Life Comes From It Grants

Life Comes From It Grants is a program from the Tides Foundation that funds projects led by communities of color focused on restorative justice, transformative justice, indigenous peacemaking, and land-based initiatives emphasizing alternatives to incarceration. The program uses a trust-based, relational funding model and typically provides unrestricted general operating support with minimal reporting requirements.

Small grants of up to $25,000 are available through an open process, while mid-range multi-year grants averaging $50,000 to $200,000 are by invitation only. Eligible applicants must be U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organizations or fiscally sponsored entities. The fund also hosts convenings and provides non-monetary organizational consulting to grantees.

Many grants are awarded through referrals from existing grantees.

We pursue our mission in two major ways: we make grants and host or co-host convenings to bring people together. We also offer webinars, and provide non-monetary organizational support when requested. We invite requests for funding projects and collaborations led by people of color that focus on restorative justice, transformative justice, indigenous peacemaking and land-based projects.

We make small grants up to $25,000, and midrange multi-year grants averaging from $50K-200K that are by invitation only. To receive a grant, you need to be a 501c3 organization or be fiscally sponsored by a 501c3. If you are neither, we can help connect you to fiscal sponsors.

Many of our grants are made as a result of recommendations by previous grantees and other people working in the movement. You can also introduce yourself directly to us: see the Introduce Yourself page. Our grants are typically unrestricted and for general operating costs.

Compared to most philanthropy, we require minimal proposal writing and reporting. We aim for a trust-based relational model of funding and collaboration. Examples of Projects & Collaborations Below are a few examples to give you a sense of the types of projects and collaborations we aim to support.

They are not meant to limit your ideas. Please be expansive in your project or convening idea.

Build an alternative approach to justice in your local community: e.g. create a community conflict transformation site in a local neighborhood Devote time to facilitate transformative justice or community accountability processes that include ways to connect people to systemic issues: e.g. a long term process that addresses sexual harm in a community without relying on the state Develop a restorative justice (community conferencing) youth diversion program in collaboration with local schools, faith-based organizations, community organization, courts or police Implement a peacemaking or restorative justice project in your local school Communicate clearly about what you do so as to draw people in, e.g. put up a website about your work, or create a short documentary that helps you convey the power of this work and can be used by others in the movement Make your restorative or transformative organization's work sustainable, e.g., fund your own health insurance, pay yourselves for the first time, or build your infrastructure and cover operating expenses Convene leaders regionally or nationally who are doing similar work to you to deepen the network, share practices, and/or take action on a shared goal Initiate a long-term regional collaboration between community members, activist organizations and systems partners to create a paradigm for community accountability and safety Connect peacemakers from across the nation to share a vision for indigenous peacemaking Convene activists from the three fields supported by this fund together to get to know and learn from each other, which in some places may be for the first time Develop a regional truth telling project about historical or current harms​ Further resource an existing regenerative soil or farming initiative Support for land acquisition Resource justice and healing programs on already existing land based projects Our convenings often emerge organically, thanks to the initiatives of our grantees, partners and Board members.

Since 2021 convenings have been held in Mississippi, Maine, Chicago, Hawaii, New York, Texas, Massachusetts, New Mexico, California and elsewhere. Our goal is to host or co-host spaces for people in the four areas we support to interact and build relationships together. To see videos from some of our 2022 convenings, explore the links below.

The first one was in February for the annual Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) conference at the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians . We brought together a diverse group of indigenous peacemakers, as well as restorative justice and transformative justice leaders. In May we co-hosted a gathering of 40+ attendees focused on indigenous peacemaking at the Wabanaki cultural and healing center, Nibezun , in Maine.

We produced a 3-minute video from the gathering. In July, we brought together 150+ grantees in Chicago for a 2-day LCFI gathering preceding the conference of the National Association for Community and Restorative Justice. See this 3-minute video .

In August, we brought together 40+ indigenous and allied leaders working in plant medicine conservation to the New York Catskills for a 4-day space for relationship-building and peacemaking facilitated by LCFI advisory board member Chief Justice Emeritus Robert Yazzie. In October, during the Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend, we co-hosted the inaugural convening of the Northeast Indigenous Climate Council .

Here is a short video produced about the event. In November, we convened more than 40 people on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu for a week-long immersion into the Hawaiian tradition of Ho’oponopono, hosted by the Pu’uhonua Society , MA’O Farms , and Niu Now . A short video will be completed soon.

New convenings are being developed in an ongoing way. We host webinars to celebrate and share the wisdom and experience of practitioners in our work and make their conversations available online. Soon, our webinars will have their own page on this website.

Non-Monetary Organizational Support We provide organizational consulting to our grantees. Working with highly skilled and trained professionals from numerous fields, we are responsive to the needs of each project. We are also collaborating with certain projects that provide life skills relevant to our work: e.g., the Healing and Reconciliation Institute , which provides trainings and facilitation to assist intercultural bridge building.