Borealis Philanthropy’s Spark Justice Fund awards over $1.9 million
Borealis Philanthropy has announced grants totaling more than $1.9 million to 22 grassroots organizations working to decarcerate, redirect resources from jails to communities, and transform the collective vision of community-led safety.
Awarded through the grantmaker’s Spark Justice Fund (SJF), the flexible general support and organizational development grants include support for ending cash bail and unjust pretrial detention policies, policy reform and budget advocacy, jail closure campaigns, community-led alternatives to incarceration, mutual aid efforts, and leadership development for directly impacted individuals. Grantees are organizing locally, statewide, and regionally, with organizations in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Philadelphia, Tennessee, and Texas as well as one supporting national work.
This year, the fund prioritized groups operating in the Midwest, South, and in rural areas to address the lack of philanthropic dollars being directed toward these communities. While SJF supports emerging and growing groups, it prioritizes nascent groups that have had limited access to national funding streams; 40 percent of grantees have annual budgets under $350,000.
For a complete list of recipients, see the Borealis Philanthropy website.
(Photo credit: Getty Images/FG Trade)
