Location:  Albany, NY
Region: New York
Founding: 2020
Founders/leadership: Jose Pineda, founder and project director 

After Incarceration is a diverse community of people impacted by systems of oppression. Many have been incarcerated, some still are. Drawing upon their lived experiences to identify the many ways in which all lives intersect, students, professors, public defenders, peacekeepers, activists, and advocates are reimagining life After Incarceration.

After Incarceration reconciles the conflict that comes from living in the contradiction of being free yet still confronting barriers and artificial divisions on a daily basis. By stripping away labels, After Incarceration affirms the value of every human being, recognizing themselves within each other. They listen, learn, and collectively imagine restorative reentry as an opportunity to introduce people to ideas, to grapple with the significance of those ideas as a community, and empower each person to pursue a life full of purpose.

After Incarceration uses restorative practice to transform the reentry experience using a community-centered model that supports people directly impacted by policies of over-policing, excessive punishment, and mass incarceration. By structuring equitable decision-making spaces, and empowering people to emerge as the leaders their communities need, they are moving at the speed of trust, drawing upon the strength of a shared humanity, countering the false narratives that divide, and collectively restorativing ways forward.

Read more about the relationship between funders and movement leaders including After Incarceration’s Jose Pienda on the Move Blog.

Location: Brooklyn, NY
Region: United States
Founding: 2021
Founders/leadership: Marina Lopez; Sruti Suryanarayanan; Caroline Woolard; Nati Linares; Ebony Gustave; Robin Bean Crane, co-organizers

Art.coop is a central hub, providing artists with financial resources, innovative ideas, and practical tools to strengthen their communities. Art.coop is reshaping the future of art, placing community governance at its core. It provides a haven for artists seeking alternatives to the traditional system, promoting the formation of networks based on solidarity within the arts sector. The critical role of culture in redistributing power and wealth is widely recognized, with artists building meaningful connections and holding each other accountable. Arts and social justice funders appreciate the importance of integrating equitable practices into cultural work, making Art.Coop a key collaborator in these efforts.

The art world, which reflects broader economic inequalities, often marginalizes artists from poor, working-class, queer, disabled, trans, and BIPOC backgrounds through exploitative practices. Art.Coop advocates for building solidarity networks as a crucial step towards change.

Dedicated to fostering a community of artists committed to redefining the art world, Art.coop is at the forefront of an artist-led movement for change, with a vision of collective liberation. A key achievement was the seven week Study-into-Action program, which engaged 105 cultural innovators and seven facilitators, incorporating feedback from a broad spectrum of contributors. This feedback was vital in shaping Art.coop’s strategic direction.

The Move the Money initiative underscores Art.Coop’s commitment to the solidarity economy, providing resources and events for grantmakers focused on economic justice in the arts. A highlight of this commitment is the launch of a pilot podcast season exploring the Solidarity Economy through the perspectives of artists and cultural workers actively contributing to it in their communities. This podcast offers a platform for sharing insights and inspiring collective action

Location: Alabama; California; Tennessee
Region: National
Founding: 2018
Founders/leadership: Anasa Troutman, project director, founder

BIG We Foundation (BWF) unleashes the social imagination of those who often go unheard, and supports building a world reimagined from their point of view. It cultivates economic and cultural drivers grounded in Black imagination to foster a culture of belonging for everyone. By following the vision and leadership of those who live in or come from historically undermined communities, BWF values are their north star, guiding them on the journey of embodying the culture shift we are working to create in the world. BWF does its part to generate a thriving culture and healthy communities, where we can all experience sustained safety, joy, abundance, and love.  

BIG We Foundation is a nonprofit arts and culture intermediary built to provide infrastructure and opportunity for high potential, under-resourced communities. The organization employs a culture shift model that leverages storytelling, community building, and real world implementation. It expresses a commitment to co-creating the future by investing in people and communities aligned with and working towards a shared vision. BWF priority areas — womxn and girls, wellness equity, and restorative economics — are designed to work together in Black, Indigenous, and other BIPOC communities, forming a fully integrated, narrative-based, and holistic approach to their work. 

Read more about BWF’s Anasa Troutman’s participation in a Transfromative Movement building event on the Move Blog.

