North State Equity Fund
The North State Equity Fund is Opening!
The North State Equity Fund is accepting applications for its upcoming grant cycle. Organizations that have already turned in applications for 2023 do not need to reapply; those organizations should look for communication in Submittable (norcalunited.co/grants). Organizations that have yet to apply for the 2023 cycle are encouraged to apply.
- Applications are open from October 2nd, 2023 to October 20th, 2023.
- The NSEF team will host a Q&A webinar on Friday, October 13th at 3:00 pm. Join at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89992090726.
- Please direct questions to nsef@norcalunitedway.org
The North State Equity Fund (NSEF) is a collaboration between United Way of Northern California, The McConnell Foundation, and S.H. Cowell Foundation. We support efforts that promote racial justice, social equity, and deepen collaborations between organizations or emerging groups doing this important work in the North State.
This fund is available to organizations or groups based in one or more of these nine counties: Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, or Trinity. We prioritize funding grass roots groups with an operating budget of less than $100,000.
In this grant cycle, NSEF anticipates distributing up to $100,000 to support positive efforts towards inter-cultural dialogue and equal opportunity in Northern California.
United Way of Northern California and North Valley Community Foundation collaborated to establish the North State Equity Fund in 2020 after the tragic death of George Floyd. With support from Community Foundation of the North State, the organizations began a fund intended to support grassroot efforts towards racial justice and equity.
In 2021, our Board of Directors adopted an anti-racism statement and developed an equity-based framework for grantmaking and other community investments. This framework helps United Way identify and reduce funding barriers for smaller community-based organizations.
In 2022, S.H. Cowell Foundation, The McConnell Foundation, and The Sundial Fund joined in supporting the continuation of the Fund. Grantees from the 2022 grant cycle included: Bethel AME Chico, Celebrating Life One Event At A Time, Civic Hacker Network, Dr. MLK Jr. Annual Breakfast, Scholarship & Technology Awards, Hmong Cultural Center of Butte County, Indigenous Language Network, Karuk Tribe, Northern California Youth Feather Dancers, Northstate Women’s Health Network, Red Bluff High School Diversity Club, Seeds of Ancestral Renewal, Shasta Beloved Community, Shasta Scout, The Sikh Centre, Toyon-Wintu Center (in collaboration with Wintu Language Web), and Trinity Together (in collaboration with NorCal Outreach and Stonewall).