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Amalgamated Foundation Announces Fall 2020 and Frontline Workers Fund Grants

December 16, 2020
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Amalgamated Foundation

The Amalgamated Foundation announced its Fall 2020 docket of grants today, along with a second round of grants for the Frontline Workers Fund. These grants reflect the Foundation’s commitment to addressing issues of economic and racial justice through strategies that utilize integrated, democratize capital and new ownership models that build wealth for BIPOC communities. These are in addition to grants made earlier this year in partnership with the IRG Hub.

Fall 2020 Grants

  • Black Farmers Fund: The mission of Black Farmer Fund is to create a thriving, resilient, and equitable food system by investing in black food systems entrepreneurs and communities in New York. Resources would support the early stages of developing a community investment fund that will provide financing options for black food system actors throughout New York State.
  • Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative: BCDI is a nationally recognized initiative that uses a community anchor strategy to build a co-operative, diverse business ecosystem. Resources would support their business development and finance strategies.
  • Higher Purpose Co: Higher Purpose Co works to build community wealth with Black residents in Mississippi by supporting the ownership of financial, cultural, and political power. Resources would support Higher Purpose Funding Network, which provides capital matchmaking, application packaging, and customized business growth support using a non-extractive integrated capital model for Black entrepreneurs.
  • Kitchen Table Advisors and the BIPOC Farmer Relief Fund: KTA is a member of the California BIPOC Farmer Relief Fund that is making debt and equity investments into organic farms owned Black and Brown communities. Resources will go to the fund’s second round of capital raising as either forgivable debt, equity positions, or grants.
  • The Working World’s Seeds Commons: The Seeds Common project is a national cohort of community based cooperative models across several industries that are experimenting with non-extractive financing models. Resources will support direct grants to co-op business and new financing structures for the cohort.

Frontline Workers Fund & New York Frontline Fund

The Frontline Workers Fund raised over $160,000 to providing relief to critical workers at the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis across the nation. In addition to its first round of grants, the second round of Frontline Workers Fund grants supported essential workers often left out of other efforts including farmworkers, gig workers and immigrant construction workers. Any additional funds raised into the Frontline Workers Fund will be distributed in partnership with the Families and Workers Fund, also housed at Amalgamated Foundation, focused on relief for workers and an equitable economic recovery.

  • Driver’s Seat: : Driver’s Seat’s data driven approach empowers gig workers with the ability to track and manage their relationship to the technology platform. Initially developed to support Uber and Lyft drivers, under COVID, Driver’s Seat has pivoted to supporting delivery workers on platforms like Instacart and Door Dash.
  • Athena for All: Coalition of community organizing groups working to ensure warehouse workers at places like Amazon are protected and organized in this moment with the focus on essential workers.
  • Workers Defense Project: to provide direct relief to immigrant workers in Texas
  • Farmworker Pandemic Relief Fund: to provide much needed PPE and other support to farmworkers.

New York Frontline Fund

In partnership with the New York City Central Labor Council, the New York Frontline Fund raised $22,000 to support workers in New York City. The funds raised were granted out to the Behind the Scenes Foundation to provide support to workers in the entertainment industry and to the Pave the Way Foundation to support its food pantry.