Deadline: 22-Jul-25
The Meyer Memorial Trust is pleased to announce its Summer Funding Opportunity 2025 which reflects its mission to accelerate racial, social and economic justice for Oregon’s lands and peoples.
This funding opportunity is intended to resource organizations and collaboratives advancing justice through organizing, policy advocacy and systems transformation. These movement-building efforts are essential to dismantling the root causes of inequity and building an Oregon where all communities — especially those most impacted by injustice — can thrive.
Goals
- The Collective Prosperity:
- Close the Racial Wealth Gap: Support coalitions, initiatives and research focused on economic justice and systems change
- Support Thriving Families: Promote multigenerational asset-building
- The Empowered Youth:
- Build Power for a Thriving Education: Strengthen community capacity to engage in systems and policy change for educational justice
- Cultivate Educators and Leaders that Reflect their Diverse Youth: Increase leadership opportunities for youth and community to advocate for educational justice
- The Resilient Places:
- Build Power with Frontline Communities: Sharpen frontline communities’ advocacy and leadership skills
- Together, “We Rise”:
- Grassroots community organizing that builds and engages a base of directly impacted people over the long-term
- Leadership development that builds skills, capacity and networks for active engagement in movements for justice
Categories
- The open funding opportunities in this round target specific strategies aimed at long-term change:
- The Collective Prosperity: will invest in work to close the racial wealth gap and support multi-generational asset building.
- The Empowered Youth: seeks to build community power for educational justice, with an emphasis on community organizing.
- The Resilient Places: will focus on community organizing and power-building for frontline communities most impacted by climate change and environmental injustice.
- Together, “We Rise”: will fund organizing infrastructure — leadership development, base-building and civic participation, particularly in rural or coastal communities.
Funding Information
- Maximum $200,000 per year. They anticipate that the average grant will be $100,000.
- Duration: Applicants can request funding for 12 months. Collaboratives may request 12-24-month grants.
Eligible Activities
- The Collective Prosperity:
- Advocacy, organizing, coalition-building and research that shift the policies and structures driving economic inequality
- Culturally specific programs that support micro and small businesses: from technical assistance and access to capital, to programs that build long-term sustainability
- The Empowered Youth:
- Building a base of community leaders to shape policies at local school districts
- Developing narratives about the importance of an equitable public education
- The Resilient Places:
- Grows a base of directly impacted communities
- Supports climate and environmental justice organizers of color to sharpen their skills
- Together, “We Rise”:
- Building a base by bringing impacted community members together to understand their experiences and provide political education
- Creating an intentional space for community leaders and organizers to learn together, network and deepen relationships that support their movement work
Ineligible Activities
- The Collective Prosperity:
- One-off events (like expos or networking luncheons), construction or renovation of business spaces, direct grants to individual entrepreneurs or youth and artist programs that lack a clear business development component
- Basic employment services like resume support or interview preparation, general career coaching or case management or unpaid youth internships
- The Empowered Youth:
- Arts and music programs
- Afterschool programs
- The Resilient Places:
- Groups that are not explicitly focused on power building within the climate justice/environmental justice space
- Together, “We Rise”:
- Standalone leadership development programs that are disconnected from active engagement in social change work
- Collaborations that don’t foster ongoing community power building
Eligibility Criteria
- 501(c)(3) public charities
- State, local and tribal governments
- Faith-based organizations
- Fiscally sponsored charitable projects
For more information, visit Meyer Memorial Trust.