Apply to the Another World is Possible Fund

Stay tuned for updated application details in 2025!

Artwork by Chetna Mehta, www.mosaiceyeunfolding.com

Those of us fighting for justice, freedom, and liberation know the fundamental truth that relationships are our greatest resource, currency, and source of true wealth.

From the time this land was colonized, systems of white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism have used brutal strategies of divide and conquer, separation of families and communities, and ideologies of “individualism” and “independence” to perpetuate oppression. This is why our work to heal relationships, build solidarity, and practice interdependence are some of the most powerful tactics to win our collective liberation. We also know that because most harm happens in relationship and in community – our greatest potential for healing is also in relationship and in community.

In that spirit, Another World is Possible Fund is opening up a new cycle of grants focused on the theme of right relationship.

When you are ‘right’ with something, you are walking in a good way, honoring the responsibility to protect and nurture the intimate relationship that protects and nurtures you, whether that relationship is with another person, the earth, or yourself.

(Language adapted from Jai Medina)

TLC and Chinook Fund recognize that this labor of loving, caring for, and healing relationships is often unseen, unacknowledged, and under-resourced in the social justice movement ecosystem. We hope to use these grants to honor the time, tools, training, and resources it takes to build transformational relationships, restore, and heal relationships, learn how to move through conflict in a way that deepens trust, and practice restorative ways to address harm. We also recognize that to be in right relationship with each other, we must also be in right relationship with ourselves and the earth.

We invite eligible organizations to put forward proposals that support work to be in right relationship. Consider what resources you need to support:

Building coalitions,
practicing new ways of addressing conflict,
healing tensions within and between organizations,
developing intergenerational relationships,
healing relationships to the land/earth, building solidarity between communities,
healing relationships with ourselves/our bodies,
ancestral relationship healing,
creating spaciousness/rest in the work (so we can show up better in our relationships),
community healing circles – and so much more. We invite your creativity, vision, and bold ideas!

In addition to supporting resilience and relationship-building projects, Another World is Possible will continue to provide flexible and rapid response funding for crisis and emergent situations.

We will be making monthly funding decisions for Another World is Possible Fund. We encourage organizations affiliated with Chinook Fund and/or Transformative Leadership for Change to apply by July 25th in order to receive funds for the August grant cycle. Applications will be reviewed monthly.

To apply, complete the Google form here. To learn more about the Fund, visit www.chinookfund.org/anotherworld or download the detailed fund vision and description: Another World is Possible Fund Overview PDF. Email grants@chinookfund.org with questions.

Eligibility

Chinook Fund affiliation:
- Organizations who have been funded by Chinook Fund through a regular Fall/Spring grant cycle within the past 2 years (Spring 2020 to current). The regular cycles include site visits conducted by Giving Project members.
- Organizations have been funded for their most recent request to Chinook Fund. If a group has been recently declined for funding, they must successfully reapply for a Fall/Spring grant cycle before they are eligible for a rapid response grant.

And/Or

Transformative Leadership for Change affiliation:
- If TLC Fellow/Alumni is still at the organization they entered TLC with (or transitioned to during their time at TLC) – the organization IS eligible.

Priority will be given to:

Newly eligible groups who have not previously received support from this Fund
Groups led by and for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)
Groups based outside of the Front Range

Examples of projects/responses include but are not limited to:

RESILIENCE & RELATIONSHIPS

Projects or support building coalitions, building solidarity between communities,
Developing intergenerational relationships, healing relationships to the land/earth, healing relationships with ourselves/our bodies, healing ancestral relationships
Self/community care for staff including physical/mental/emotional/spiritual wellness
Creating spaciousness/rest in the work (so we can show up better in our relationships); sabbaticals and other forms of rest
Support for conflict resilience such as community healing circles, practicing new ways of addressing conflict, healing tensions within and between organizations, mediation, transformative justice resources, community accountability processes, restorative justice circles, community centered healing projects
Community-based mutual aid projects, emergency income, food or housing assistance & eviction prevention
Projects that promote celebration and joy
Storytelling and narrative shifting project

ORGANIZING

Organizing for safe workplaces & institutions, paid sick leave, wage increases and hazard pay for people providing essential services
Organizing to demand that institutions like jails, prisons, and detention centers release people/keep them safe and healthy
Organizing rent/mortgage strikes; essential worker strikes
Organizing funding for undocumented and other communities left out of mainstream pandemic response
Organizing to address viral racism and xenophobia, creating anti-racist & anti-discrimination narratives, highlighting impact of pandemic on communities of color
Organizing around racist state violence such as police/ICE, prisons/detention centers
Organizing against authoritarianism/fascism while promoting new forms of democracy
Organizing defense and protection from white nationalist groups and other far-right extremist groups
Organizing to address the digital divide, creating or upgrading digital infrastructure

INFRASTRUCTURE

Emergency outreach, training and education (webinars, social media campaigns, etc) to respond to the crisis, including digital literacy skills
Support for organizational strategic planning, visioning, fundraising, recession-proof budgeting, etc.
Support for staff and leadership coaching
Emergency funds to maintain organizational operations due to revenue loss
Establishing improved sick leave policies or creating sick leave funds for staff
Preserving medical coverage & covering medical assistance

For more information on this funding opportunity, please email grants@chinookfund.org.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can we apply for multiple grants from this fund?

At this time, organizations are permitted to apply only one time in the 2022 calendar year. We will share an invitation to request additional funding if/when funds become available.

What is the deadline to apply?

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis after May 23rd, 2022 and awarded based on the availability of funds.

When will we hear back after submitting an application?

Applicants will be notified within 30 days about the status of their request.

When will grant awards be disbursed?

Funds will be disbursed via check or ACH payment within two weeks of the grant award confirmation. ACH payments are preferred and may be arranged by contacting grants@chinookfund.org.

We received a Chinook Fund grant in 2019 or earlier. Are we eligible to apply?

You may be eligible if your organization has a leader who participated in the Transformative Leadership for Change fellowship. If you are not affiliated with TLC, then you are not currently eligible for the Another World is Possible Fund. We invite you to apply for a Chinook Fund grant during our regular Fall (September) or Spring (February) deadline.

Will there be reporting requirements?

No. All funds distributed will be general operating support.

Where is the money for this fund coming from?

We are currently accepting contributions from individual donors and foundations. As of December 2021, we have raised nearly $989,000 with a goal of raising $1M total. We have about $280,000 in the grant fund currently. Anyone may make a gift to support this fund at www.chinookfund.org/anotherworld.

Who makes decisions about the grants?

Applications will be reviewed by representatives of Transformative Leadership for Change and Chinook Fund. The Another World is Possible review team includes:

Candance Johnson, Chinook Fund Board Member, TLC Governing Circle member, National Training Member, Jobs with Justice
Courtney Banayad, Former Chinook Fund Board Co-Chair, Director of Membership and Communications at Neighborhood Funders Group
Crystal Middlestadt, Executive Director, Chinook Fund
Judith Marquez, Grants Manager, Chinook Fund & TLC alumni member
Neha Mahajan, Executive Director, Transformative Leadership for Change
Tania Valenzuela, Program Manager, Transformative Leadership for Change

To apply, complete the Google Form here.