February 23, 2026
In 2025, we returned $11.595 million to our food justice partners.
Cover photo credit: Hawai’i Land Trust Class at Kapalai, Hookuaaina
We are witnessing a time of interconnected crises. This past year, we saw federal actions undermine environmental protections, slash vital funds to climate and agriculture progress, erode safety nets like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), militarize neighborhoods, and target immigrants and other vulnerable communities. We recognize the grief that so many of us are carrying right now.
We also honor how communities are meeting this moment with collective strength and unity. We see this in the many ways that our grantee partners show up every day: as rapid response organizers and advocates protecting their neighbors; as food and land stewards feeding communities and honoring the earth; as journalists countering disinformation and elevating stories of climate and agriculture into the national narrative. Together, they are showing another way forward.
The path to a just future is a society of solidarity. As we face 2026 together, we remain committed to standing alongside our grantee partners and communities and celebrating their work of radical care.
Food Justice Grantmaking in 2025
Total food justice funding
Grants
Return Dollars to Communities
In 2025, we returned $11.595 million to 59 grantee partners. This marked the final phase of food justice grantmaking. We will issue final grants in 2026, followed by the closure of the program in 2027 and the foundation in 2029. Learn more about our spend down timeline.
Last year we highlighted the call for philanthropy to meet the urgency of this moment with solidarity. As we honored a commitment to spend down, we accelerated $4 million to support grantee partners.
We recognize that the nonprofit sector continues to face mounting pressures. This moment demands a collective response from funders to mobilize resources at the level required for transformative change. Learn about our decision to accelerate funding.
We have continued to follow the leadership of historically marginalized and underrecognized communities. The climate of federal funding cuts and harmful policies that target diversity, equity and inclusion reaffirmed a responsibility for philanthropy to double down on work that communities on the ground lead.
As part of a commitment to returning resources, the majority of grants are flexible with streamlined reporting. Flexible grants (83%) encompass general operating or unrestricted support, which is crucial for organizations to adapt to shifting political and funding landscapes. We deployed restricted grants (17%) when they were a stronger fit for the opportunity or organizational structure, including 501(c)(4) grants. As part of sharing power, in 2025 we moved $1.8 million to community-advised funds and intermediaries.
Photo courtesy of California Environmental Justice Alliance Action, Brooke Anderson
Emergency and Response
The federal attack on safety nets like SNAP and Medicaid are compounded by policies that harm people and the environment. We invested $1.515 million into emergency and responsive funding, bolstering organizations that support children, families, and community members hit hardest in 2025.
Total funding
Holding the Line
We invested $6.225 million into a vibrant ecosystem of immigrant and refugee rights, policy and advocacy, and independent journalism. Together, these grantees are defending human rights, expanding civic engagement, and elevating stories of people working toward a dignified future.
Total funding
Resistance and Resilience
Solidarity with communities requires investment in long-term solutions. We returned $3.855 million into an ecosystem of farmers, land stewards, advocates, and coalitions. They are growing movements for a just transition, revitalizing ecological and cultural knowledge, and growing climate and disaster-resilient food systems.
Total funding
In 2026 and beyond, we challenge funders to step up in deep solidarity with communities leading the way. Our collective actions can help turn the tide.
Aileen Suzara, Ari Datta, and Raymi Faria
Meet the Moment
People across the country are uniting in solidarity to resist oppression—and they shouldn’t stand alone. Funders must commit to shifting historic levels of power and wealth to organizations that are resisting the current administration’s harmful agenda.
While we are encouraged that the recent report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) found that 30% of funders increased their planned payout in 2025, our privileged sector’s response is not nearly enough. CEP underscored a growing disconnect between philanthropy and vital organizations under siege, emphasizing that 93% of nonprofit leaders are dissatisfied with foundations’ responses to the current moment. Our communities’ and democracy’s well-being demands our sector to increase payout and unleash multiyear, unrestricted funding to support frontline organizations and protect our neighbors.
Change can’t wait. In 2026 and beyond, we challenge funders to step up in deep solidarity with communities leading the way. Our collective actions can help turn the tide.
We invite you to contact us to share ideas on uplifting movements for food and land justice.
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