News & Updates

The Disability Inclusion Fund Launches Second RFP for the DIF x Tech Fund
Black femme presenting person in a wheelchair at a table. April 5, 2024 – For the Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis, part of our efforts for disability rights and justice includes the ways disability and technology are working towards shared goals in our...

Beyond Visibility: Building Joyful Trans Futures
International Trans Day of Visibility extends far beyond mere recognition: it’s an affirmation of the existence, beauty, and resilience of trans and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) folks. We also recognize visibility as a double-edged sword - one that has led to...

Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Borealis Women’s History Month Book Club
Source: Sam Mallon/Education Week The National Women's History Month's theme for 2024 celebrates “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” It’s a fitting theme for a year in which we’ve witnessed escalating attacks on the values of diversity,...

Beyond Dragonhood: Funding Liberated Futures through Participatory Grantmaking
In a 1979 radio interview, Audre Lorde offers an elegant meditation on the dual goals of organizers for liberation: “While we’re surviving in the mouth of this dragon, we also need to be feeding our vision … devising a future where we will live someplace other...

Justice on the Line: Responding to Georgia’s Cash Bail Expansion and Championing Bail Funds
By Brandon Gleaton, Program Officer of the Spark Justice Fund In February 2024, the Georgia legislative body approved a state bill criminalizing charitable bail funds. As similar anti-bail-fund bills have been introduced by state legislatures in Kentucky, Tennessee,...

Borealis Philanthropy’s Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund Announces $6 Million in Sunset Grants
Last Fall, Borealis Philanthropy announced our decision to sunset our Racial Equity in Philanthropy (REP) Fund. Today, we are pleased to announce that $6 million was awarded to all 25 of the Fund’s grantee partners, each of which is working in creative and manifold...

Empowering Justice: Investing in Community-Led Movements Against Police and State Violence
This International Day Against Police Brutality, we reaffirm our commitment to resourcing the grassroots organizers and movement leaders working tirelessly to end state-sanctioned violence, and fortify democracy, safety, and wellness through community-built and -led...

What We Learned: REJ at Knight Media Forum
The 17th annual Knight Media Forum, convened by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, gathered in Miami from February 20th to 22nd, 2024. Over three days, seven panels, and eight breakout session offerings, hundreds of journalism practitioners and funders...