Reproductive Justice Program
A group of young women are pictured attending In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda’s Next Generation Leadership Institute
The Foundation has been a long-time funder in the reproductive health and rights fields. In 2012, the Foundation officially shifted its strategic direction to a more comprehensive reproductive justice framework that recognizes how race, class, gender, and sexual identity affect women's reproductive health and autonomy, subsequently changing the name of the program from Reproductive Rights and Services to Reproductive Justice.
The Foundation acknowledges a critical and historically less-recognized battle—that of women of color and low-income women who have suffered terribly under deeply racialized reproductive politics. Through this intersectional framework of Reproductive Justice, created by Black women activists in 1994, the Foundation’s grantmaking includes a mix of innovative national and state-based organizations using a wide range of strategies, such as base building, leadership development, public education, policy advocacy, voter engagement, and culture change to secure reproductive justice for all people. The Foundation will also support organizations utilizing legal advocacy and litigation to protect the dignity and human and civil rights of all women, especially the most marginalized and including trans people.
By increasingly centering the voices and activism of people who have been most marginalized and following their lead, the Foundation’s grantees have had a major impact, despite setbacks and losses, in communities across the country. From leveraging new alliances to building a stronger grassroots base, the Foundation’s reproductive justice grantees are shifting power while effectively blocking regressive laws and advancing policy wins at the local, state, and federal levels.
The Foundation maintains its commitment to general operating support, especially for state-based and local organizations. For larger and policy-focused groups, and in the case of collaborative campaigns, project-specific support may be appropriate.
Type & Size of Grants
General operating and project grants considered. Grants average $45,000 over two-years.
Core Fund Reproductive RIghts and Justice Program will not fund:
Direct service
Research and publications not directly linked to policy outcomes
Projects outside the United States
Medical research
Scholarships or grants to individuals
Conferences and travel stipends
Program Staff
Gisela Alvarez