Posts Tagged ‘Community Power-Building’
Journey Toward Intersectional Grantmaking
We at Funders for a New Economy (FJE) and the Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG) believe we have a critical mass of people of color and white allies within philanthropy who are interested in a new path— who are ready to talk about race, who are ready to acknowledge that this country’s economic policies were not…
Read More2023 March Amplify Newsletter
Dear friends, Amplify Fund was originally created to support groups at the intersection of racial justice, power building, and equitable development. Our new vision focuses on generational wealth building, land justice, holistic well-being, and human dignity. In other words, our grantees work on a variety of issues. To read about some of the amazing strides they made in…
Read MoreMidwest 2022 Year-End Newsletter: Rest, Adaptation, + Fireside in January!
These shorter, colder days have required me to rest more, slow down, and re-arrange my work days to catch the daylight for myself and little ones. And it always feels so hard because it disrupts and challenges how I have been taught to survive racial capitalism: to use urgency as a default reaction and accept extraction. 🌱 Forming the program’s…
Read More4-Year Reflection
The Amplify Fund started in 2017 with the intention of existing for four years. It became clear in 2021 that in order to be values-aligned, we needed to extend beyond the initial time horizon, so we decided to embark on a year of looking back and learning. Our reflections are organized in alignment with our…
Read MoreAmplify Fund’s Updated Vision
Amplify Fund’s original vision focused on “a reality where Black, indigenous, people of color, and low-income people benefit from the changes caused by development, including wealth creation, land control, and quality of life outcomes.” While this original vision served us well, it was written in 2018 by funders and staff. In 2021, adhering to our…
Read MoreAmplify Fund’s Updated Goals
In 2021, Amplify grantees wrote a new vision for the Fund, and updated our twin goals to fit that vision. However, the core of Amplify’s goals (to help build power in places, and to shift the field of philanthropy) remain the same. Below, you can find the latest articulation of our goals including the conditions…
Read MoreAmplify Fund’s Updated Values
Amplify Fund has always been values-driven, having articulated a set of values alongside our first theory of change in 2018. In 2021, when we enlisted a committee of grantees to update our vision and goals, we also asked them to revisit and sharpen our values. Below is the latest list of values that guide Amplify…
Read MoreMidwest Fall 2022 Newsletter: Holding Change with Care 🍂
I hope you are finding rest and warmth as we traverse this season of transitions. In our home, the little ones and I have been tracking the colors of the leaves and we’ve been celebrating with loved ones the Mid-Autumn Festival and the upcoming Día de Muertos. Fall has already been filled with reminders that change is…
Read More2022 October Amplify Newsletter
Dear friends, Our commitment to deep, relational grantmaking means that, in addition to our long-term commitment to racial justice powerbuilding, we respond during crises of all kinds. Crises that affect 1) all our grantees partners, like COVID; 2) individual grantee partners; and 3) grantee partners in just one of our eight places as was the case…
Read MoreIRSG Rural Organizing Dialogue Series
Over the course of the summer, IRSG held a Rural Organizing Dialogue Series. This series was educational and genuine! It was a space for funders in IRSG’s network to get to know this work and the rural leaders that are holding and leading it. The dialogue featured many of IRSG’s Movement Advisors and created opportunity to…
Read MoreEvent Recap: 9/15 Indiana Co-Governance Funder Briefing
In Indianapolis, gun violence is down 20% so far this year for the first time in a decade; a new crisis response system supports people in crisis to get the care they deserve rather than ending up behind bars; and the nation’s strongest civilian oversight body over law enforcement, created just nine month ago, has…
Read MoreMidwest Summer 2022 Newsletter: Collective Courage ✨
With all we are holding, I hope you are also finding sweetness in this final stretch of our Midwest summer. Each day, I have the honor of working with movement workers and funders who teach me what it means to be courageous enough to build the world we want. Individual brave acts are powerful. So…
Read MoreMidwest Spring 2022 Newsletter: Seeding Change 🌱
I am so honored to say hello to you as the Program Manager of the Midwest Organizing Infrastructure Funders (Midwest Program) at Neighborhood Funders Group. I shifted into this role from Sr. Program Coordinator last month, a transition that has paralleled the Midwest’s journey into spring. In recent years, I have begun gardening vegetables, which has been…
Read MoreAmplify Fund Collaboration Grants
Aligned with our initial theory of change that stated a commitment to “fund an ecosystem of groups and prioritize deep collaboration,” in 2021 we introduced collaboration grants. These grants support work that Amplify grantees are taking on with other trusted allies. In 2021, Amplify granted $634,000 to 16 collaborations. in two rounds of funding. In…
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