About Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
We envision a socially just and environmentally sustainable society in which all people are able to gain the knowledge and build the power they need to exercise their rights and participate fully in the economic, social, and political decisions that affect their lives and communities. We support grassroots organizations and movements in the United States working to change environmental, social, economic, and political conditions to bring about a more just, equitable, and sustainable world while investing our endowment in ways that strengthen and support those movements.
Focus Areas
racial justicegender justiceenvironmental justicesustainable agriculture and food systemsreproductive rightsIndigenous-led initiativeseconomic justicecivic engagementimpact investing / mission-aligned investinggrassroots organizing
Who They Fund
About Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation centers grassroots organizations and movements working to change environmental, social, economic, and political conditions in the United States. Its grantmaking reflects that approach through support for racial justice, gender justice, environmental justice, sustainable agriculture and food systems, reproductive rights, Indigenous-led initiatives, economic justice, civic engagement, and grassroots organizing. Recent awards show repeat support for movement infrastructure and place-based work, including $100,000 grants to Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee, and to Community Funds Inc in Melville, New York. The foundation also uses flexible support mechanisms alongside more traditional grants, with recent general operating and project support appearing across its portfolio. Named recipients in the latest grants list include NDN Collective in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Common Counsel Foundation in Oakland, California, both of which received six-figure support in the most recent period. Across the grants list, the pattern points to funding that is tied to organizing, capacity, and long-term movement building rather than a single issue or one-off project model.
What Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation Funds
Across its work, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation funds several intersecting justice areas. In Indigenous-led work, it gave $100,000 to NDN Collective in Rapid City, South Dakota, as general operating support, and also supported Indigenous Environmental Network in Bemidji, Minnesota, with $75,000 for general operating support. In racial and environmental justice, it awarded $60,000 to Clean Air Coalition of Western New York in Buffalo, New York, for a project, linking place-based advocacy with environmental conditions. The foundation also supports justice-oriented intermediaries and movement infrastructure: Common Counsel Foundation in Oakland, California, received $100,000 for project support, while Borealis Philanthropy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $100,000 for project support. On the women and families side, Ecumenical Coalition for Women and Families in Biloxi, Mississippi, received $60,000 for a project.
How Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation Gives
Typical grant size clusters around $10,000 at the 25th percentile, $40,000 at the median, and $50,000 at the 75th percentile. The recent grant list shows a mix of repeat and multi-year recipients: several organizations appear in multiple years, including Common Counsel Foundation, Community Funds Inc, Highlander Research and Education Center, and Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York. The foundation is a regular funder rather than a DAF, and its recent awards include both project support and general operating support. It does not fund individuals and does not make program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$3M
Total Assets
$56.7M
Total Revenue
$2.9M
Total Expenses
$4.5M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $50K, with a median of $40K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$40K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
National18 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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