched by Circle for Justice Innovations in 2020. It focuses on supporting women-led organizations that address state-sanctioned violence against women and girls, including trans women and gender non-conforming individuals. Through empowering those most impacted by the criminal justice system, this fund aims to drive transformative change and advocate for systemic solutions to the injustices faced by these communities, fueling grassroots efforts for safety and equity.

NOTE:
The CJI Until She’s Free RFP is an open call and does not require an invitation to apply.
Until She’s Free is a grantmaking initiative strictly supporting women-led organizations addressing state-sanctioned violence against women and girls, including trans women and trans girls, and gender-nonconforming people, and their criminalization and subsequent incarceration, while also elevating their leadership in bringing about foundational change.
The Until She’s Free Circle, a fund of Circle for Justice Innovations, is seeking applications from women, girls, trans and gender expansive people-led organizations tackling the Systems faced by incarcerated, detained, criminalized or formerly incarcerated women, girls, trans and gender expansive people.  We are committed to flanking organizations that are addressing current realities of incarcerated and criminalized women, girls, trans and gender expansive people and the innovative solutions needed to build power and create transformative systems change.
If this is your work and mission, we encourage you to apply including but not limited to formerly incarcerated women, girls, trans people, undocumented activists; focused on forward thinking approaches to transform the criminal legal system and sustain our communities.
BACKGROUND
The Circle for Justice Innovations (CJI) resources organizations seeking to end mass incarceration and criminalization. Celebrating 25 years of grantmaking, CJI was founded to combat prison expansion, mass incarceration, and racial disparities affecting marginalized communities and seed organizations whose work is led by formerly incarcerated and directly impacted leadership
The Until She’s Free Circle (USF) is a participatory grant-making circle of community organizers, many with lived incarceration experience, alongside donors and donor-activists. The Until She’s Free Fund shares consensus decision making power and commitment to a Just Sisterhood process in philanthropy. The Circle seeks to end the racialized carceral state, creating new frameworks for safety, and accountability models. This Circle was launched to provide vital support for addressing the criminal legal system's impact on women, girls, trans and gender-expansive people, while uplifting their leadership in this critical work.
This year’s USF funding priorities include:
Carcel Conditions and Systems Control focused work organizations committed to improving conditions for those incarcerated, advocating for basic human dignity, as well as addressing harmful alternatives to incarceration (e.g., e- incarceration) and the economic related profits from Systems surveillance. Black and Latine Trans-led organizations advocating for ending incarceration and criminalization of trans and gender expansive people. Including but not limited to conditions and access while incarcerated and/or detained, participation in survival economy strategies, and gender-based affirming justice solutions. Immigration & Detention organizing around immigrant detention, family separation, and ICE deportations; political education and Know Your Rights trainings for community safety. Gender Affirming Care & Reproductive Justice, Health and Access for justice and systems involved women, girls, trans, and gender expansive people, including those in jails, prisons, detention centers and other forms of state supervision.Indigenous Practice Based and Cultural Organizing work using indigenous practices to disrupt incarceration and criminalization. Including narrative shifts, cultural organizing, and storytelling.Restorative, Healing and Transformative Justice work - innovative solutions to combat incarcerations and criminalization in communities, behind the wall and as an interruption and intervention to incarceration.

Eligibility

Formerly Incarcerated, Systems involved and/or Directly Impacted women, girls, trans and gender expansive people in leadership of the organization and workOrganization budget cannot exceed $750,000.00 dollars. This includes programs and project budgets, organizational assets, etc. Work must include a system change organizing strategy to end incarceration and criminalization of women, girls, trans and gender expansive peopleCurrent 501c3 status or fiscally-sponsored organizations with MOU

Ineligibility

Organizations that do not include the leadership of people formerly incarcerated or directly impacted by the criminal legal and/or immigrant systems.Organizations that receive funding from law enforcement agenciesDirect assistance programs such as emergency housing, legal aid, or abortion funds, unless those programs are connected to long-term organizing strategies to demand such services from municipalities, states or the federal government.Political campaigns of individual candidates for office or passing legislation. However, we are eager to support organizing efforts that expand the rights of people in jails or prisons and formerly incarcerated people, or efforts that educate, mobilize, or inform potential voters about issues that impact women, girls and gender expansive communities hardest hit by the criminal legal system.Capital campaigns, galas or fundraising eventsIndividual projects or projects from a fiscal sponsor – work must be led by organizations applying for the grant.  Work led by large institutions such as universities, hospitals, banks and government agencies.