Our Approach

We recognize we are a small fund, but we hope to leverage all that we have in support of those standing up for migration justice and seeking to transform and overcome systems of injustice. Our approach to funding is a synthesis, inspired by systems-thinking change theory and social movement ecology. To be effective, it is just as important to understand the movements pushing for change as it is to recognize the complex mechanisms undermining migrant human rights. Direct personal transformation, institutional change work, and building alternatives are all important approaches to change, but their connections are sometimes ignored in the field of philanthropy. We believe a healthy migrant justice movement that can react to these complex systems requires not just balance but interconnectedness between different theories of change, an intersectional knowledge and solidarity with other justice movements, and emphasizes the voice and power of migrants and affected populations who have been historically ignored.
The increasing trends of forced displacement and migration from the global south to the global north is a symptom of dysfunctional systems of power that have allowed capitalism, militarism and national extremism to run amok to the detriment of justice, climate, and human rights. In the US and beyond, toxic narratives, disinformation and the dominant systems they perpetuate have exacerbated divides and suppressed peoples’ ability to stand up for the human rights of themselves and their new neighbors.
To have the most impact as a small fund in service of this interconnected vision, we prioritize funding for small grassroots organizations, projects and underfunded areas. The current strategies we seek to uplift through the Migration Justice Initiative are participatory grantmaking by migrants and refugees, grassroots power building, coalition building & allyship, deep canvassing and local organizing in receiving communities, the coordination between direct services leading to advocacy and policy change, and narrative change. While a majority of our funding is US-based, we support transnational collaboration and diasporic organizing across boundaries.
By shifting the systems and the lives of people today, we envision a future of multi-racial democracy which meaningfully integrates immigrants of different status and enshrines Freedom of Movement as a fundamental human right alongside the Four Freedoms: Freedom from Fear, Freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom to Worship.
At this time, the Migration Justice Initiative considers applications by invitation only.

Advocacy
Policy change: Efforts to educate and compel local, national, and international governments and law enforcement to develop or implement policies that recognize and protect the human rights of refugees and migrants.
Impact litigation: Strategic lawsuits that have the potential to affect systemic change, and that hold individual leaders, law enforcement, government and their agents accountable to human rights standards.

Power Building
Participatory Grantmaking: efforts to democratize philanthropy that shift decision-making power towards affected populations and historically disempowered people.
Grassroots Movement Building: Activities that engage, educate, and organize refugee, immigrant, and displaced communities in civil society, building political awareness, leadership and solidarity within and among marginalized groups.
Individual Human Rights Empowerment: efforts to activate individuals—both from immigrant and host communities—through social justice education and civil disobedience training to foster alternative and spontaneous solutions to protect the human rights of themselves and others, such as peaceful protest and providing sanctuary.
Civic Engagement: Equipping and mobilizing people regardless of citizenship and voter status with the tools to engage in local community and policymaking.

Movement Cross-Pollination
Coalition Building: developing coalitions of migrant justice organizations across disciplines, geographies and theories of change to build fruitful partnerships which can enrich the movement for immigrant justice on local, state, and national levels.
Transnational Organizing: engagement with organizers and diaspora across national borders to foster dialogue, more holistic & live knowledge of global migration patterns and effective confrontation against identified human rights violations from origin to destination countries.
Intersectional Community Organizing: working with individuals and organizations across social justice foci to build allyship within receiving communities and solidarity between movements, recognizing how intertwined issues of racism, classism & sexism in sectors such as labor, housing, healthcare, & education bear upon both new immigrants and the communities they integrate into.

Narrative Shift
Inclusive culture creation: Programs that empower immigrants, refugees and marginalized people to participate fully in the creation of visual and narrative culture through training and professional development in the media arts.
Impact art and media: Projects that promote positive representation of minorities, immigrants, and refugees in media through humanistic storytelling and that expand our understanding of ethnic and national identity narratives.
Strategic communications: Research, investigation and documentation that produces effective messaging and the dissemination of best-practice narratives which leads to greater public support for immigrants, refugees, displaced peoples, and ethnic minorities.

Safety & Resilience
Safety & Security: programs that directly serve migrants and marginalized communities with access to basic needs such as food, housing, education, childcare and language access, so that people attain sustainable livelihood.
Trauma/psychosocial support: Efforts to break the cycle of violence, victimization, and marginalization through the provision and expansion of behavioral health resources in communities traumatized by displacement & ethnic violence.
Legal Assistance: Efforts to ensure equitable access to due process and fair hearing for individuals seeking protection from harm or persecution through the immigration justice system, including legal representation, language access in legal proceedings, case management, and KYR trainings.
Populations We Serve
Formally resettled or non-resettled refugees
Internally displaced persons
Forced migrants
Asylum seekers
Indigenous peoples
Marginalized minorities/BIPOC communities