Resourcing grassroots leaders and social justice movements for transformative change.
Learn About Our Funds
Free our Future San Diego action organized by Mijente
OUR APPROACH
Directly affected communities are the essential creative force in the larger arc of social change, and we’ve built Borealis Philanthropy from the ground up as a vehicle to resource these communities.
Borealis Philanthropy directs resources to people building powerful, thriving communities that serve all of us, with those most impacted by injustice leading the way. We invest in leaders, organizations, and movements using diverse and innovative strategies to pursue transformational change, and we work with donors to support movements in ways they may not be able to do on their own. Through our work with both funders and grantee partners, we aim to shift power and invest in communities.
OUR FUNDS
Borealis is made up of nine funds that work collaboratively to enhance our collective impact within movements across the country.
OUR IMPACT
From Black-led movement-building, to queer and trans liberation, to disability justice and inclusion, community organizers are working every day to bring about transformational change. We’re here to listen to, invest in, and support them.
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*All 2020 financials are unaudited.
OUR MODEL
Our grantmaking centers the wisdom and experiences of those who are most impacted by injustice and gives them the support and space to bring innovation, creativity, and impact on the issues they’re working to change. We strive to give multi-year, unrestricted funding, provide capacity building support, and rapid response funding.
My Sistah’s House
OUR TEAM
Our staff brings real-life experience and awareness of the work, and we always aim to hold ourselves accountable to and prioritize the interests of the people on the ground. Because we find power in the diversity of our experiences, we are able to make effective and strategic grantmaking that directly responds to the needs of communities we serve and create solutions that aim to end all systems of harm.
NEWS & UPDATES
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The Arc of Justice: What We Learned About Supporting Ballot Initiatives for Transformative Change
Over the past few years, Black, Indigenous, People of color (BIPOC)-led organizations have utilized ballot initiatives as a strategy to forward their generational work of safety and liberation for people of color. At Borealis Philanthropy, we believe that every...
BIPOC Trans Leaders Reflect on Philanthropy’s Role in Trusting Trans Leadership
At Borealis Philanthropy, we believe in a future where transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people live with freedom, self-determination, and safety. This fall marks the fifth anniversary of our Fund for Trans Generations (FTG)—a time for celebration, and...
Meet Alicia Bell, the new Director of the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund
When Alicia Bell took leadership of the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund at Borealis Philanthropy last month, she regarded this new assignment as a birthing process. Citing her family lineage of birth workers and land stewards, she compared working to bring true and...