Visionary Freedom Fund

Resourcing the development of long-term visions by the youth justice movement

About the Initiative

The 2020 Vision for Youth Justice Initiative (Visionary Freedom Fund) seeks to ensure that frontline communities have the resources, capacities, supports, infrastructure and relationships they need to develop and implement inspiring long-term strategies to transform the youth justice system.

A key component of the Visionary Freedom Fund is the Power Table, a youth-led collective who will come together to inform values-aligned funders about how to best support their long-term vision for youth justice. Together, they will help transform the way philanthropy partners with frontline communities by creating equal representation at the table where grantmaking strategies and decisions are made. Hear directly from the Power Table during the Fund’s launch event.

The Visionary Freedom Fund is not accepting applications at this time.

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Beyond Trust: Why Philanthropy Needs to be Restorative for Radical Change

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Why Now?

The United States is coming to terms with the deeply harmful legacy of mass incarceration, which has permeated every segment of society, including our youngest members.

Over the last three years, AFF has engaged in deep, thoughtful conversations with policy/advocacy and community organizing partners about what is needed to convert this momentum of growing reform of the youth justice movement into sustainable and long-lasting transformation.

Movement organizations have made it clear that they lack the resources and opportunities to develop long-term strategies that build the capacity necessary to dismantle established systems that overcriminalize youth of color.

Initiative Goals

AFF seeks to bring philanthropic partners together to help resource the youth justice movement and achieve the following goals:

1

Provide capacity, space, resources and time for organizations to engage in long-term strategy development

2

Advance an alternative funding model and approach that builds power with grassroots leaders and communities through a participatory grantmaking table

3

Support narrative change efforts and the creation of narrative products/tools

4

Promote learning efforts for field leaders and philanthropy

5

Catalyze additional philanthropic dollars for the youth justice field

Call to Action

Organizations and youth need capacity, space, time and additional dollars to implement their vision for themselves and their communities. They also need aligned, authentic and courageous philanthropic collaboration grounded in an acknowledgement and willingness to reorganize power through decision-making around the flow of resources to communities.

Meet our Grantees

Learn more about VFF’s first round of grantees, all of which are led by BIPOC, Queer, Trans and AAPI youth in our press release.

Learn more

Meet the Power Table

Youth Leaders

Jemima Abalogu
Beni Benitez
Andrea Colon
Angelina Diaz
Xochtil Larios
Angie Tamayo León
Ahmed Mazroua
Fabiana Montenegro
Jaidyn Probst
Laura Rosado
Tauheedah Shakur
Hassan Washington

MOVEMENT LEADERS

Wakumi Douglas
Hernán Carvente-Martínez
Erik Stegman
Loan Tran

PHILANTHROPIC PARTNERS

Paula Carvalho
Mishi Faruqee
Iris Garcia
April Glad
Thena Robinson Mock
Gina Peralta
Amarilis Pullen
Maisha Quint
Altaf Rahamatulla
Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez
Liz Sak
Judy Yu

PROJECT COORDINATORS

Jessica Pierce
Bryan Perlmutter

Funding Partners

About the Andrus Family Fund

The Andrus Family Fund (AFF), a program of the Surdna Foundation, is a leading national social justice funder that believes young people deserve more than one opportunity at a good, sustainable life. AFF supports youth ages 16-24 impacted by child welfare, youth justice or other disruptive systems.

affund.org