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Meyer Foundation Awards $3.6M in General Grantmaking and Capacity-Building Grants

August 19, 2019

At their June 4 board meeting, the board of directors of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation approved 66 grants totaling $3,292,500 in general grantmaking to support a growing number of organizations working to further racial equity in the Greater Washington community within our four goals of housing, education, employment, and asset building; and four grants totaling $340,000 in capacity building to organizations seeking to support other Meyer grantee and community partners in strengthening their capacity to build movements that impact systems and advance racial equity.

Our grantee partners are doing vital work in the region to fundamentally transform systems. Some highlights from this round of grantmaking include:

  • In the District, organizations like Access YouthAdvocates for Justice and EducationThe Equity LabSchool Justice Project, and Teaching for Change are working to advance systems change in education through efforts including: equipping high school students to advocate for equitable discipline policies in their schools and communities; mobilizing parents to challenge systemic discipline disparities; addressing the educational rights of incarcerated youth; and influencing narrative shifts on issues of race and equity in schools and communities.
  • Legal Aid Justice Center and The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis in Virginia are among organizations advocating for 2020 legislation that would make the temporary restoration of driver’s license eligibility permanent for the hundreds of thousands of individuals who previously had their licenses suspended due to unpaid court debt – a process that effectively criminalized poverty.
  • Maryland’s Montgomery County Renters AllianceMontgomery Housing Partnership, and the Homeless Persons Representation Project will work to mobilize and organize power among tenants in low-income communities and communities of color to challenge discriminatory housing policies, lead collective action to maximize affordable housing preservation and new development while minimizing displacement along the Purple Line Corridor, and will hold multiple convenings to inform an advocacy agenda on reducing barriers to affordable housing.

We’re excited to share the full list of approved grants in this first round of 2019 grantmaking below:

Name Grant Amount Project Title Geographical Area
Academy of Hope $50,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Access Youth $30,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
ACT for Alexandria $60,000 to support the Racial Equity Initiative Northern Virginia
Advocates for Children and Youth $40,000 to support general operations Maryland
Advocates for Justice and Education $35,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Asian American LEAD $40,000 to support general operations Washington Metropolitan Area
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center $30,000 to support general operations Washington Metropolitan Area
Ayuda $40,000 to support general operations Washington Metropolitan Area
Bright Beginnings $35,000 to support the Workforce Development Program District of Columbia
Byte Back $90,000 to support general operations over two years District of Columbia
Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth $30,000 to support the DC Reentry Program District of Columbia
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities $100,000 to support the DC Fiscal Policy Institute District of Columbia
Central American Resource Center $65,000 to support general operations ($50,000) and fundraising capacity-building ($15,000) District of Columbia
City Year $45,000 to support general operations for the DC program over two years District of Columbia
Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis $75,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Community Bridges $30,000 to support general operations Maryland
Community Family Life Services $30,000 to support the Women’s Re-entry Program District of Columbia
Community Youth Advance $45,000 to support general operations over two years Maryland
DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice $40,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
DC SCORES $75,000 to support general operations over two years District of Columbia
Defending Rights And Dissent $35,000 to support Justice for Muslims Washington Metropolitan Area
Edu-Futuro $25,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Empower DC $40,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Enterprise Community Partners $180,000 to support general operations in the DC metro region over two years Washington Metropolitan Area
The Equity Lab $25,000 to support the Seeding Disruption Fellowship District of Columbia
Fairfax Futures $30,000 to support field-testing Fairfax County’s School Readiness Equity Lens Northern Virginia
Georgetown University $25,000 to support a research report on racial inequity, poverty, and eviction in DC District of Columbia
GOODProjects $40,000 to support general operations ($30,000) and the GoodZone Initiative ($10,000) District of Columbia
Greater Washington Community Foundation $150,000 to support the 2020 Census pooled fund Washington Metropolitan Area
Higher Achievement Program $75,000 to support general operations for the DC program over two years District of Columbia
Homeless Persons Representation Project $30,000 to support work in Montgomery and Prince George’s County, MD Maryland
Housing Initiative Partnership $30,000 to support general operations Maryland
Identity $70,000 to support general operations Maryland
Interfaith Works $40,000 to support general operations Maryland
Just Neighbors Ministry $90,000 to support the Justice and Advocacy Fellowship over two years Northern Virginia
La Cocina VA $30,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Leadership Montgomery $100,000 to support the Racial Equity Action Leadership program Maryland
Legal Aid Justice Center $75,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Legal Counsel for the Elderly $40,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Literacy Council of Montgomery County, Maryland $60,000 to support general operations over two years Maryland
Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations $30,000 to support general operations Maryland
Maryland Center on Economic Policy $30,000 to support general operations Maryland
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition $40,000 to support general operations Maryland
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments $100,000 to support the regional local government racial equity cohort over two years Washington Metropolitan Area
Miriam’s Kitchen $75,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Montgomery County Renters Alliance $30,000 to support general operations Maryland
Montgomery Housing Partnership $50,000 to support the policy and advocacy program Maryland
Movement Matters $60,000 to support capacity-building for community organizing groups in the region District of Columbia
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium $35,000 to support general operations in Northern Virginia Northern Virginia
Nonprofit Prince George’s County $37,500 to support general operations over two years Maryland
Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance $30,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia Family Service $50,000 to support the Transformational Learning project Northern Virginia
Prince George’s Child Resource Center $40,000 to support general operations Maryland
ProInspire $120,000 to support a racial equity cohort for boards Washington Metropolitan Area
Public Justice Center $40,000 to support the Education Stability Project Maryland
School Justice Project $30,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs $20,000 to support Racial Justice NOW! Maryland
Southeast Ministry $50,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Teaching for Change $40,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Tenants and Workers United $30,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Training Source $60,000 to support general operations over two years Maryland
Tzedek DC $45,000 to support general operations ($30,000) and the LatinX Community Financial Empowerment Campaign ($15,000) District of Columbia
United Community $20,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Urban Institute $35,000 to support Urban-Greater DC Washington Metropolitan Area
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy $30,000 to support general operations Northern Virginia
Washington Area Community Investment Fund $40,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Washington Area Women’s Foundation $120,000 to support the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative ($60,000) and the Young Women’s Intiative ($40,000) over two years and general operations ($20,000) Washington Metropolitan Area
Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs $75,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless $35,000 to support general operations District of Columbia
Youth Professional Development $60,000 to support general operations over two years