Grow Power Fund
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Young people of color have always been at the forefront of social change. Launched in 2016, the Grow Power Fund provides up to six years of holistic support inclusive of general operating support, capacity-building resources, organizational development coaching, and annual convenings. The fund supports emerging organizations with budgets under $200,000 that demonstrate shared leadership and potential for growth, but lack access to skills development and grant funding. We prioritize organizations focused on issues and geographic regions that have been under-resourced by philanthropy.
Read our 2023 report, Resourcing Movements for the Long Haul: Lessons from the Grow Power Fund’s First Six Years, now available in English and Spanish!
Read our 2023 report, Resourcing Movements for the Long Haul: Lessons from the Grow Power Fund’s First Six Years, now available in English and Spanish!
Fund Status
Currently, the Grow Power Fund gives out grants on an annual, invite-only basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
My group/organization could use this multi-year funding! How do we get on your radar?
That’s a great question! The Grow Power Fund grant is invite only. We learn of potential grantees from other staff at Third Wave Fund, current and former grantees, and from our own travels in social justice movement spaces. Because there are not enough programs doing this type of multi-year funding, we are often overwhelmed with letters of interest from potential grantees. Your group is welcome to first review the criteria listed above in the fund description and below in the next question.
If you’d like to reach out, please feel free to email rachel@thirdwavefund.org. Please know that we get an overwhelming number of emails. If you don’t get an immediate response, please know it’s because we do not have capacity to address every email directly.
What kind of work do you fund?
The Grow Power Fund funds emerging, intergenerational youth-led, feminist, queer, and trans reproductive and gender justice movement building organizations. We focus on organizations led by young women, trans, queer and intersex people who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. We focus on funding groups and organizations in regions that are historically underfunded and who have budgets of less than $200,000 USD.
Some issue areas we fund: racial and/or economic justice, immigration justice, reproductive justice, HIV/AIDS justice, trans, intersex, gender non conforming, and queer justice, abolitionist/anti-carceral work, anti-imperialist work, and anti-violence work aimed at ending interpersonal and state violence.
Can I receive GPF funding if I have received funds from another grantmaking area at Third Wave?
Yes! Please reach out to your program officer to see if your group might be eligible for consideration.
Do I need to have a 501(c)3 / nonprofit status?
You do not need to have a 501(c)3 status, your group can also be a fiscally sponsored project.
How is this grant funded?
The Grow Power Fund exists as a resource for reproductive and gender justice activism because of individual contributions from our community. If you are moved by this fund, consider joining hundreds of other community members who give monthly to sustain this resourcing, or give a one-time gift today.
That’s a great question! The Grow Power Fund grant is invite only. We learn of potential grantees from other staff at Third Wave Fund, current and former grantees, and from our own travels in social justice movement spaces. Because there are not enough programs doing this type of multi-year funding, we are often overwhelmed with letters of interest from potential grantees. Your group is welcome to first review the criteria listed above in the fund description and below in the next question.
If you’d like to reach out, please feel free to email rachel@thirdwavefund.org. Please know that we get an overwhelming number of emails. If you don’t get an immediate response, please know it’s because we do not have capacity to address every email directly.
What kind of work do you fund?
The Grow Power Fund funds emerging, intergenerational youth-led, feminist, queer, and trans reproductive and gender justice movement building organizations. We focus on organizations led by young women, trans, queer and intersex people who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. We focus on funding groups and organizations in regions that are historically underfunded and who have budgets of less than $200,000 USD.
Some issue areas we fund: racial and/or economic justice, immigration justice, reproductive justice, HIV/AIDS justice, trans, intersex, gender non conforming, and queer justice, abolitionist/anti-carceral work, anti-imperialist work, and anti-violence work aimed at ending interpersonal and state violence.
Can I receive GPF funding if I have received funds from another grantmaking area at Third Wave?
Yes! Please reach out to your program officer to see if your group might be eligible for consideration.
Do I need to have a 501(c)3 / nonprofit status?
You do not need to have a 501(c)3 status, your group can also be a fiscally sponsored project.
How is this grant funded?
The Grow Power Fund exists as a resource for reproductive and gender justice activism because of individual contributions from our community. If you are moved by this fund, consider joining hundreds of other community members who give monthly to sustain this resourcing, or give a one-time gift today.
History
Third Wave Fund launched the Grow Power Fund in early 2016 with a grantmaking committee of young women, queer, and trans activists of color under the age of 25, represnting the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Southwest. Our process was intentionally designed to be accessible to emerging youth-led organizations who are poised for growth, but lack the experience with approaching funders for grants.
The inaugural cohort of the Grow Power Fund (2016-2022) is made up of organizations that were receiving long-term grant funding and capacity building offerings for the first time. In the initial year, we supported each organization in learning how to manage their immediate day-to-day needs with the unique opportunities they have in order to increase the scale and impact of their organizations with each year of funding. Learn more about this first cohort of grantees in our ‘Year One’ report back video!
The inaugural cohort of the Grow Power Fund (2016-2022) is made up of organizations that were receiving long-term grant funding and capacity building offerings for the first time. In the initial year, we supported each organization in learning how to manage their immediate day-to-day needs with the unique opportunities they have in order to increase the scale and impact of their organizations with each year of funding. Learn more about this first cohort of grantees in our ‘Year One’ report back video!
Past & Current Grantees
2022 – 2028
2021 – 2026
2019 – 2025
2017 – 2023
2016 – 2022
- Fannie Lou Hamer Center for Change, Eupora, MS
- Southeastern Transgender Resource Center, Norfolk, VA
- DecrimSexWorkCA, San Francisco, CA
- inTRANSitive, Little Rock, AR
- Wild West Access Fund of Nevada, Reno, NV
2021 – 2026
- Dissenters (Chicago, IL / Nationwide)
- Coalition for Rights & Safety of People in the Sex Trade (Seattle, WA)
- Street Youth Rise Up (Chicago, IL)
2019 – 2025
- TAKE Resource Center (Birmingham, AL)
- Reproductive Justice Action Collective (New Orleans, LA)
2017 – 2023
- HEART Women & Girls (Chicago, IL / Los Angeles, CA / Washington, DC)
- Trans Sistas of Color Project (Detroit, MI)
2016 – 2022
- Asian American Organizing Project (Minneapolis, MN)
- Assata's Daughters (Chicago, IL)
- Immigrant Youth Coalition (Los Angeles, CA) *no longer active
- Trans Queer Pueblo (Phoenix, AZ)
- West Fund (El Paso, TX)
- Youth Organizing Institute (Durham, NC)