The Systems Change Fellowship supports LA-based nonprofit initiatives led by those with lived experience of the systemic issues they’re tackling.
Donor Name: Social Justice Partners Los Angeles
State: California
County: Los Angeles County (CA)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/14/2025
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The program focuses on peer-learning and relationship building, connecting as a part of the interwoven landscape of social justice in Los Angeles.
Funding Information
Systems Change Fellow’s organizations are given a $10,000 unrestricted grant to be dispersed in two $5,000 installments. The first payment is disbursed three months into the program, in November, and the last disbursement is upon completion of the program in May.
Eligibility Criteria
The below criteria must be met to be eligible for the Systems Change Fellowship:
- Organizational Criteria
- Nonprofit Organization
- Applicants must have a designation from the IRS as a 501(c)3 organization, or proof of fiscal sponsorship.
- Location
- They have a strong preference for LA-based organizations. If you’re part of a national organization or are headquartered elsewhere, you are still invited to apply. Tell them how your program significantly impacts LA County.
- Systems Change Focus
- The initiative must have a systems change focus, rather than a direct service focus. Direct services often provide much-needed individual-level support, such as temporary or permanent housing, mentoring, training, or food banks. For the focus of this fellowship, they seek leaders of systems change initiatives that address the root causes of injustice by engaging people across the system to shift power, policy, and mindsets. Systems change work acknowledges the problem’s complex history and it improves the lives of the people most impacted by the issue for the long term.
- Nonprofit Organization
- Applicant Criteria
- Organization Representative
- The individual participating in the Systems Change Fellowship on behalf of their organization must hold the title of Executive Director, initiative Program Director, or equivalent position with significant organization-wide decision-making responsibility and should have at least six months of tenure with the organization. Participants should work or live in LA County in order to utilize the coaching resources available.
- Lived experience
- The individual participating in the Systems Change Fellowship should have direct, lived experience of the issue their initiative is solving. As the Systems Change Fellowship is not issue specific, they look to applicants to define and tell us their relationship to the system they seek to transform. For example, they define “direct, lived experience of homelessness” as someone who has been unhoused, unsheltered, or who may have experienced a lack of stable, safe, and adequate housing.
- Organization Representative
For more information, visit SJPLA.
