We are a grantmaking organization
that invests financial and social capital towards racial and social justice. We fund and support efforts in DC, led by and rooted in communities of color to realize liberation, spark solutions, organize against oppression of all kinds, and create systemic change.
We envision
a just DC in which communities of color flourish, systems are equitable and sustainable, and the people who are most impacted by injustice build power, develop their own solutions and create continuous change.
We Value
Intersectional analyses and consider how various forms of oppression and privilege overlap, interact, and affect experience and outcomes. - Strategies for advancing social change that address the root causes of injustice.
- The expertise, decision-making, and leadership of people directly affected by injustice.
- The work of local, grassroots, people-powered, people of color, and immigrant-led groups.
- Transparency and accountability in philanthropy.
We’ve been redistributing resources since 2011
In July of 2010, a small but mighty group of local activists and donors began to convene with the sole purpose of designing a more equitable way to support projects in DC’s communities of color. The group, including co-founders Andrew Willis Garces, April Goggans, David Krakow, Cathy Meals, Dominic Moulden, Sylvia Robinson, Brigette Rouson, Ayize Sabater, and Burke Stansbury, wanted to break away from traditional philanthropy in order to create a process that enabled those most impacted by the issues of the moment to inform and share in the decision-making and resource distribution. Six months later the Diverse City Fund emerged with an all-volunteer Board of Instigators united and dedicated to building an organization that centered community-led grantmaking.
The group pulled funds from individual donors, and in its first grant cycle redistributed $45,000 to 23 projects. Since then the DC Fund has worked diligently to create a collective approach that engages its Instigators, Grantmaking Teams, grantees, staff, and donors to work in solidarity to organize multiple ongoing and responsive funding opportunities to new leaders, start-ups, coalitions, and movement builders. Our structure allows for anyone interested to find a way to participate. To date, together we have distributed over $3 million for justice work by and for people of the global majority in the nation’s capital. Learn how you can get involved.