The Social Justice Fund Northwest (SJF) is launching its 2025 Emerging Justice Fund (EJF) to provide unrestricted financial support to grassroots organizations led by and serving communities most impacted by systemic injustice. This grant program aims to resource Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)-led organizations that operate within a community-organizing framework, particularly in states across the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West.

The EJF will distribute $500,000 across five funding cycles in 2025. Each grant award is $10,000 for a one-year period. Decision-making rounds will occur every other month starting in February 2025 and continuing through October. The program is designed to elevate underrepresented groups and amplify community-based responses to oppressive Federal, State, and Local policies.

Eligible applicants must be nonprofit organizations, tribal agencies, or groups fiscally sponsored by such entities. Organizations must carry out their work in one or more of the following states: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, or Wyoming. Groups with 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) status, or those under a qualifying fiscal sponsor, are eligible to apply. Projects must align with SJF’s focus on grassroots community organizing.

Priority is given to organizations with leadership that is at least 51% BIPOC and those working primarily in reservation, rural, or small-town communities. SJF emphasizes equitable grantmaking processes and encourages applications from those communities historically excluded from traditional philanthropy.

Each round of funding has its own deadline and decision timeline:

Round 1: Deadline – January 17, 2025 | Decisions – February 2025

Round 2: Deadline – March 14, 2025 | Decisions – April 2025

Round 3: Deadline – May 9, 2025 | Decisions – June 2025

Round 4: Deadline – July 11, 2025 | Decisions – August 2025

Round 5: Deadline – September 12, 2025 | Decisions – October 2025

All applications must be submitted via SJF’s grant portal. For questions or clarification, applicants are encouraged to contact the Grantmaking & Impact Team at SJF via email. SJF also hosts informational sessions for prospective applicants and encourages wide sharing of the opportunity among networks.