Overview of the Organization: For nearly 20 years, Groundswell Fund has put intersectional grassroots organizing led by women of color, including transgender and gender expansive people of color, at the center of our giving. We have provided an essential irrigation system for social justice movements – a channel into which individual donors and foundations can pour resources to reach vital work at the grassroots. In the process, we have modeled and manifested a remarkable kind of philanthropy.
With 800 individual donors and 40 national foundations giving into Groundswell; women of color and TGNC people of color who come out of grassroots organizing deciding where those resources go; and over 200 grantees led mostly by WOC and TGNC people of color receiving our support; Groundswell is proof that solidarity and beloved community across lines of race, class and gender is indeed possible.
Building on our 17-year track-record of success ($100M in grants and capacity-building moved to the field thus far), in December 2020, Groundswell launched our new 2020-2025 Blueprint to move $100M to the field (through our c3 and c4 entities) by 2025. The Blueprint offers a pathway for Groundswell to stay the course in our existing successful strategic direction and to innovate in response to new learnings and the unique needs of this historic moment.
Impact: Since 2003, Groundswell has moved more than $100 million to the field in grants and capacity building support; increased the giving of dozens of national and local foundations; and helped bring thousands of new individual donors into the RJ movement. Our grantees have been instrumental in 538 policy victories at the state and local level to either pass pro-RJ policies or block regressive ones, and they have built a growing grassroots base of support for RJ across the U.S. Groundswell is proof that solidarity and beloved community across lines of race, class and gender is indeed possible. In December 2020, Groundswell launched our new 2020-2025 Blueprint to move an additional $100M to the field (through our c3 and c4 entities) by 2025. The Blueprint offers a pathway for Groundswell to stay the course in our existing successful strategic direction and to innovate in response to new learnings and the unique needs of this historic moment.