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Kataly Foundation

Annual Giving
$69.5M
Grant Range
$20K - $20.0M

Kataly Foundation - Funder Overview

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $69.5 million (2023)
  • Success Rate: N/A (invitation-only/practitioner-selected)
  • Decision Time: Varies by program
  • Grant Range: $20,000 - $20,000,000+
  • Geographic Focus: National (U.S.), with concentration in California, Maryland, and Washington D.C.

Contact Details

Website: www.katalyfoundation.org

General Inquiries: info@kataly.org

Press: communications@kataly.org

Address: 1 Letterman Dr Ste C4-420, San Francisco, CA 94129

Overview

The Kataly Foundation was established in 2018 by Regan Pritzker and Chris Olin with $445 million in assets, positioning itself as a transformative force in social justice philanthropy. As a spend-down foundation committed to redistributing all its resources by 2028, Kataly moves resources to support the economic, political, and cultural power of Black and Indigenous communities, and all communities of color. Led by CEO Nwamaka Agbo, the foundation has distributed $69.5 million annually through an innovative "integrated capital" approach that combines grants with non-extractive investments and capacity-building support. The foundation's distinctive practitioner-funder model empowers movement leaders with deep field experience to make grantmaking decisions, fundamentally shifting power away from traditional philanthropic institutions to communities most impacted by systemic oppression. Kataly has garnered recognition for its radical approach to wealth redistribution, including publicizing transparent reflections on failures and successes in participatory grantmaking.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Restorative Economies Fund: Multi-year grants ranging from $550,000 per year for general operating support to major investments like $20 million. Uses "integrated capital" combining grants with 0% interest loans and technical assistance. Example: The Guild received $550,000/year for 3 years plus a $5 million, 0% interest, 10-year loan.

Environmental Justice Resourcing Collective (EJRC): Has redistributed $42.9 million total to 78 organizations, with grants distributed over five-year periods. The EJRC directs $75 million in support of projects and organizations led by Black and Indigenous people and communities of color. The single-largest grant was $3.3 million to East Bay Meditation Center. Includes rapid response grantmaking capability ($10 million distributed through six rounds).

Mindfulness and Healing Justice (MHJ): Grants ranging from program support to major institutional grants. Supports community-based mindfulness programs, teacher trainings, and restorative practice retreats. Recipients include Peace At Any Pace, Shelterwood Collective, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and East Bay Meditation Center ($3.3 million).

Solidarity and Resilience Fund (launched 2025): Smaller grants averaging approximately $51,000, with $3.45 million distributed to 67 organizations.

Application Method: Invitation-only/practitioner-selected; no public application process

Priority Areas

  • Economic Justice and Community Ownership: Community land trusts, worker cooperatives, community-governed economic projects creating shared prosperity and self-determination
  • Environmental Justice: Work addressing environmental racism, climate change impacts, and systemic injustice in BIPOC frontline communities
  • Mindfulness and Healing Justice: Black, Indigenous and people of color-led healing practices, mindfulness programs, and transformational practices for community power-building
  • Collective Healing: Supporting infrastructure for collective healing and community transformation
  • Land and Liberation: Supporting Indigenous land reclamation and community land strategies
  • Movement Infrastructure: Strengthening power and infrastructure of social justice movements
  • BIPOC Leadership: Organizations and projects led by and for Black, Indigenous, and people of color, with specific prioritization of Black and Indigenous communities
  • Intersectional Communities: Working class communities impacted by incarceration, criminalization, and deportation; youth; and queer, trans, and non-binary people

What They Don't Fund

Kataly explicitly states it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds." The foundation does not fund:

  • Organizations without pre-existing relationships or identification through practitioner networks
  • Organizations not aligned with racial justice and power-building missions
  • Projects not centered on Black, Indigenous, and communities of color leadership
  • Traditional service delivery without power-building components

Governance and Leadership

Board of Directors:

  • Regan Pritzker - Co-founder and Board Chair. Member of the Pritzker family (Hyatt Hotels fortune), daughter of Nicholas and Susan Pritzker of the progressive Libra Foundation
  • Chris Olin - Co-founder and Board Member, Regan Pritzker's husband
  • Susan Pritzker - Board Member, Regan's mother

Leadership Team:

  • Nwamaka Agbo - CEO. First-generation immigrant, organizer, and architect of restorative economics framework central to Kataly's approach

Key Leadership Quotes:

Nwamaka Agbo on the foundation's philosophy: "Money is plentiful; our relationship to it is the problem." She emphasizes that Kataly will "reject scarcity as a premise for our work and instead ask 'what if?' and 'why not?'"

