At the Racial Equity to Accelerate Change (REACH) Fund, we know that expanding power and participation for all people requires philanthropy to play its part, acting in deep accompliceship, and swiftly resourcing those most impacted by systems of oppression. The REACH Fund advances this necessary social change by investing broadly across social change ecosystems with a focus on those who foster critical connections across movements and generations.
For that reason, this year, we launched a participatory grantmaking process ensuring those closest to the work guide how resources flow to movements and that innovative, community-led models are prioritized. We are excited to introduce you to the visionary leaders serving on this year’s Participatory Grantmaking Committee, who will be selecting our cohort of grantee partner organizations next month.
Ari Luna (she/her) is a neuro-divergent Black/Afro-Latina trans woman born and raised on Tonkawan land, otherwise known as Central Texas. Since settling in so-called Austin, she has been engaged with various movement spaces and autonomous projects focused on Black and Queer Liberation, health equity, and trans autonomy. By day, she’s excited to support the REACH’s mission and vision to distribute funds in a meaningful and equitable way. By night, she’s a comedian who loves hanging with friends, playing games, and eating delicious hot chips.
Coral is an abolitionist organizer and infrastructure builder based in Tennessee. She is a co-director of Press On South, where she works to advance the practice of movement journalism — journalism in service of liberation.
Moises (Mo) Rodriguez Cruz (they/he) is the Co-Founder and Field Director of Semillas TN, Chattanooga’s only community-based organization founded and led by Latinx immigrants. Originally from Mexico City, Mo’s experiences growing up Brown, queer, and undocumented in the South greatly shaped their passions and life goals — particularly around education and community advocacy. Mo is a proud graduate of public schools and of The University of Chicago, holding two bachelor degrees in Critical Race Studies and Gender & Sexuality Studies, respectively. Since 2017, Mo has been involved in the immigrant rights movement at the local, state, and national levels. His work is entirely driven by their lifelong commitment to the global struggle for liberation, their love for their community and loved ones, and the belief that another world is possible.
Nolizwe Nondabula (they/them) is a queer, Bay Area-born, Johannesburg-raised Xhosa spirit. As a child of Black South African immigrants and keeper of horrible puns, Nolizwe brings over a decade of experience interconnecting financial curiosity, community engagement, and racial justice to achieve greater impact. They currently serve as one of the Co-Executive Directors of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP), which uses leadership development, capacity building, and organizing to address the ways in which Black LGBTQ+ migrants are criminalized by the legal and immigration systems—and marginalized in the broader migrant community, as well as racial and economic justice movements.