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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 Youth, Advocates for Justice and Education, The Equity Lab, School 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 Alliance, Montgomery 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 |