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Founded in 2015, Borealis has acted to anchor nationwide movements, from gender justice to calls for community-based alternatives to policing. Over the past decade, this work has taken many shapes and formations to meet communities’ needs and the philanthropic sector’s responsive commitments. But through it all, we’ve acted as an intermediary should: as a resource mobilizer, and also as an incubator and guide. We’ve moved millions, presented visions for new futures, elevated critical community wisdom, and pushed ourselves to explore the multifacets of movement accompliceship.

Today, Borealis’ work is grounded in the cumulative: in all we’ve learned and funded since our inception, and in organizers’ visions for the future–of intersectional justice, narrative power, community safety and well-being, economic equity, and of the infrastructure these dreams demand.

We’re proud of our history, which we invite you to dive deeper into below.

2025

  • Amidst a drastically shifting social and political climate, Borealis reimagines its potential for movement impact, reorganizing its programmatic work into new and expansive strategic priorities. Read more.
  • Borealis marks ten years of resourcing grassroots movements for justice.
  • Borealis welcomes new leaders to our Board of Directors, whose experience and commitment reflect the depth of the philanthropic and movement ecosystems. Read more.
  • To ensure critical resources for frontline organizers, Borealis launches the Security, Action, and Freedom for Everyone (SAFE) Initiative, delivering rapid dollars to meet grantee partners’ rising safety and security needs.
  • Recognizing the level of political retrenchment since the global uprisings of 2020, the volatility of the sociopolitical landscape, and the impact of both on philanthropic giving, Borealis sunsets its Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund, recognizing that our grantee partners—well known entities among funders—no longer need nor can afford for Borealis to stand in. Read more.

2024

  • To meet the gap of resources for organizing at the intersection of disability and Blackness, two Borealis funds launch The Black Disabled Liberation Project. Read more.
  • Recognizing the opportunity to align our impact and evaluation processes with movement values, two Borealis Funds launch The Movement-Defined Learning Project, a participatory project to support communities in defining their own impact and success, reflect back their wisdom, and shape our approach to learning and evaluation. Read more.
  • A Borealis fund dives deep to collect applicable wisdom from the capacity builders, facilitators, and healers who are building powerful movement ecosystems by helping organizations dismantle white supremacy, racial capitalism, and the various forms of intersectional oppression. Read more.
  • Recognizing narrative as an essential tool for social change—and community-rooted media as critical to democracy—Borealis’ Racial Equity in Journalism Fund partners with a researcher to define and develop indicators for a thriving BIPOC media ecosystem and scope out four possible scenarios for the future of journalism. Read more.
  • Borealis partners with accounting and professional services firm BDO USA to develop a new, accurate, and values-driven financial model, and invite others in the sector to join us in a wider conversation about aligning our values, practices, and beliefs with the models and structures we use. Read more.
  • In partnership with Ford Foundation, Borealis’ Disability Inclusion Fund launches the Disability x Tech Fund, the only national fund supporting disability-led groups working to bring about transformational change at the intersections of disability rights, justice and technology. Read more.
  • Borealis’ Fund for Trans Generations launches the Flower Crown to nurture the wisdom and leadership of Black trans femmes and aligns Black trans femme strategies for collective liberation. Read more.
  • Borealis’ Racial Equity in Journalism Fund collaborates with ZEAL, a worker-owned creative arts studio alliance, to launch Infinite Patterns, a podcast that aims to demystify the building of a sustainable, thriving newsroom. Read more.

2023

  • Borealis rolls out its newly-developed theory of change, naming communities’ and movements’ possession of power, resources, and self-determination as a long-term vision. Read more.
  • Recognizing rest, wellness, and play as critical to movement sustainability, Borealis’ Disability Inclusion Funds rolls out Joy Grants, earmarked infusions for restoration. Read more.

2022

  • Borealis launches an organizational-wide strategic design and theory of change process, which includes the collection of critical feedback and input from peers, and informs our annual priorities.
  • As federal protection for abortion access is undone, several Borealis Funds distribute rapid response resources to existing and new grantee partners, including one fund which launches a dedicated fund for reproductive justice, alongside several corresponding learning events. Read more.

2021

  • Borealis welcomes Amoretta Morris as our new President, energized by her 20-year track record of organizing for transformational change, as well as her dedication to centering the voices and experiences of those most directly affected by injustice. Read more.
  • After significant growth in resource mobilization and programming over the past half decade, Borealis begins the work of expanding our operations teams and sharpening our infrastructure to ensure continued growth and success.
  • With the change in administration, and a new context for this work, Borealis sunsets the Immigration Litigation Fund, which was intended to provide urgent dollars to resist the onslaught of extreme anti-immigrant policies and practices.

2020

  • Borealis launches the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund to invest in, connect, and thread the BIPOC journalism ecosystem, disrupt harmful narratives and increase civic engagement by reaching communities with vital, relevant information. Read more.
  • A peer community of foundation presidents who recognize that disability inclusion is essential to solving society’s most critical challenges come together to form The Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy, which establishes the Disability Inclusion at Borealis. Read more.

2019

  • Borealis launches the Racial Equity to Accelerate Change Fund launched to invest in racial equity practitioners—the capacity builders, facilitators, and healers—who are key to movement infrastructure. Read more.
  • Borealis launches The Spark Justice Fund to resource grassroots organizing groups that are ending money bail and unjust pretrial detention policies—and which eventually expands to efforts to decarcerate and decriminalize. Read more.

2018

  • Recognizing the growing value and need of philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs), a group of donors approach Borealis to launch the Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund to resource PSOs to inform, educate, and equip funders to integrate racial equity policies and practices into their grantmaking programs. Read more.

2017

  • As Donald Trump enters office as the 45th President of the United States, Borealis launches the Immigration Litigation Fund to support impact litigation to ensure that our enforcement system is fair, humane, and prioritizes the civil and human rights of those vulnerable to deportation or exclusion.
  • As communities voice growing concerns over police violence, Borealis launches the Communities Transforming Policing Fund to support local grassroots organizing groups to increase police accountability and transparency, and shift power and resources away from punitive, reactive, and carceral responses towards preventative, transformative community-based safety strategies. Read more.

2016

  • Amidst polycrisis and national uprisings, Borealis launches the Black-Led Movement Fund to created to support the Movement for Black Lives and other politically aligned organizations so that it can better shape policy agendas for Black communities, create alternatives to institutions that have been harmful to Black people, and build Black community power. Read more.
  • Recognizing the need for dedicated resource infusions to trans justice, Borealis launches the Fund for Trans Generations to resource organizers working towards community safety, supportive community housing, decarceration, access to health care, and more. Learn more.

2015

  • Frontline queer and trans organizers approach Arcus Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund about the need for deepened intersectional funding, and these funders come together to launch the Transforming Movements Fund (which eventually becomes the Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund), establishing Borealis Philanthropy. Learn more.