Announcing “We See You” Grants Supporting Black Liberation
The Black Future Co-op Fund is honored to announce $1 million in grants to 40 Black-led organizations across Washington state that are leading powerful work to ignite Black generational wealth, health, and well-being. We’re grateful for these organizations’ efforts to break down systemic barriers and support Black Washingtonians in becoming liberated, prosperous, and self-determined.
We’re calling these inaugural grants, “We See You” grants, to acknowledge the critical work each organization does every day on behalf of Black Washingtonians.
Grant recipients are Black-led organizations throughout Washington state that are furthering Black liberation. They are providing culturally supportive education and youth mentoring, powering economic mobility through workforce development and training, advancing civil rights, supporting healing from racial trauma through creative arts and culture programs, and more.
Each grantee receives $25,000 in unrestricted funds that they can direct and use as they see fit to further their mission. This initial round of grants were made barrier free, without a stringent application or qualification process, breaking down obstacles to accessing needed resources.
As Washington’s first philanthropy by and for Black Washingtonians, we are intent on doing things differently and creating a new cooperative model centered in Blackness. We aspire to serve as a hub that is networking and fostering collaboration among all of us working for Black liberation. We look forward to building lasting relationships and trust with these grantee organizations, as well as helping connect and strengthen a community of Black-led organizations. Being a new organization ourselves, we know we have a lot to learn.
See frequently asked questions for more on our grantmaking process.
Inaugural “We See You” Grant Recipients
Artists in Activism | Snohomish County
Artists in Activism (also known as Think Ideas) centers and amplifies Black experience in Snohomish County by creating safe spaces for members of the Black community to express their concerns and drive our narrative through the use of the multi-media arts.
Website | Instagram | Twitter
The Carl Maxey Center | Spokane County
The Carl Maxey Center is working to uplift, empower, and transform Spokane’s African-American community from the inside out by addressing four focus areas: racial and social justice and equity; business and workforce development; education and advocacy; and cultural enrichment.
Website | Facebook
Cierra Sisters | Statewide
Cierra Sisters is working to break the cycle of fear and increase knowledge concerning breast cancer in the African-American and underserved communities; the Black women-led nonprofit is a wellspring of support and life-saving information for African American women living with breast cancer.
Website | Facebook
Community Passageways | South King County (with some young people in Pierce and Snohomish counties)
Community Passageways creates alternatives to the carceral system for youth and young adults by rebuilding our communities through committed relationships centered on love, compassion, and consistency.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Community Reconstruction Collective | Whatcom, Skagit, and King counties
The Community Reconstruction Collective is creating a bridge between education, industry, and community by connecting college and high school students to internships and job pathway opportunities.
Website
Divine Alternatives for Dads Services (DADS) | King and Pierce counties
DADS helps fathers navigate relational and legal barriers that separate them from their children and families, encourages fathers to become agents of change in their communities, and works to improve the capacity of government agencies and community resources to support families.
Website | Facebook
ForFortyTwo | Kent (with collaborations in Auburn, Federal Way, Renton, and Tukwila)
ForFortyTwo are an organizing collective of Black youth, Indigenous youth, and youth of color working to combat systemic racism through equity and education. Projects include creating safe spaces for youth and students, defunding the police and abolition, and healing and mutual aid.
Facebook | Instagram
Fresh Soul | Spokane
Fresh Soul is a job training program in restaurant and food service, where youth ages 14 to 18 learn the many aspects of employment, including time management, resume building, overcoming personal barriers to success, and career planning.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Friends of the Children - Tacoma | Tacoma
Friends of the Children empowers youth who are facing the greatest obstacles by pairing them with professional mentors.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Glover EmpowerMentoring (G.E.M.) | King and Pierce counties
G.E.M. offers mentoring, case management services, academic tutoring, and life skills development with a social-emotional support lens to youth and young adults in and around King and Pierce counties.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Graduate Tacoma | Tacoma and Pierce County
Graduate Tacoma is a community-wide movement on a mission to help every child achieve success — from cradle to college and career.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Greentrike | Pierce County
Greentrike's Tacoma Out of School Time Intermediary (OSTI) project offers aligned, equitable, and high-quality social, emotional, and academic development programming to students in 16 elementary students across Tacoma.
Website
Heal Spokane | Spokane and the surrounding areas
Heal Spokane organizes monthly donations drives and community service projects, as well as supports other local charitable organizations in Spokane that serve the homeless and underprivileged.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
iUrban Teen | Seattle
iUrban Teen is building an educational community rooted in trust, empowerment, inclusivity, and community, and supporting BIPOC students to succeed, not only in science and technology programs, but also in their long-term careers.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Legally BLACK (Brave, Lifted, Altruistic, Creative, and Keen) | Greater Tacoma area
Legally BLACK is dedicated to eradicating racism and discrimination in all governed areas of society and strengthening communities through education, narrative change work, political networking, media outreach, and advocacy.
Website
KD Hall Foundation | Statewide
KD Hall Foundation is an incubator to prepare young women and girls for the workforce by providing opportunities, support, mentorship, and sponsorship through their journey of education and their lifelong journey of leadership.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Kent Black Action Commission | Kent and South King County
Kent Black Action Commission promotes the social, political, educational, and economic conditions of the Black/African-American community in Kent and South King County.
