Black Girl Freedom Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Black Girl Freedom Fund supports racial justice and issues that affect Black and brown women and girls across the United States.
IP TAKE: According to an open letter from its founders, “Black women’s and girl’s voices, visions, and experiences are essential and necessary for the liberation of all Black people.” Still in its earliest years, the Black Girl Freedom Fund calls on the philanthropic sector to invest $1 billion in Black and brown girls by the year 2030. The fund runs virtual events and makes grants to organizations serving and led by Black girls, women, and “gender expansive folks.”
This is an accessible funder that runs an annual open call for submissions via its website. Its active social media presence makes it approachable for those looking to keep abreast of its activities. While this is a decidedly crowded space for grantseekers, don’t hesitate to reach out to this funder with questions and ideas.
PROFILE: Established in 2020, the Black Girl Freedom Fund (BGFF) is a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and an initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color. The cofounders of BGFF are Black women, activists, educators, artists, philanthropists and organizers. BGFF’s aim is to “support work that advances the wellbeing of Black girls and their families, including work that centers and advances the power of Black girls and gender-expansive youth through organizing, asset mapping, capacity-building, legal advocacy and narrative work that seeks to eradicate structural violence enacted against Black girls and gender-expansive youth.”
Grants for Racial Justice, Women and Girls
Still in its earliest years of operation, the Black Girl Freedom Fund has so far launched two landmark signature initiatives:
The #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign is “a call for the philanthropic investment of $1 billion in Black girls over the next decade.” The initiative cites a dearth of investment in Black women and girls, and in its first year, “mobilized $20 million from the co-investments of over 15 institutional funders and more than 1,000 individual donors.”
In 2021, the fund launched Black Girl Freedom Week, a series of “free, virtual events to raise awareness — and funding — for Black youth.” Events include films, speakers, panel discussions, music, interviews and more.
The Black Girl Freedom Fund’s early grantmaking has been shepherded by the organization’s Youth Grantmaking Council and has focused on “the wellness and safety of Black girls and gender expansive youth.” Members of the council first “spent time defining what wellness and safety means to them, and co-creating our vetting process for grantmaking decisions.”
Past grantees include Healing the Black Body, California’s Get Smart B4 U Get Sexy, South Carolina’s Hive Community Circle and Pretty Brown Girl, a national organization that facilitates mentorships to improve the self-esteem and confidence of Black and brown girls.
Important Grant Details:
The Black Girl Freedom Fund’s grants generally range from $50,000 to $100,000.
Grantmaking appears to be on the rise; in 2020, the Black Girl Freedom Fund made its first round of grants to seven organizations, and in 2022, it awarded grants to 68 organizations.
This funder tends to support small- to medium-sized organizations that have a strong impact on young Black and brown women.
Grantmaking is limited to organizations that are "led by Black girls and/or Black women, Black femmes, and/or gender-expansive Black folks.”
The fund announces open calls for applications from Black women- and “femme-led” organizations.
Although dates are subject to change, the application period typically runs from the middle of September to the end of October.
The fund can be contact via its contact page or its social media accounts, which are linked to its application page.
PEOPLE:
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