Riverstyx Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Riverstyx Foundation works to provide a bridge to the relinquished parts of ourselves, society, and ecology, and to ease those fears and prejudices by funding projects that demonstrate the potential for healing and beauty, when life is embraced in its fullest expression.
IP TAKE: This foundation describes itself as “nimble and risk tolerant, striving to transcend linear metrics of success, and to offer seed funding where others are less likely to invest.”
PROFILE: Established in 2001, the Riverstyx Foundation (RSF) was founded by James L. Swift and family. The vice president of the foundation is Cody Smith, a counseling associate at a private practice in psychotherapy and counseling. The Riverstyx Foundation works to provide a bridge to the “relinquished parts of ourselves, society, and ecology, and to ease those fears and prejudices by funding projects that demonstrate the potential for healing and beauty, when life is embraced in its fullest expression.”
RSF conducts four areas of focus. Its Psycho-Spiritual area focuses on the research and application of psychedelics for clinical and spiritual use. Since 2008, RSF has identified the class of compounds known as ‘psychedelics’ as among the most promising tools for “reinstilling access to these vital and often relinquished parts of our psychic lives.” The foundation’s Societal focus area centers on drug policy and criminal justice, as well as end of life care. Through its Bio-Cultural focus, the foundation strives to “identify ecologically based initiatives with high potential for reducing environmental wastes (i.e. carbon emission, water and air pollution, etc), and the opportunity to increase awareness of our embeddedness in the cycle of life.” RSF’s Indigenous grantmaking works to support “indigenous peoples through the preservation of sacred plant medicines, which have been used for thousands of years in healing ceremonies, and have the potential to address trauma, addiction, and the reconnection to native spirituality and culture.”
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $500 to $278,500. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away around $1.7 million. Previous grantees include Heffter Research Institute, on whose board Cody sits, an “organization that promotes research with classic hallucinogens and psychedelics, predominantly psilocybin, to contribute to a greater understanding of the mind and to alleviate suffering”; Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS); Death Penalty Focus; Center for Native American Youth; FAMM Foundation; and Yoga Behind Bars. View more past grantees here.
The RiverStyx Foundation is not currently accepting unsolicited grant proposals. It particularly seeks to provide assistance to fringe projects, organizations, and social models that challenge fear-based paradigms and promote new perspectives of compassion and health. It prioritizes early-stage projects and often makes multi-year commitments.
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