2020 Fall Reimagine Grant Award Announcement

This grantmaking process is one mechanism to organize and move the SVP Network into more equitable and just models of philanthropy that redistribute power and resources to communities and frontline work. With input and scoring from the grant committee, SVP International prioritized funding a portfolio of grants that:

Invest in systemic change, racial justice, movement building, and/or BIPOC developed solutions;
Invest in work led by people who are most directly affected by systems of racial and economic oppression;
Bolster power-sharing practices and systems change philanthropy within SVP, that go beyond developing an early shared analysis;
Co-invest with SVPs that are developing processes that center participation and leadership from directly affected community members within funding and strategy decision-making;
Advance systems change and racial justice in a variety of ways, across the US;
Invest in smaller budget organizations, where an $8k - $10k grant can make a material impact; and
Open new relationships between SVP and community-based organizations.

SVP International is proud to announce the following Reimagine Grant recipients for the 2020 Fall grant round. We are honored to begin building relationships with these organizations, projects and collaboratives. We made $8,000 awards for each of the organizations listed below, and we will provide additional mini grants to each if we receive additional funding for the Reimagine Fund in 2020.

Higher Ground

Nominated by: SVP Tucson

Higher Ground is the lead agency for developing Smart Schools (formerly known as Community Schools) in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) and Sunnyside Unified School District (SUSD), the two largest and under resourced districts in Tucson. A Smart School is both a place and a set of partnerships between a school and other community resources.

King County Equity Now

Nominated by: SVP Seattle

King County Equity Now is a coalition of accountable, Black-led, community-based organizations working to design and realize a new normal rooted in equity. Their strategies include a list of demands, direct actions, and the plan to coordinate Seattle’s participatory budget process for 2021. Currently, they are building a movement to advocate for equity solutions that will address systemic change in Seattle.

Threads of Justice Collective

Nominated by: SVP Portland

TOJC is a unique collective organization that works hard to practice shared (non-hierarchical) leadership that addresses power dynamics that threaten our efforts for equity and inclusion. TOJC’s vision is to eliminate oppression and trauma in the developmental stage of young children through collective anti-bias awareness building and action.

Measure Inc.

Nominated by: Mission Capital (Austin,TX)

MEASURE's mission is to use data and education to mobilize communities and eliminate social disparities. The organization serves and empowers members of underrepresented communities, including Black girls and women nationally, nonprofits that serve people of color, and marginalized communities across Central Texas. By using data effectively and collaboratively in the social justice ecosystem to create equitable systems change and raise awareness.

MORTAR

Nominated by: SVP Cincinnati

MORTAR believes that entrepreneurship can change lives. When people have ownership in an area, they also have pride. That pride manifests itself in the way that the residents become involved in their neighborhoods; no longer feeling like spectators watching life happen from the “cheap seats” – but instead taking the field, making plays as productive members of society. MORTAR helps both existing and aspiring entrepreneurs build a comprehensive business canvas and learn the nuances of business management; The goal being to launch businesses that create jobs and circulate dollars locally.

SVP Chicago’s Place-Based Investment

Nominated by: SVP Chicago

SVP Chicago’s grantmaking has and will continue to support communities of color, who are disproportionately impacted by poverty in Chicago. Over the past few months, they have taken steps to further revise their investment selection process to operationalize an intentional racial equity lens. In particular, they have worked to center the voices of residents in three of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Chicago (Englewood, North Lawndale, and East Garfield Park) to help identify the nonprofits that are making an outsized impact on poverty.

SVP Philadelphia’s Grantmaking Pilot

Nominated by: SVP Philadelphia

SVP Philadelphia’s grantmaking priorities were formed through direct conversation with a diverse set of community advocates. These conversations drew attention to the many organizations led by Black, Brown, and Indigenous leaders of color that have lacked access to traditional institutional funding in spite of their significant impact in the communities they serve. SVP Philadelphia went to work, designing a grantmaking process and criteria with the explicit goal of prioritizing BIPOC led organizations working on the ground to advance racial justice.

Reimagine Grant Review Committee Members

Emiko Atherton, Executive Director, SVP Seattle*
Megan Carvajal, Director of Consulting Services, Mission Capital*
Michael Van Leesten, Director - Organization Development and Stakeholder Engagement, SVP Connecticut
Marcus Walton, CEO, GEO (Grantmakers for Effective Organizations)
John-Peter Wilhite, Director of Community Impact, SVP Tucson*
Athena Youm, Program Assistant, Raikes Foundation
Sudha Nandagopal, CEO, SVP International
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Convened and facilitated by Emily Reitman, Director of Expansion and Innovation, SVP International
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*Committee members recused themselves from scoring or discussing grant applications from their own SVP Affiliates.

For additional information about Reimagine grants, please contact SVPI’s Director of Global Innovation and Expansion, Emily Reitman (emily@svpi.org)