Akonadi Foundation collaborates with public and private partners across California to build a racially just Oakland where love, justice and belonging prevail. Our partners are committed to supporting social movements led by people of color who are invested in power-building, organizing, cultural expression and healing that push forward our city’s historical traditions of resistance and rebirth.
Here are some of our current partners:
Just City Cultural Fund
A Just City Cultural Fund is a partnership between Akonadi Foundation, the City of Oakland, and East Bay Community Foundation to lift up the radical imagination of Oakland’s communities of color and create new visions of a racially just world.
This fund supports Oakland-based, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who are artists/cultural practitioners with a demonstrated commitment to community-centered social justice practices and systemic change.
The Fund awards up to three community-centered collaborations with grants of $100,000 per year for three years, in addition to a $12,000 stipend each year toward life sustaining expenses of the artists/cultural practitioners (for example, to pay down student debt, healthcare or childcare expenses, etc.) and a stipend of up to $25,000 for project-related research/documentation. The program also includes networking and peer learning support for awardees.
In the 2023-2026 funding round, the Fund will support collaborations working together with communities to radically imagine how to transform power relations through a culturally-informed policy lens. Collaborations may seek to redefine the framing of a problem or solution, engage in cross-sector partnerships, reclaim traditional ways, invigorate community assets, or explore other promising approaches to achieving racial justice.
See the full list of grantees and learn more about this program here.
California Black Freedom Fund
The California Black Freedom Fund is a partnership with Akonadi Foundation and philanthropic organizations throughout California to support a five-year, $100 million initiative to ensure that Black power-building and movement-based organizations have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism.
Launched in 2020, the California Black Freedom Fund is the first state-based fund of its kind and prioritizes investments in the courageous and visionary grassroots advocates and community leaders who are transforming our cities, our state — and our world. By creating and accelerating a new statewide ecosystem of Black-led organizations confronting racism and anti-Blackness, this fund aims to affect the culture, policy and systems changes necessary to realize equity and justice in California.
To learn more, visit the California Black Freedom Fund website.
California Funders for Boys and Men of Color
Launched in 2014, the California Funders for Boys and Men of Color (CFBMoC) brings together CEOs from the state’s leading philanthropic institutions to shape a better future for boys and men of color—and for California. CFBMoC aligns the resources, networks and voices of California’s foundations—from family and private foundations to corporate and community funders—with the goal of improving opportunities for African American, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander and Native American boys and young men.
Since its inception, CFBMoC has engaged in collaborative efforts to remove systemic barriers and create pathways that enable our boys and men of color to achieve their greatest hopes and dreams — continuing a decades-long commitment by many of our member foundations.
Akonadi is an active member of the CFBMoC. Learn more about how you can join us.
Rise East
Rise East is a 10-year collective effort to make deep and lasting improvements in the health and well-being of Black children and families in East Oakland. This effort grew out of a community-led vision to develop a Black Cultural Zone in East Oakland. For more than 10 years, community leaders in East Oakland have done the groundwork to bring this vision to life. The Rise East plan identifies core investable strategies that will accelerate this work over the next 10 years. Key to this place-based strategy is deep partnership and collaboration between community based organizations, community members, public and private sector institutions, along with philanthropy. Learn more about this exciting community-led plan.
