Civic Action: Delivering on Change

Dear Friends,

I’m writing you with exciting news.  

Social Justice Fund is starting a major new grants program called Civic Action: Delivering on Change.  Civic Action represents a bold new direction for Social Justice Fund – building immediately on the momentum of recent elections by making a major investment in community groups that are changing our region through direct, civic action in the electoral and policy-making arena.

Starting in June, Civic Action: Delivering on Change will provide eight organizations with two-year grants of $20,000, a total of $40,000 each.  In their respective states and communities, these organizations will drive the kind of changes now unfolding on a national level and hold the new leadership accountable to those in our communities who suffer most from injustice.

Of course, we know groups need even more to take advantage of this historic opportunity.  That’s why we’ve entered into a partnership with the Western States Center, a leading training center for progressive groups in the West.  Our Civic Action grants will leverage a matching grant from a special fund established at the Western States Center, and every Civic Action grantee will be enrolled in the Western States Center’s two-year Voter Organizing, Training and Empowerment (VOTE) program of leadership training and cross-issue, cross-community networking.  We believe this combination of grants and training will dramatically increase the ability of groups to achieve immediate and meaningful impact.  

We’ve all heard the expression “a rising tide lifts all boats,” right?  At Social Justice Fund we believe that justice has been at low tide, especially over the last eight years, and we are full of anticipation of change.  But, as the tide rises, we want to make sure that the communities we’ve invested in for thirty years – communities that are among the most vulnerable and that have grown cynical with the political process after years of unfair treatment – don’t remain under water.    

The opportunity before us is significant.  In spite of the economic bad news of the last several months, we truly believe that political momentum is shifting in our favor, perhaps for the first time in our thirty-year history.  I hope you’ll join us at this historic crossroads and get involved in Civic Action.  Just call us to find out how.  

In Unity,

Scot Nakagawa
Interim Executive Director