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This work is a joint project of Bridgespan Social Impact, the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), PolicyLink, and CapEQ.

Since the social unrest over racial injustice in the summer of 2020, philanthropists, corporations, and impact investors across the United States pledged to invest billions of dollars to advance racial equity. However, recent scrutiny of those commitments reveals that the majority of those dollars remain on the sidelines.

A common hypothesis for the shortfall is the lack of investable “shovel-ready” opportunities. But Bridgespan Social Impact has formally and informally advised organizations seeking to invest for racial equity over the years, and found that hypothesis to be patently untrue. To make the case, Bridgespan is publishing this list of racial-equity funds that emerged from our experience, at the request of multiple funds and potential investors, and alongside the launch of a new racial-equity theme in the IRIS+ family of impact measurement and management guides. It comprises more than 160 funds that explicitly seek to improve the livelihoods of individuals who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and their communities. And we’re not done yet.

What is racial-equity investing?
In putting together this list, we chose to characterize “racial-equity investing” as directing capital toward creating equitable opportunities for BIPOC individuals and communities. That often requires shifting decision-making power and redefining risk so that capital flows more freely in service of those opportunities.

Sourcing these funds, we uncovered dozens of creative financing vehicles aimed at building power, creating economic opportunity, and improving livelihoods for communities of color.

The Community Foundation of South Jersey announced Friday 42 recipients of Round 6 grants from its COVID-19 Response Fund.

The Haddonfield-based philanthropy organization said 41 nonprofits were awarded $210,000, to fund organizations serving Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean and Salem counties negatively affected by the pandemic and related economic difficulties. To date, 153 grants totaling more than $1.068 million have been distributed. .

“Our community partners and the families they serve have had to adapt during the pandemic, and they continue to navigate their work through the ongoing health crisis,” said CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer. “The first five rounds of grants were focused on organizations serving high-need, vulnerable populations in areas such as housing, health and education. While a number of those organizations are represented in Round 6, we are also providing help to smaller arts and culture organizations who are still working to recover from this crisis as they adjust to operating in a new normal.”.

“Even as New Jersey has reopened and more and more residents have answered the call to get vaccinated, the effects of the pandemic continue to hamper nonprofits throughout the region,” said Wanda Hardy, chairperson of the foundation’s Community Leadership and Engagement Committee. “As we look to the future, we will continue to work with engaged and generous donors throughout our service area, as well as determined nonprofit partners, as the region moves from crisis relief to long-term recovery.”

Impact 100 Garden State, an all-women organization for collective giving and a fund at the Community Foundation of New Jersey, has entered a record-breaking year as it celebrates its 10th anniversary of giving. The organization has announced:

• 364 members, the biggest number ever
• $364,000 to give in grants in 2022, the highest amount ever
• An 85% renewal rate and 64 new members, despite the challenges of the pandemic
• Two special 10th Anniversary Grants of $20,000 each, one in the area of Arts & Culture and the other in the category of Environment, Preservation & Recreation, to be awarded in October 2022.

At its Annual Awards Meeting on June 9th, Impact 100 Garden state awarded $100,000 in grants.

By the end of 2022, Impact 100 Garden State will have awarded more than $2.8 million to nonprofits in its service area of Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union Counties.

“As we celebrate our tenth year of grant-making, I continue to be amazed by the collective womanpower of our members, which makes these grants possible,” says Impact 100 Garden State President Debby Seme. “Our ability to make a significant impact in our communities begins with individual members’ donations and continues through outreach to nonprofits, membership recruitment and engagement, grant evaluation and grant oversight. We couldn’t be more proud to support these outstanding organizations.”

The New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) is pleased to announce that we have awarded $402,514 in grant funding to 33 organizations across the state for Spring 2022. These awards cap off a banner grant cycle which saw the largest-ever response to an NJCH call for applications, with 83 Letters of Intent submitted earlier this year. The high demand for funding reflects both the robust activity of the cultural sector and the need for ongoing support in that sector, as we emerge from the COVID-related challenges of the last few years.

The grantees’ projects reflect the creativity, excellence, and lifelong learning that public humanities programming contributes to New Jersey’s cultural and civic life. NJCH’s awards include Incubation Grants, which help organizations plan, research, develop, and prototype public humanities projects and events; Action Grants, which help organizations implement a wide array of humanities-based projects, including public programs, exhibitions, installations, tours, and discussion groups; and Seed Funding, a brand-new award type that recognizes promising applicants from the Action and Incubation award pools and supports them in building greater capacity to do high-impact public humanities projects.

“From telling underrepresented stories to exploring new modes of audience engagement as we emerge from the pandemic, the new grantees’ projects speak to the astonishing breadth and depth of public humanities work in the state,” said NJCH Executive Director Carin Berkowitz. “NJCH’s grantmaking not only highlights those who are already doing exemplary work in the field, but also supports those organizations and communities that traditionally have less access to the public humanities. This approach ensures that New Jersey’s cultural sector will continue to thrive—now and well into the future.”