On community-centered resourcing: "Early on, and through my organizing work, I really came to understand and see the ways that typical policies and practices, if they are not intentional or specific and targeted about who they resource, continue to miss the Black, brown, and Indigenous communities of color. We need to be specific and clear about what we are trying to resource and the ways we are trying to resource them."

On spending out: "For Kataly, spending out means shifting power by moving resources into communities with the intention that those resources generate returns that recirculate within the community. Instead of accruing wealth and concentrating power within a single institution, communities build their own systems for wealth, well-being, and sustainability."

On humility in philanthropy: "So much of our field, in philanthropy, is about posturing — that we have it all figured out, that we know best. And as practitioner funders what we know to be true is that the grantees that we support on the ground know best."

From Agbo's organizing background: As a Black woman and first-generation immigrant, her commitment shifted "from defense to offense: from chasing the long tail of a broken system to building a community that could imagine a new one."

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

The Kataly Foundation does not have a public application process. The foundation explicitly states it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds."

How Grantees Are Selected:

Each of Kataly's core programs employs a different practice for identifying and selecting grantees:

  1. Practitioner-Funder Model: The foundation empowers "practitioner funders"—leaders with deep experience in on-the-ground movement work—to make grantmaking decisions. These practitioners have extensive field knowledge and relationships that inform selection.

  2. Environmental Justice Resourcing Collective: Nine women of color environmental justice movement leaders comprise the EJRC and make all grantmaking decisions. Their process is unique in that they do not require grant applications and instead rely on their deep knowledge of and relationships within the field.

  3. Relationship-Based Identification: The foundation builds relationships with organizations through their practitioner networks, field connections, and movement ecosystems before extending funding.

  4. Community Nomination: Some programs identify potential grantees through community leaders and networks embedded in the communities Kataly serves.

Getting on Their Radar

Participate in Movement Ecosystems: The EJRC and other practitioner-funder groups identify organizations through their deep connections within environmental justice, economic justice, and healing justice movements. Being active and visible within these movement spaces increases the likelihood that practitioner-funders will be aware of your work.

Connect with Kataly's Grantee Network: The foundation views itself as building an ecosystem. Current grantee partners include organizations like East Bay Meditation Center, San Francisco Community Land Trust, Seed Commons, Sogorea Te' Land Trust, The Guild, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and many others. Building relationships with existing grantees may provide pathways to visibility.

Engage with Sector Networks: Kataly's practitioner-funders are active in specific fields—environmental justice leadership networks, restorative economics practitioners, and healing justice communities. Organizations deeply embedded in these professional and activist networks are more likely to be on the radar of decision-makers.

Capacity Building Connections: Kataly has a capacity building strategy that includes connecting grantee partners to resources and building relationships with capacity building practitioners. Organizations known to capacity builders in social justice movements may be identified through these channels.

Consider Informational Contact: While unsolicited grant proposals are not accepted, the foundation maintains general contact at info@kataly.org. Organizations genuinely aligned with Kataly's mission might consider brief, relationship-building introductions without explicit funding requests, though there is no guarantee of response or consideration.

Decision Timeline

Decision timelines vary significantly by program and are not standardized given the invitation-only nature of grantmaking. The EJRC's initial grantmaking process involved months of participatory priority-setting before grants were awarded. Multi-year grants (3-5 years) are common, suggesting long-term relationship building precedes funding decisions.

Success Rates

Not applicable in traditional terms. As an invitation-only funder, there is no public application pool to calculate success rates. Organizations are identified and selected through practitioner networks rather than competitive application processes.

