The Cultivating Repair Catalyst Initiative, a fiscally sponsored project of Amalgamated Foundation, is seeking nominations to join a participatory learning cohort of emerging organizations creating pathways to repair the harms stemming from the legacies of colonialism and slavery in the United States.
Donor Name: Omidyar Network
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/01/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The Cultivating Repair Catalyst Initiative combines a participatory learning cohort with unrestricted grant support for courageous efforts to heal America’s deepest wounds. By participating in this initiative, selected organizations and projects can expect to learn together, build relationships, and gain capacity as part of a growing ecosystem for repair and healing.
This initiative embraces a participatory approach to philanthropy which centers the communities and practitioners who are catalyzing change. They see the learning sessions throughout this year-long journey as a partnership of the cohort members, the Advisory Council, and Omidyar Network. They commit to sharing key insights and learnings with the broader field and other funders.
Grant Award Range
Organizations and projects selected for the initiative will:
- Receive unrestricted grant funding totaling $100,000 (grant duration and disbursement schedule to be determined based on each organization’s needs), $10,000 wellness stipend, and $5,000 honorarium meant for the individual participating in the cohort.
- Participate in a year-long participatory learning cohort. The cohort will aim for an in-person gathering and primarily be facilitated virtually over Zoom for six to seven sessions between May 2024 to May 2025. These sessions will collectively design and explore learning questions for innovators to share their vision and expertise as they test and scale their approaches.
- Have a series of 1:1 conversations with Omidyar Network to develop an in-depth understanding of your organization’s goals, needs, and learning questions.
- Have opportunities to receive technical assistance throughout the year; share your work with a broader audience; and participate in funder briefings organized by Omidyar Network.
Who?
This cohort will bring together organizations and projects that reflect a variety of approaches to repair and healing. They intend to embrace a mix of perspectives, practices, sectors, audiences, and geographies. To help you gauge overall fit for this initiative, here are some examples to consider:
- Your work reflects different dimensions of repair and healing, including some combination of:
- “material” – Addressing physical needs to re-establish safety and self-determination. This includes safe and affordable housing, financial security, public safety, land reclamation, foods, & physical and mental health.
- “relational” – Supporting social relationships and abilities based in mutual trust and respect that enable thriving. This includes conflict resolution, restorative justice, and community gatherings that facilitate and deepen connection.
- “cultural” – Creating cultural practices that shape and express the values, identity and worldview of communities. This includes arts and creative expression, language revitalization, tending to customs and artifacts, and communal mourning and celebrations.
- “spiritual” – Restoring spiritual practices passed down from ancestors, teaching us to heal wounds. This includes meditation and prayer, rituals and ceremonies, and sacred knowledge and sites.
- Your work centers or serves communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the legacies of slavery and colonialism. Indigenous and Black communities have most directly, deeply, and disproportionately experienced these harms across generations. Black and Indigenous people have also been at the forefront of efforts to bring all communities into a shared journey of healing and repair.
- Your work doesn’t fit easily in typical issue-siloes or funding areas. They value approaches to repair and healing which reflect the real complexity of the multiple systems shaping the daily lives.
- Your work might not even be using the word “repair” but you see your work as healing wounds and restoring wholeness.
Eligibility Criteria
- Must be a 501(c)(3) public charity, a fiscally sponsored project of a 501(c)(3) public charity, or a federally recognized tribe located in the United States and associated territories.
- Please note that projects involving two or more collaborating organizations will need to select a primary entity to apply and receive funding.
- Please note this initiative will not fund organizations or activities that advocate on behalf of or against candidates for public office or political parties.
- Must have a record of focusing on repair and healing in relation to the past and present-day harms of colonialism or slavery in the United States.
- Applying 501(c)(3) public charities must have either an annual budget of $2 million or less in the most recent fiscal year or have been in operation for five years or fewer.
- Applying fiscally sponsored projects must have either an annual project budget of $2 million or less in the most recent fiscal year or have been in operation for five years or fewer.
- All federally recognized tribes are eligible to apply.
Selection Criteria
- Being in Relationship: To what extent does this approach center reciprocal care and collaboration in its work?
- Commitment to Learning: To what extent does this approach seek ways to understand progress toward the change it wishes to see?
- Ideas Taking Root: To what extent does this approach have the potential to grow beyond its current activities?
- Expanding Imagination: To what extent does this approach expand broader understanding of what repair can be?
- Multi-Generational Change: To what extent does this approach consider how to stay open to future evolution of key ideas and practices?
For more information, visit Omidyar Network.
