Core Grantmaking: Public Policy Advocacy Criteria
The Public Policy Advocacy program area seeks to support organizations that influence public discourse and policy decisions to advance racial equity and/or racial justice.
Public policy advocacy is comprised of a continuum of activities that aim to inform decisions within the public sector and may include the following: educating the public and policymakers; influencing legislation, referendum, budgeting, and rule-making; monitoring policy implementation; and taking legal actions.
We support organizations that:
Operate within metropolitan Chicago (city proper with some consideration of other cities in Cook County)
We prioritize supporting organizations that work within, and with, communities of color and marginalized populations
Center a racial equity lens (required)
Have an understanding of disparities and the reasons they exist
Look at structural root causes of problems
Name race explicitly when talking about problems
Propose redistribution as a primary solution
Center a racial justice lens (preferred)
Understand and acknowledge the historical centrality of race in the US
Create a shared affirmative vision of a fair and inclusive society
Focus explicitly on building civic, cultural, and political power by those most impacted
Propose a broader based set of solutions that includes, but is not limited to, equity
Emphasize transformative solutions that impact multiple systems
Have 51% people of color on the executive leadership of the organization and its Board of Directors
We prioritize supporting BIPOC-led and BIPOC-centered/BIPOC-serving organizations
Partner with community groups to advance campaigns and legislation
Partner with community groups so that impacted individuals are included in the design, advancement & implementation of a policy
Support community groups to understand and engage in the legislative process (trainings, resources, tools) o Mutually develop clarity of roles between organizations
Participate in strategic partnerships and/or collaborations, including coalition & coalition-building
Size of organization
We prioritize supporting small and grassroots organizations
Grassroots - < $1M
Small - $1M - $3M