Building Power. Bridging Divides. Winning Change.
For more than a decade, we have worked in partnership with our grantees to always meet the moment. Now, we are entering a new era. At the Freedom Together Foundation, we believe the struggle to defend and expand multiracial democracy is the defining challenge of our time. Philanthropy has a crucial role to play.
The JPB Foundation is now the Freedom Together Foundation.
Democracy in the purest sense means that people have the power to make, write, and rewrite the rules that shape our daily lives. Democracy is us — all of us. We achieve it and we make it real, through building community, organizing our neighbors, and taking collective action.
That is why, at the Freedom Together Foundation, we are doubling down on our mission to support people who have been denied power to build it, so they can change unjust systems and create a more democratic, inclusive, and sustainable society.
We are focused on building a deeper and broader pro-democracy movement, with organizations led by working-class people at the center. This movement aims to address the structural flaws in our system and bring forth a truly representative democracy.
We bring a deep well of hope to our work, rooted in what oppressed people have achieved when they come together to stand up for change. This spirit sustains us as we support organizations and leaders striving to build the country we know is possible.
Why Freedom Together Foundation?
Why “freedom”?
Freedom is the keystone value in American civic life. Looking at our nation’s history, social movements rooted in the struggle for freedom have transformed this country for the better and brought us closer and closer to the multiracial democracy we all deserve.
Why “together”?
Unlike some who see freedom only as something for individuals, we believe that the fullest expression of freedom happens in community and solidarity with others. Freedom is a shared aspiration and endeavor, and it’s only truly realized when it’s a reality for all.
Program Areas
Democracy, Gender, and Racial Justice
We support efforts to expand multiracial democracy by protecting and strengthening basic democratic institutions and rights — like the rights to vote and to protest — and finding innovative ways to combat looming authoritarianism and assaults on the rights of people of color, immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ people. We view the work of safeguarding and expanding democracy expansively, including not only supporting free and fair elections, but also promoting a rich, diverse, and powerful civil society to articulate the needs and rights of vulnerable populations.
Community and Worker Power
We invest in efforts by people who have been denied power to build it. Large scale membership organizations like unions and grassroots community groups help people find belonging and agency, imagine the world they want, and build the power to achieve it. Classic and innovative organizing uniting the working class across race, gender, and other divides, is essential to transform unjust systems and achieve a true democracy.
Movement Infrastructure and Explorations
Strong and impactful movements are supported by durable infrastructure that helps organizations, coalitions, and alliances to build and wield power. We support leadership development, capacity building, and the cultivation of new talent that helps to build the effective movements we need. We invest in narrative and culture change strategies that make meaning of the moment and galvanize communities to drive social change. We also support organizations in harnessing the tools and technology to remain at the cutting edge of innovations that can help advance social justice.
Faith, Bridging, and Belonging
We are building an orientation to a “bigger we” by supporting creative approaches to organizing that recognize the fundamental human need for belonging and invest in the agency of everyday people who are often ignored. We support work to bridge diverse communities and unite them in the broadest possible coalition for democracy, advancing the will of the people from a place of love. The work of freedom is spiritual and at times difficult. We invest in efforts to nourish spiritual capacities for movement leaders and support faith groups that have been, at their best, moral communities with the spiritual power to drive significant social change.
Reproductive Health, Medical Research, and Community Grants
We continue to advance our longstanding support for reproductive health initiatives to help all people thrive, cutting-edge medical research to promote human flourishing, and selected projects in our local community.