Reapplication Policy

Not applicable given the invitation-only model. However, Kataly provides multi-year general operating support (often 3-5 years) and uses integrated capital approaches that suggest long-term partnership rather than single grant cycles. As a spend-down foundation concluding grantmaking in 2028, the foundation is focused on supporting sustainability of existing grantee partners rather than expanding to new relationships.

Application Success Factors

While Kataly does not accept unsolicited applications, understanding what the foundation values in its grantee partners provides insight into the characteristics of organizations they identify and support:

Deep Alignment with Racial Justice and Power-Building: Kataly is explicit that they resource work centered on Black and Indigenous communities and all communities of color. Organizations must be led by and accountable to these communities. CEO Nwamaka Agbo emphasizes the need to be "specific and clear about what we are trying to resource and the ways we are trying to resource them."

Community Governance and Self-Determination: The foundation prioritizes projects that are "community-owned and governed" and that build "collective power." Examples include community land trusts (Sogorea Te' Land Trust received $20 million), worker cooperatives, and democratically structured organizations.

Integration of Culture, Healing, and Justice: Kataly values organizations that integrate cultural practices, healing justice, and mindfulness with systemic change work. The foundation sees these as essential to sustainable movement building rather than peripheral.

Embedded in Movement Ecosystems: Kataly looks for organizations deeply connected to broader movements for justice. The practitioner-funder model means decision-makers personally know the field and prioritize organizations with strong reputations among movement leaders.

Willingness to Accept Trust-Based Funding: Kataly offers general operating support, multi-year grants, and integrated capital (combining grants with 0% interest loans). Organizations that can utilize flexible funding and non-traditional financing structures align with Kataly's approach.

Transparency and Learning Orientation: Kataly values learning and has been public about its own failures. From their reflections: "So much of our field, in philanthropy, is about posturing — that we have it all figured out, that we know best. And as practitioner funders what we know to be true is that the grantees that we support on the ground know best." They seek partners who share this learning orientation.

Capacity for Systems-Level Change: While Kataly funds direct service elements, they prioritize organizations working on "building power" and addressing root causes of systemic oppression rather than solely providing services.

Examples of Funded Work:

  • Sogorea Te' Land Trust: $20 million for Indigenous land reclamation in the San Francisco Bay Area
  • San Francisco Community Land Trust: $600,000 for permanently affordable BIPOC housing
  • The Guild: Comprehensive integrated capital package including $550,000/year general operating support for 3 years plus $5 million 0% interest loan
  • Seed Commons: $1.3 million grant plus $2 million investment for community lending
  • East Bay Meditation Center: $3.3 million for BIPOC-centered mindfulness and healing space

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Kataly does not accept unsolicited applications - this is a relationship-driven, invitation-only funder. Traditional grant writing and prospecting approaches will not work.

  • Spend-down timeline is critical - Kataly is concluding grantmaking by 2028, meaning they are in the final phase of their work and focused on supporting existing partners rather than building new relationships. The window for new partnerships is extremely limited.

  • Practitioner-funder networks are the pathway - If your organization is not known to movement leaders in environmental justice, restorative economies, or healing justice fields, you are unlikely to be identified by Kataly's practitioner-funders. Invest in movement relationship-building, not Kataly-specific outreach.

  • Alignment must be deep, not surface-level - Kataly is explicit about centering Black and Indigenous leadership and power-building. Organizations should only consider Kataly relevant if this is genuinely central to mission, governance, and practice—not aspirational or peripheral.

  • Integrated capital requires organizational capacity - Kataly's approach combines grants with 0% interest loans. Organizations must have the governance, financial systems, and strategic clarity to manage complex capital structures, not just traditional grants.

  • Multi-year general operating support is the norm - Kataly rejects traditional project-based philanthropy. If your organization primarily seeks project funding or one-year grants, you are not aligned with their model.

  • The foundation values radical transparency and learning - Kataly has published reflections titled "Participatory Grantmaking: How We Failed, and What We're Learning." They seek partners who embrace similar honesty and learning orientation rather than performative perfection.

References

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