Alexia Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Alexia Foundation supports photographers, photojournalists and students in related fields with support for projects that reflect the foundation’s focus on promoting social justice, peace and understanding.
IP TAKE: This funder has strong roots in photojournalism, but has recently begun to fund multimedia projects that align with its goal of inspiring change through powerful photographic images. Past grantees have gone on to win prestigious awards and honors.
Alexia accepts applications from qualified professionals and full-time students and announces application due dates each spring. Grantees are more likely to secure a grant if they’ve partnered with an organization to create a wider impact through their work. Overall, this is an accessible funder that largely gives grants to individuals through an application process on its website.
PROFILE: The Alexia Foundation was established in 1991 in honor of Alexia Tsairis, who was a 20-year-old communications student at Syracuse University when she was killed in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The foundation is based in Spring Lake, New Jersey and was founded by Alexia’s family. It seeks to promote “the power of photojournalism to give voice to social justice, to respect history lest we forget it and to understand cultural difference as our strength – not our weakness.” It offers photojournalism production grants to both students and professional photographers who “produce substantial stories that drive change in the effort to make the world a better place.”
Grants for Journalism
Alexia’s journalism grantmaking supports individual photojournalists whose projects aim to “inspire change” and portray socially significant issues. Although the foundation’s original mission was to support still photography, it acknowledges that photojournalism has evolved to include a diversity of media and methods and now supports projects that include text, audio, video, VR and other formats. Examples and information about funded photographic projects is available at the foundation’s past winners page.
Alexia awards Professional Grants to professional photographers and visual journalists to support “substantial bodies of work” that align with the foundation’s goals of promoting peace and understanding. There are no geographic limitations to funding, and topics of recently funded works include climate change, pollution, poverty, totalitarian governments, indigenous peoples’ rights, labor conditions and nationalism and xenophobia. Past grantees have gone on to win prestigious awards including World Press Photo Awards, the Prix de Paris and the International Center for Photography Infinity Award, among many other honors. Alexia’s grants for professionals are generally awarded in the amount of $20,000.
In contrast, Alexia’s Student Grants support full-time postsecondary students in communications, journalism or related fields. Grants generally consist of $1,000 stipends toward proposed photographic projects and tuition for courses and workshops at Syracuse University. Because student grants do not pay for travel expenses per se, the foundation advises that student applicants propose projects be geographically proximal to students’ homes or schools. It is also noted that most student grants go to projects that are in progress, as opposed to projects that are not yet begun. Funded projects have addressed topics similar to those of Alexia’s professional grants, including poverty, rural life in the U.S., agriculture, race, gender and war. Past grantees have gone on to pursue graduate study and successful careers in photojournalism, photography and communications.
Grants for Visual Arts
Alexia makes grants for visual arts through both its professional and student grant programs. While the foundation’s work is rooted in photojournalism, many grants have supported photographers and projects in the visual arts. These projects often combine photography with other media and generally adhere to the foundation’s goals of portraying social issues in ways that promote peace and tolerance. The works of past grantees have been shown in exhibits at galleries and museums around the world.
Important Grant Details:
Alexia awards its professional grants to photojournalists and professionals in other relevant areas for the completion of a specific project. Staff photographers must obtain permission from their employers for consideration, and professionals who have been awarded more than $10,100 in a previous year are disqualified. Professional grants are awarded in amounts of $20,000 and have no geographical limitations.
Alexia’s student grants support full-time students at two- or four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. Graduate students are also eligible. Each year, a first-place student awardee is granted a semester of study at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a $1,000 cash grant toward the completion of the proposed project. Two runners-up receive tuition for participation in a one-day workshop at Syracuse and $500 toward their projects.
The Alexia Foundation accepts applications from qualified professionals and students who are pursuing photography projects that align with the goals of the foundation. Submission rules are provided on the foundation’s website, and application deadlines are posted each spring. Grant inquiries may be directed to Mike Davis via email.
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