Philosophy

The Fund is inspired by the 10 Principles of Community-Centric Fundraising model for grantmaking, developed by Community-Centric Fundraising, a movement to evolve how fundraising is done in the nonprofit sector. The Social Equity Access Fund focuses on tackling the Social Determinants of Health. The well-being of an individual or family encompasses more than their physical or mental health. Their housing, education, air quality, and the environment in their neighborhood can all affect their economic well-being and, therefore, their ability to access care. We seek to influence a whole set of systems changes rather than interrupt only one part. We decided to tackle the social determinants of health and equity issues that plague our society, becoming barriers to success.

  • Our investments vow to uplift grantees working with communities and leaders of color with the lived experience of the issues they are trying to address.

  • We get to know and trust our nonprofit partners and leaders are true experts on society's most pressing needs. We believe it is our responsibility to enable them to carry out their work and will limit unduly burdensome grant-writing and reporting requirements.

  • We are committed to building authentic and transparent relationships with our nonprofit partners; in this way, we can learn together and think beyond capital to solve the systemic issues they deal with in their work.

  • Those most impacted by their results seldom influence grantmaking decisions. We will use our platform to let the real experts speak on the issues that affect them and their communities, shine light on lesser-known interventions, and advocate on behalf of funding strategies that are proven to better support grassroots organizations and marginalized communities.

  • We want to support our partners to go further by building collaborative relationships that bring a long-lasting transformational value to the communities, rather than a band-aid solution that becomes just a transaction. We prioritize distributing unrestricted funding, as fast as possible, without unnecessary burdens and bureaucracy, so organizations can best decide their pathway ahead.

Principles

A wide range of structural inequities lead to some people being left out of ‘traditional’ funding mechanisms. Our Fund wants to give more opportunities for more people, especially from underrepresented communities, to be more involved, engaged, and aware of the resources available to them. To address, support, and serve the entire person, the Social Equity Access Fund and all of us as philanthropists need to invest together in a holistic solution that addresses all the social determinants of health. We are working to fill that gap primarily in the Greater Boston area and beyond, nationally and even internationally.

Focus Areas

The fund follows trust-based philanthropy practices that lead to community liberation and address inequities within the philanthropic field. These practices are; to give unrestricted multi-year funding, do the homework, simplify and streamline paperwork, be transparent and responsive, solicit and act on feedback, and offer support beyond the check.*

Trust-Based Philanthropy Project “ The 6 Grantmaking Practices of Trust-Based Philanthropy”