Opportunity Fund Grants (Social & Economic Justice)

Opportunity Fund Grants (Social & Economic Justice) is sponsored by Opportunity Fund. Opportunity Fund awards grants to organizations and initiatives that advance social and economic justice, with at least 75% benefiting the Greater Pittsburgh community.

Social and Economic Justice | Opportunity Fund Blog : Social and Economic Justice America at the Crossroads Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice Reflections on America’s 250 th Anniversary by rev. yvette shipman, Program Officer/Repair, Opportunity Fund On July 4, 2026, America turns 250 years old. This feels less like a celebration and more like a crossroads, and I have learned to trust crossroads.

Crossroads are not comfortable, and approaching them means something is shifting. Crossroads are an invitation to choose. I am a Black woman and I have made peace with the fact that this holiday was not created with me in mind.

America, while formed with lofty ideals, was built on the forced removal of Indigenous people and the theft and forced labor of Black bodies. We are witnessing our country continue the worst parts of its legacy in its slide towards authoritarianism, through mass deportations, detention centers, and surveillance.

We are learning together what was always true for so many people, that the democracy currently being grieved by some was never fully real to begin with. It was a myth, one some of us were allowed to believe in longer than others. Yet today, with our eyes fully open, we are able to look past the myth and see the possibilities.

The America that once inspired the world, that beacon of possibility and collective care, we didn’t inherit that. We are that. This country’s founding documents may not have included me, but I was never waiting for an invitation.

Neither were my ancestors. They dreamed futures into existence from the middle of nightmares. They bent time.

They planted seeds in soil they would never rest in, for children they would never meet, who would one day stand here, transformed, still rising, tuned to something the architects of exclusion could never touch. Our teachers know this.

James Baldwin, Octavia Butler, Dr. Bruce Purnell, Audre Lorde – together they remind us that we have the power to transform emotional pain into purpose, to release the traumatic narrative, not forget it, but release it, and open our hearts to what comes next. They remind us that we are entangled. What diminishes you diminishes me.

What liberates me clears a path for you, whether you know it or not. Collective care is not charity. It is the only way through.

In my work at Opportunity Fund my intention is to walk alongside the organizations doing this sacred work; those on the frontlines of social and economic justice, and the artists who, as Marc Bamuthi Joseph reminds us, “are the architects of a post-fear economy”. So on this 250th year, approaching the choice this crossroads offers, I choose divine frequency. I choose truth, love, liberation, and living in my inherent dignity.

I am venerating the dreamers. I am honoring the ancestors who held the future in trust for us. America is also my home.

I was born here, I can trace my ancestry back to the 1700s and I’m still working out what it means to me to be an American. And sitting in this complexity I mean it when I say: God bless America. rev.

yvette shipman, Program Officer/Repair, Opportunity Fund OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $1,339,000 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund Executive Director jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.

org, 412-362-1300 PITTSBURGH, PA, June 2, 2026 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $1,339,000 to 74 partners as part of its first grant cycle in 2026. The foundation reviewed 187 requests for funding, requesting over $3. 5 million.

This year the foundation increased their payout from 6. 0% to 6. 5% of total assets.

2025 End of Year Reflections Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice 2025 has been a pivotal year for Opportunity Fund, for Pittsburgh, and for the nation at large. This year challenged us to grow as a philanthropic organization and as individuals.

We celebrated our ten-year anniversary, honoring ten years of working alongside brilliant grant partners and fellow foundations supporting the arts and social and economic justice – ten years of getting to know so many of you so well. Truly, it is the best part of our jobs. To date, Opportunity Fund has distributed a total of $20,382,786, 93% of which specifically benefits the Greater Pittsburgh region.

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $968,000 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund Executive Director jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund. org, 412-362-1300 PITTSBURGH, PA, November 7, 2025 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $968,000 to 71 partners as part of its second grant cycle in 2025.

The foundation reviewed 176 requests for funding, requesting over $3. 4 million. “Our guiding values have always included social justice, racial justice, queer liberation, and valuing of the arts and artists,” said Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund’s Executive Director.

“While the current political moment features a federal government that employs intimidation tactics to scare people with resources away from directing them to specific populations and issues, we will not be deterred by political threats. As this cohort of grant partners exemplifies, we will move forward as we always have.

At a time when immigrants and refugees are being targeted and terrorized, the cycle’s largest grant ($150,000) joins other regional funders to pool support for the Collaborative for Immigrant Impact , a coalition of 18 organizations, to fuel a rapid, collective response to address the immediate impacts of policy changes on immigrant and refugee families in southwestern Pennsylvania.

