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Groundswell Fund

Annual Giving
$100.0M
Grant Range
$10K - $0.2M

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $100+ million (across c3 and c4 entities)
  • Success Rate: Not publicly disclosed
  • Decision Time: Not publicly disclosed
  • Grant Range: $10,000 - $200,000
  • Geographic Focus: National (49 states), prioritizing South, Midwest, and Southwest

Contact Details

Website: https://groundswellfund.org/
Phone: 510-444-5900
Email:

Overview

Founded in 2003, Groundswell Fund is the only national foundation led by women of color, transgender, and gender-expansive people of color who come directly from community, labor, and electoral organizing backgrounds. With assets of approximately $45 million, Groundswell has moved more than $180 million in grants and capacity-building support to over 300 organizations across 49 states and territories since its inception. The foundation serves as a critical intermediary funder, channeling resources to grassroots movements for reproductive and social justice while centering the leadership of Black, Indigenous, and Transgender people of color.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

  • Catalyst Fund for Reproductive Justice: $20,000 - $200,000 (Granted $5M to 84 grantees in 2024)
  • Liberation Fund: Supports grassroots organizing across social justice sectors (Granted $2.4M to 52 grantees in 2024)
  • Birth Justice Fund: $80,000 - $150,000 for birth justice and community-based care
  • Rapid Response Fund: Fast funding for urgent, unexpected fights
  • Capacity Building Fund: Organizational development and leadership support

Priority Areas

  • Reproductive justice and bodily autonomy
  • Birth justice and maternal health
  • Abortion access and support
  • Trans justice and gender equity
  • Criminal legal reform and abolition work
  • Environmental and economic justice
  • Healing justice and community care systems
  • Integrated voter engagement and civic power

What They Don't Fund

  • Organizations not led by women of color and/or transgender people of color
  • Service-only organizations without organizing components
  • Organizations outside the United States
  • Individual assistance or scholarships

Governance and Leadership

CEO: Yamani Yansá Hernandez - Brings over 25 years of experience in organization development and reproductive justice. During their interim CEO tenure, distributed $15 million to 252 organizations.

Board Chair: Kimberly Inez McGuire (as of January 2024) - Also serves as executive director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity (URGE).

Key C-Suite Leaders:

  • Naa Amissah-Hammond (Chief Strategy Officer) - Leads strategy development across grantmaking and capacity-building efforts
  • angélique nguyễn green (Chief Development Officer) - Responsible for fundraising and development strategy

Recent board additions include Dr. Amber Banks (VP of Programs at Decolonizing Wealth Project) and Inga Skippings (strategic communications leader, former SEIU chief of staff).

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

Important Update: Starting in 2026, all Groundswell grants will be made through a unified, invitation-only fund. There is no public application process. The foundation is not funding new organizations in 2025. Details about the 2026 invitation-only process will be released in January 2026.

Getting on Their Radar

As an invitation-only funder, Groundswell identifies grantees through:

  • Their extensive network of advisors and board members who are prominent grassroots movement leaders
  • Existing relationships with reproductive and social justice organizations
  • Recommendations from current grantees and movement partners
  • Strategic outreach to organizations in priority geographic regions (South, Midwest, Southwest)

Decision Timeline

Not publicly disclosed

Success Rates

Not publicly disclosed

Reapplication Policy

Not publicly disclosed

Application Success Factors

Leadership Requirements:

  • Organizations must be majority (50%+) led by women of color and/or transgender, gender-expansive people of color in decision-making positions
  • Leadership must reflect the diversity of the constituent base
  • Strong roots in directly impacted communities

Programmatic Priorities:

  • Highly engaged and growing membership/constituent base of directly impacted people
  • Cross-movement alliance building between reproductive justice and other social justice movements
  • Focus on policy and systems change, not just service provision
  • Intersectional approach addressing the full spectrum of reproductive issues

Organizational Characteristics:

  • Efficient and effective operations that Groundswell can support over many years
  • Willingness to take risks and innovate
  • Located in or serving priority regions (South, Midwest, Southwest)

What CEO Yamani Yansá Hernandez Values: "The results when we invest in the people most impacted by systemic oppression are solutions really rooted in the lived reality and not in other people's fantasies about them and what their lives should be."

Rapid Response Criteria:

  • Responding to unanticipated events or political moments
  • Requires urgent or timely action
  • New/unexpected critical opportunity or threat

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Groundswell operates as an invitation-only funder with no public application process - focus on relationship building and network connections
  • 90% of funds go to women of color-led organizing - authentic leadership by directly impacted communities is essential
  • The foundation prioritizes long-term general operating support for maximum flexibility
  • Geographic focus on South, Midwest, and Southwest presents opportunities for organizations in these underresourced regions
  • Cross-movement work linking reproductive justice with labor, environmental, and economic justice is highly valued
  • With 2026 restructuring to a unified fund focused on bodily autonomy and civic power, align your organization's narrative with these themes
  • CEO Hernandez is committed to challenging philanthropy to "give more than they think they can" - ambitious, transformative proposals may resonate

References

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