Location: Indianapolis, IN
Region:Indiana and the Black Diaspora
Founding: 2023
Founders/leadership: Denise Abdul-Rahman

Black Sun Light Sustainability (BSLS) is at the forefront of transformative change, connecting communities through a mission that resonates both domestically and abroad. With a focus on equitable energy expertise, training, job creation, and clean energy development, BSLS is driving progress in a culturally competent manner.

With a strong commitment to fostering a diverse and equitable transition, BSLS is dedicated to creating positive impacts both locally and globally. At the core of the BSLS mission is a focus on equitable energy expertise, workforce development, and clean energy innovation.

BSLS’s multifaceted approach includes facilitation services, consultancy (spanning policy, DEI, energy, climate, and global affairs), impactful clean energy demonstration projects, and educational webinars. The team’s diverse expertise, ranging from management to healthcare and informatics, equips them to tackle complex challenges with innovative solutions. They are committed to reducing harmful emissions, advancing energy efficiency, and enhancing community resilience.

Location: Bowie, MD
Region: National, Mid-Atlantic focus
Founding: 2022
Founders/leadership: Sacoby Wilson

Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) is advancing environmental justice through Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), community science, Community-Owned and Managed Research (COMR) principles, and the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) Model, with a focus on equitable planning, healthy zoning, and sustainable community development.

CEEJH’s objectives encompass leading nationally and globally in addressing environmental injustice and health inequities using CBPR, citizen science, and collaborative problem-solving principles to empower underserved populations through education, outreach, capacity-building, research, and technological solutions. They bridge gaps between communities, advocacy groups, professionals, researchers, and policymakers, primarily focusing on the Mid-Atlantic region.

The My Block Counts Environmental Justice podcast, hosted by Dr. Sacoby Wilson in partnership with WYPR Baltimore radio station, is integral to CEEJH’s outreach efforts. The podcast explores crucial topics such as air quality, climate change, redlining, and environmental hazards. It offers a platform for conversations with experts and grassroots groups, highlighting ways individuals can contribute to advancing environmental justice in their communities.

Location: Washington, D.C.
Founding: 2023
Founders/leadership: Sam Draisen, Dean Ilyas, co-founders

Democracy at Home enhances the political engagement of young leaders by promoting greater accessibility to the decision making process. 

Democracy, at its most basic level, is direct involvement in decision making. Throughout its history, American democracy has fallen short of this most basic benchmark. Increasing accessibility to politics allows us all to claim power and influence decisions made by those we elect.

Democracy at Home works on projects that put decision making at the fingertips of the youngest segments of the electorate. The organization is committed to promoting intersectionality and anti-racism in all of its endeavors.

Location: Oakland, CA
Founding: 2020
Founders/leadership: Taj James, co-founder & curator; Sihle Dinani, co-founder & advisor; Rachel Burrows, co-founder & operational anchor 

Full Spectrum Capital Labs (FSL) is ​​an incubator-accelerator that brings people, ideas, and capital together to grow regenerative economies powered by impactful solutions. Vibrant solutions need capacity building and partnerships to thrive. Gaps in the capital ecosystem mean opportunities for impact are missed every day. FSL fills the gaps between communities and capital by listening to communities and offering capital strategies to achieve their vision. FSL believes the more nature and community we have, the less money we need. The challenge we face is not scarcity and its deepening relationship and flow — it’s creating the beloved community that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned. In relationship and flow, there is fundamental abundance. Through this lens, FSL connects investors to solutions with powerful impact. 

Full Spectrum Labs listens to the ideas and interests of community and capital stewards all across the capital ecosystem, helping them develop an investment vision that aligns with community values. Community Stewards include; Birth Center Equity — Black and Indigenous midwives who imagine a birth center in every community; Return to the Heart Foundation which supports Indigenous women by investing in undercapitalized women-led initiatives on reservations and cities; Justice Capital — formerly incarcerated community leaders proving that divesting from prison systems and investing in worker and community-owned enterprises transform communities. As Black organizers in Memphis know: when communities own land and buildings, they cannot be displaced. Through relationships and collaborations between community and capital, stewards can navigate and strategize with the full potential of every capital tool and achieve the highest impact. 