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $933,489 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice PITTSBURGH, PA, April 18, 2025 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $933,489 as part of its first grant cycle in 2025. The foundation reviewed 164 requests for funding, requesting over $2. 7 million.

Opportunity Fund aspires to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners that are built on trust. The majority of all grants that Opportunity Fund awards provide unrestricted general operating support, which empower partners to use grant funds as they best see fit to meet their goals. This cycle, 89% of all the grant funds offer general operating support.

40% of the funding went to Black-led organizations, 44% to white-led, and 16% to Asian or Latino/a/e-led organizations or teams with multiracial leadership. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below .

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $1,380,500 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice CONTACT : Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund Executive Director jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund. org PITTSBURGH, PA, November 20, 2024 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $1,380,500 in the second half of 2024.

The foundation reviewed 176 requests for funding, requesting nearly $3. 2 million. This cycle, 70 full applications were reviewed by one of the following: an arts community panel, a social & economic justice community panel, or Opportunity Fund’s Board of Directors.

Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members. Part of this is providing general operating support which is funding that is unrestricted and allows organizations to use it as they best see fit to meet their goals. The majority of this cycle’s grant funding, 72%, provides unrestricted general operating support.

Black-led organizations make up 43% of this cycle’s total grant partners, 29% are white-led, and 19% have Asian, Latino/a/e, or multiracial leadership teams. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below. OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $867,750 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice CONTACT : Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.

org PITTSBURGH, PA, May 21, 2024 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $867,750 through 60 grants in the first half of 2024. The foundation reviewed 153 requests for funding, requesting over $2. 48 million.

This cycle, each of the 70 full applications were reviewed by one of the following: an arts community panel, a social & economic justice community panel, or the Opportunity Fund’s Board of Directors. Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members. Trust is key to building strong relationships and, in turn, being in community.

General operating support is a type of funding that is unrestricted and allows organizations to use it as they best see fit to meet their goals. The majority of this cycle’s grant funding, 82%, provides unrestricted general operating support. Black-led organizations make up 29% of this cycle’s total grant partners, 47% are white-led, and 24% have Asian or multiracial leadership teams.

A complete list of awarded grants can be found below. OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $1,340,501 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice CONTACT : Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.

org PITTSBURGH, PA, November 22, 2023 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $1,340,501 through 71 grants in the second half of the foundation’s ninth year. The foundation reviewed 147 requests for funding, requesting a total of $3,024,397.

This cycle, each of the 70 full applications were reviewed by one of the following: an arts community panel, a social & economic justice community panel, or the Opportunity Fund’s Board of Directors who review both arts and social & economic justice applications. Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members.

Trust is key to building strong relationships and, in turn, being in community. General operating support is a type of funding that is unrestricted and allows organizations to use it as they best see fit to meet their goals. The majority of this year’s grant funding, 82%, is unrestricted general operating support.

Black-led organizations make up 51% of this year’s total grant partners, 32% are white-led, and 17% have Asian, Latinx, and/or Native leadership teams. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below. OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $1,040,750 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice CONTACT : Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.

org PITTSBURGH, PA, May 25, 2023 — The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $1,040,750 in its ninth year of grantmaking. The Board of Directors and two community panels funded 62 out of 152 requests, plus 3 discretionary grants, that were seeking a total of $2,527,971. 31% of the dollars are for the arts and 69% for social and economic justice.

The majority of this funding, 77%, is for unrestricted general operating support that can be used flexibly. 75% of grant partners are BIPOC-led organizations or organizations with multi-racial leadership teams; 66% are Black-led organizations. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

Including this current grant cycle, the foundation has awarded 980 grants totaling nearly $14 million since its inception in 2015. Grant cycles take place twice a year. Letter of Inquiry deadlines are January 15 and July 15 each year.

Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of our website. OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $1,447,000 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE Arts , Opportunity Fund , Social and Economic Justice CONTACT : Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.

org PITTSBURGH, PA, December 7, 2022 — The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $1,447,000 in the second half of its eighth year of grantmaking. The Board of Directors, along with two community panels, funded 79 out of 145 requests that were seeking a total of $2,350,536. The majority of this funding, 77%, is for unrestricted general operating support that can be used flexibly as needed.

64% of grant partners are BIPOC-led organizations or organizations with multi-racial leadership teams; 50% are Black-led organizations. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below. Since its inception in 2015, the foundation has awarded 914 grants totaling over $12.

8 million. Grant cycles take place twice a year. Letter of Inquiry deadlines are January 15 and July 15 each year.

Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of our website.