New Investments Bring NCF Grantmaking Up to More Than $13 Million in Just Four Years

BOSTON, MA — The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund (NCF) announced today that it has awarded an additional $3 million in grants to organizations working to lift up Black and Brown communities across Massachusetts. This brings NCF’s grantmaking in just four years to more than $13 million in total, and represents a total investment portfolio of more than 250 organizations across the Commonwealth. 

This year’s funding cycle includes more than 100 grants that will benefit organizations aligned with NCF’s pillars of change, which include Economic Empowerment, Health Equity, Identity & Culture Narrative, Policing & Criminal Justice Reform, and Youth Development. 82 percent of the leaders in this year’s portfolio are Black or Brown, and more than 60 percent are women or non-binary individuals. Of NCF’s grantees in the criminal justice reform space, more than 60 percent of organizations are led by returning citizens. 

This year, NCF made an intentional approach to reach out to organizations in Gateway Cities, like Brockton, Lawrence, Lowell, Worcester, and Springfield. This year, more than 64% of dollars were awarded to organizations doing work outside of Boston.

“We are honored to invest in these organizations and leaders, each of whom is working to make our Commonwealth stronger and close gaps in our health, economic, and justice systems,” said Makeeba McCreary, President of The New Commonwealth Fund. “As we experience a disturbing national backlash against racial equity, these leaders give us hope that our Commonwealth can stand as a counterpoint and show why diverse perspectives make us stronger.”

“Through our giving, we hope to intentionally disrupt the philanthropic sector, lift up the leaders of these organizations, take their guidance, celebrate their brilliance, and treat them as experts,” McCreary continued. “It is this model – which we call Respect-Based Philanthropy – that we hope will serve as a model for others.”

NCF’s Respect-Based Philanthropy grantmaking model is designed to disrupt and reframe traditional philanthropy by leveling the power differential between funder and grantee and prioritizing the building of a respectful relationship. Some notable examples of NCF investments include:

• Citizens for Juvenile Justice, a non-profit, statewide organization working to reform and reimagine the juvenile justice and other youth serving systems in Massachusetts.
• Browning the Green Space, a coalition of nonprofits and clean energy companies, that have made a pledged commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) in support of a just energy transition for Black and Brown communities
• LGBT Asylum Task Force, a church ministry that provides shared housing for LGBTQ asylum seekers in Worcester, Massachusetts.
• The Teacher’s Lounge, an education-based nonprofit working to recruit, revitalize, and retain educators of color.
• Castle of our Skins, a Black arts institution dedicated to increasing representation in classical music.  

The full list of NCF investments in the 2024 cohort, who are working to advance racial equity in the Commonwealth include:

• 826 Boston
• Abilities Dance Incorporated
• Accompany Doula Care
• Amplify Latinx
• Amplify POC Cape Cod
• Bay State Banner
• BDC Community Capital Corporation
• Be Inclusive
• Beat The Odds
• Black Unicorn Marathoners
• BMe Community
• Boston Arts & Music Soul (BAMS) Fest
• Boston Arts Academy Foundation
• Boston Impact Initiative Fund
• Boston LGBTQ+ Museum
• Boston Pride for the People
• Boston String Academy
• Boston Women’s Fund
• Boston Women’s Fund, Inc.
• Boston’s Children’s Chorus
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc.
• Brockton Workers Alliance
• Browning the Green Space
• Cambridge Community Foundation
• CASA
• Castle of our Skins
• Chica Project
• Community Art Collaborative
• Community Health Awareness Network Grows Equity (CHANGE)
• Concord Prison Outreach
• DeeDee’s Cry
• Drop LWOP New England
• Elevated Thought Foundation, Inc.
• El Buen Samaritano
• Families for Justice as Healing
• Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts, Inc.
• Fathers’ Uplift, Inc.
• Floor Lords Urban Arts
• Freedom House, Inc.
• Front Porch Arts Collective of Boston
• Garden of Eden & Associates, Inc.
• Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO)
• Grub Street
• HarborCOV
• He is Me Institute
• InnerCity Weightlifting
• Institute for Nonprofit Practice
• Jeremiah Program
• Java With Jimmy
• Justice for Housing, Inc.
• Justice For Housing, Inc.
• Legendary Legacies Inc
• LGBT Asylum Task Force
• LGBTQ+ Elders of Color
• Living Stones Church
• Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
• Luminosity
• Massasoit Community College
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design Foundation (MassArt)
• Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
• Massachusetts Voter Table
• Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition
• Meryl’s Safe Haven
• Meryl’s Safe Haven
• Mill Cities Community Investments
• MOCHA
• Mujeres Victoriosas
• My Life My Choice
• Neighborhood Birth Center
• Neighborhood Birth Center
• New Beginnings Reentry Services, Inc.
• New England Blacks in Philanthropy
• Odessa Community Foundation
• OneGoal Massachusetts
• Pa’Lante Transformative Justice
• Partakers, Inc.
• Pensole Lewis HBCU
• Project RIGHT, Inc.
• Project STEP, Inc.
• Ron Burton Training Village
• Roxbury Community College
• Sisters Unchained, Inc.
• Sportsmen’s Tennis & Enrichment Center
• Taunton Diversity Network
• The Boston Foundation
• The Boston Higher Education Resource Center
• The Equality Fund
• The Flavor Continues
• The Fountain Fund
• The Innocent Convicts, Inc.
• The Innocent Convicts, Inc.
• The Supreme Team
• The Teachers’ Lounge
• The Teachers’ Lounge
• The Theater Offensive
• THRIVE Communities of Massachusetts
• Transformational Prison Project
• UMass Memorial Health – Medical Center
• Union Capital Boston
• United Negro College Fund Boston
• Urban Impact
• We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project Inc
• We Move In Color Collaborative, Inc
• WellWithAll
• YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts

About The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund:

The New Commonwealth Fund was founded in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. When faced with these twin crises, nineteen of Massachusetts’ leading Black and Brown executives launched NCF to disrupt and reform the philanthropic power structures that have disenfranchised Black, Latino, and Indigenous leaders for generations. In just four years, NCF has reinvested more than $13 million into more than 250 Black and Brown-led non-profits across the Commonwealth. 

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