Location: New York
Region: United States
Founding: 2020
Founders/leadership: Christina Hollenback

Justice Capital, incubated under Full Spectrum Labs — a network partner of the Movement Strategy Center — since January 2020, epitomizes collaboration and innovation in the realm of social and environmental impact. This partnership extends to pivotal projects within the Healthy, Equitable, Resilient Communities (HERC) Accelerator, showcasing a shared commitment to transformative change.

At its core, Justice Capital connects investors, foundations, public sector allies, and community-led solutions to catalyze significant advancements while fostering shared economic prosperity. Employing a unique advisory model, an ecosystem-centric investment strategy, and strategic capital deployment, Justice Capital ensures that projects not only achieve outsized impacts and community wealth building but also offer risk-adjusted returns for investors.

The Scaling Justice platform, an initiative of Justice Capital, serves as a dynamic convening and learning space. It brings together investors to explore and apply integrated capital structures for the sustainable financing of community-owned solutions. Furthermore, Justice Capital’s Local Ecosystem Accelerator, active in locations such as Standing Rock, ND, and Memphis, TN, along with the Impact Studio in Fresno, CA, and Buffalo and Syracuse, NY, spearheads the growth of community-led projects. These initiatives focus on critical areas such as divestment from incarceration, community-driven climate and reparative infrastructure projects, and Black-owned economic development, underscoring Justice Capital’s holistic approach to creating enduring, equitable change.

Location: Brooklyn, NY
Region: National, plus Canada 
Founding: November 2019
Founders/leadership: Leonora Souza Paula, project director; Mel Adún; Flavia Barbosa; Fernanda Dias; Marry Ferreira; Juliana Maia; Luana Reis; Priscila Santana

Kilomba Collective is the first collective of Black Brazilian immigrant women in the United States and connects Black Brazilians with other Black women’s organizations in the United States and Latin America to strategize, advance human rights, and uplift Black women’s political activism. 

Kilomba’s name refers to the Quilombos, self-sustaining revolutionary communities representing Black Brazilians’ liberation and resistance, memory, radical love, and affection. With that in mind, Kilomba Collective has been driven by its vision: connecting a multigenerational network of Black Brazilian women from different backgrounds and centering the experiences of Black Brazilian women and girls in the United States and Canada. 

Throughout 2020 and 2021, Kilomba supported their community with local and international organizers and activists focused on issues around health and maternal health, COVID-19, racism, police brutality, and more. During the pandemic, Kilomba launched two booklets in the Portuguese language with resources for immigrants impacted by the pandemic, in addition to supporting families through food baskets and online therapy.

With a community of more than 100 members of various ages, backgrounds, and professional backgrounds, living across the United States and Canada, Kilomba remains committed to Black people from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Location: Puerto Rico 
Founding: 2020
Founders/leadership: Julie Quiroz

New Moon Collaborations is a home for innovation that centers the spirit, strength, vision, and creativity of Black and Indigenous people and communities of color. New Moon’s purpose is to nurture leaps in culture that transform systems and structures for generations to come, cultivating collaborations to generate strategy grounded in embodied community wisdom and story. 

New Moon recognizes that achieving a future of regeneration, resilience, and love will require a vibrant ecosystem of diverse, interrelated efforts that are:

• Deeply rooted in place,
• Nourished by conscious practice of relationships in beloved community,
• Animated by personally held narrative of past, present, and future that is not defined by white supremacy,
• And grounded in practical, specific, and audacious community wealth development strategy.

New Moon’s work reflects practices and knowledge across all four elements, with a keen focus on shaping and nurturing purpose-driven narrative. New Moon’s work takes many forms including designing and facilitating powerful cross-sector communities of learning and action, producing strategic community-centered video storytelling, conducting qualitative narrative strategy research, and guiding efforts to communicate verbally and visually with clear purpose and vision.

Read more from Julie Quiroz of New Moon Collaborations about MSC’s Transitions Labs on the Move Blog.

Read more from Julie Quiroz of New Moon Collaborations about #BlackLivesMatter on the Move Blog.

Read more from Julie Quiroz of New Moon Collaborations about Love With Power on the Move Blog.