Values and Priorities
Our approach to grantmaking is guided by a set of six core values and priorities.
Prioritize opportunities for communities that have been most affected by economic inequity, discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation, and other forms of injustice.
In a just and equitable city, there are resources and opportunities for all.
We want your ideas for making more opportunities available, particularly for people from communities that have been excluded from them.
Elevate community voice.
No one knows a community better than the people who live there. We design grantmaking strategies informed by community perspectives. We fund organizations and initiatives built on that input, and we encourage collaboration across communities.
Share your best ideas with us. Community organizations, nonprofit leaders, and the people who stand to benefit from our objectives can propose the best ways to achieve them. Even if you’ve never worked with us before, reach out. We’d love to hear from you.
Value partnership, collaboration, and transparency.
We accomplish more together. We work with other funders – locally, regionally, and nationally – and bridge public and private sectors. We engage regularly with grantees and community stakeholders to exchange information and maximize impact. We share openly the goals and guidelines for our work and make sure our staff is available to the community.
You can team up to respond to an RFP. We love collaboration, whether among organizations seeking grants or among funders who believe in the power of collective action to reach shared objectives.
Minimize and respond to the impacts of climate change.
The stakes of climate change run high, particularly in communities with fewer financial resources.
What are your ideas for reducing harmful impacts to natural environments, improving the quality of natural and community spaces, and preparing for the impacts of climate change?
Leverage our leadership to advance important citywide and regional initiatives and to respond to changing needs of the city and region.
Complex problems require clear positions. We train a spotlight on the issues, convene and fund problem-solvers and stakeholders, and remain nimble to balance long-range and short-term needs. We do this work in a nonpartisan way and without lobbying.
As the needs of the city and region change, we will issue RFPs for your best ideas about how to address those changes. Feel free to also share your best thinking on how to address time-sensitive needs through our Open Application process.
Share our learning locally and nationally.
We share expertise, experiences, and lessons learned – from grantees, staff, and the research and evaluations we fund – so that we can all learn together and help make the world better for everyone.
What might you learn from the work and findings of others? Browse our Insights tab for research and reporting that may align with or help inform your own approaches.
