2022 Staff Grantmaking Fund Supports Social Justice Organizations

Each year, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund provides administrative and support staff with the opportunity to take on the role of grantmaker and experience the grantmaking process firsthand through its Staff Grantmaking Fund (SGF). The SGF helps staff across the institution better understand the range of challenges nonprofits face so that the Fund can better support grantees in all aspects of its work.

Through the SGF, staff work in teams to research, select, and invite potential grantee organizations to apply for a one-time grant. Each team also builds a relationship with its selected organization, guides them through the application process—which includes developing a grant proposal and collecting the required documentation—and ultimately writes a formal recommendation for the RBF to make the grant.

SGF grantees align with existing RBF program goals and strategies while reflecting the unique interests and expertise of the participating staff. The 2022 grantees selected for the SGF work to advance social justice on the local and national levels. They share a conviction that lasting solutions to the challenges facing our increasingly interdependent world must be driven by building community across racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines.

You can learn more about our 2022 SGF grantees below.

Dance Project of Washington Heights

$50,000

Founded on the social justice principles of access, equity, and inclusion, The Dance Project of Washington Heights (DPWH) strives to bring arts enrichment opportunities to this culturally rich and historically underserved neighborhood in the Fund’s home city of New York. DPWH serves over 700 students, fifty-five percent of whom are low-income, by removing prohibitive costs, language barriers, and other obstacles to high-quality arts education. Through the work of DPWH, dancers of all ages and abilities have access to an array of dance styles, bilingual Spanish/English dance classes, and performance opportunities.

Drag Out the Vote

$50,000

Drag Out the Vote (DOTV) works to educate and mobilize Americans who identify as members of the LGBTQIA communities—approximately one in five of whom are not registered to vote, or do not know if they are—to participate in democracy. The organization’s signature campaigns recruit, train, and organize drag artists to engage, register, and turn out voters across the United States. In 2020 alone, DOTV reached over seven million people through social media and virtual events.

Ultraviolet Education Fund

$50,000

UltraViolet Education Fund (UV) advocates for gender justice using creative campaigns and digital-first organizing. With over a million members reflecting a broad range of racial and gender identities, UV is committed to mobilizing more people in more places to demand justice for women. UV organizes rapid-response and long-term social media campaigns that aim to catalyze systemic change within culture and policy to ensure that everyone can thrive.