Website | Facebook
Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center | East Central Spokane
The Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center exists to improve the quality of life for children, youth, and families in Spokane through an array of culturally responsive educational and social services within the framework of Dr. King’s vision of equal respect, treatment, and accessibility for all people.
Website | Facebook
Mentoring Urban Students and Teens (MUST) | Central and South Seattle
Through long-term mentoring, MUST helps Black youth vulnerable to dropping out of high school and/or becoming involved in the juvenile justice system spring free from the hardest generational cycles of poverty — successfully graduate high school, attend college, become established in stable careers, and reach their full potential.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
NAACP Snohomish County | Snohomish County
NAACP Snohomish County is securing the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights; eliminating race-based discrimination; and ensuring the health and well-being of all persons.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Noble Foundation | Clark and Cowlitz counties
The Noble Foundation provides nonprofit infrastructure for its BIPOC-led sister organizations in Southwest Washington, namely Southwest Washington Communities United for Change and Our Place Nuestra Casa Multicultural Center.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Odyssey World International Education Services | Southwest Washington
Odyssey World International Education Services is an all-volunteer organization that collaboratively and compassionately advocates for social justice and serves marginalized people who are impacted by poverty and discrimination by providing emergency assistance, resources referrals, advocacy, and community engagement opportunities.
Website | Facebook
Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) of Washington | Yakima County and 13 rural counties
Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) of Washington provides education and career, nutrition and health, housing and financial, and community services so all people can live with greater human dignity.
Website | Facebook | Twitter
OurGEMS (Girls Empowered Through Mentoring and Service) | Kitsap County
OurGEMS is the premier mentoring source to empower girls and boys to reach their fullest potential by promoting self-confidence, the value of education, leadership development, critical thinking, and strong communication skills.
Website
Palmer Scholars | Pierce County
Palmer Scholars is committed to supporting underrepresented Pierce County students of color to overcome financial, cultural, and social barriers in their pursuit of higher education.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Peace Community Center | Pierce County
Peace Community Center creates transformational educational experiences for Tacoma’s Hilltop youth and families of promise empowering future success in college, career, and community leadership.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Project Girl Mentoring Program | Snohomish County
Project Girl Mentoring Program is a group mentoring program that fosters the advancement of young women of color to make positive life choices and maximize their authentic potential.
Website | Facebook
Raze | Spokane
Raze is a Black-American focused early learning and development center in Spokane working to eradicate biases driven by stereotypes that perpetuate the preschool to prison pipeline.
Facebook
Tabor 100 | Statewide
Tabor 100 is an association of entrepreneurs and business advocates who are committed to economic power, educational excellence, and social equity for African-Americans and the community at large.
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C.) | Pierce County
The Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C.) cultivates world class opportunities for youth to achieve artistic excellence while developing character, poise, and generosity of spirit.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Takeall Foundation | Spokane
Takeall Foundation encourages young people to be lifelong learners, inspiring them to challenge the historical narrative of the American Dream through a true power shift of resources from bureaucracies and systems to uplifting our communities and equipping them with the tools to strengthen our communities.
Terrain | Spokane County
Terrain works to ensure artists, makers, and culture creators thrive by building community through art and creativity, supporting artists and the arts, advocating for the arts, and catalyzing creative businesses.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
The HOPE Club (Hold On Pain Ends) | Spokane
The HOPE Club provides foundational community support, employment stability, healthcare access support, stable housing support, peer support, and behavioral counseling to BIPOC and low-income community members.
The Institute for Black Justice | Tacoma and Pierce County
The Institute for Black Justice is an advocate for fairness and equity, an accelerator of justice system transformation, and an accomplice to credible social justice influencers and the communities they serve.
Website
The Moore Wright Group | Statewide
The Moore Wright Group works to break the cycle of poverty, abuse, and abandonment in our community by providing a one-stop shop of food and basic necessities to individuals coming out of homelessness, as well as by working with nonprofits, tribes, school districts, and government agencies in 31 counties to offer quality goods for youth, adults, and families in need.
Website | Facebook
The Tacoma/Pierce County Black Collective | Pierce County
The Tacoma-Pierce County Black Collective is a community of Black people dedicated to civic engagement through volunteer service — and promoting the interests of Black people.
Website | Facebook
The Tubman Center for Health & Freedom | Puget Sound region
The Tubman Center for Health & Freedom addresses health and wellness from both systemic and clinical approaches by providing primary and preventative care, community resources, social services, political education, and advocacy.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
The We's Match
The We's Match works to foster an ecosystem that supports and sustains the businesses, wealth building, and well-being of Black women entrepreneurs.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Tri-Cities Diversity & Inclusion Council | Tri-Cities and Walla Walla
The Tri-Cities Diversity & Inclusion Council seeks to provide safe spaces and programs that support the mental, emotional, physical, and financial well-being of BIPOC residents living in a predominantly homogenous community.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Yakima County NAACP | Yakima County
The Yakima County NAACP Branch 1140 was established in 1944 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.
Website | Facebook