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Public Welfare Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About Public Welfare Foundation
Public Welfare Foundation is making a targeted, sizable investment in grassroots movement infrastructure by funding Highlander Research and Education Center. The foundation appears to prioritize capacity-building and leadership development for community-based social justice organizing, with an emphasis on historically marginalized communities in the U.S. South.
Focus Areas
Grassroots organizing and leadership development for racial and economic justiceCapacity-building and training for community-based social movementsSouthern regional community organizing and movement infrastructure
Who They Fund
system-impacted individuals and families (people with incarceration experience)youth and young peoplewomen and women-led organizationsBIPOC communities and leadersstate- and locally-focused communities (e.g., Michigan, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Georgia)journalists and local newsrooms covering criminal justice
About Public Welfare Foundation
Public Welfare Foundation Inc. puts major resources behind justice reform and movement infrastructure, with a recent pattern that includes seven-figure general support and large pooled-fund commitments. The foundation’s grantmaking centers on community-led, restorative, and racially just approaches to adult criminal justice and youth justice, alongside civil legal aid and related access-to-justice work. Recent grants show a clear preference for organizations that can build field capacity, support organizers, and advance policy change in targeted jurisdictions. Two of the largest recent awards show that pattern in different ways: $1,366,775 to Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee for general support, and $900,000 to Michigan Center for Youth Justice in Ann Arbor for operating and programmatic infrastructure. The foundation also backs intermediaries and collaborative vehicles, such as Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and Tulsa-area justice funds, which suggests an interest in coordinated local infrastructure rather than only standalone projects. Across the recent grants list, Public Welfare Foundation Inc. appears to support criminal justice reform, youth incarceration alternatives, narrative and media work, and data infrastructure. Its portfolio includes general operating support, program support, and special funding tied to timely opportunities, with repeated attention to Southern, Midwestern, and select local justice ecosystems.
What Public Welfare Foundation Funds
In adult criminal justice reform, Public Welfare Foundation Inc. funded National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform with $700,000 for policy and technical assistance on violence intervention strategies. That sits alongside support for sentencing reform, community reinvestment, and reducing incarceration in targeted jurisdictions. Youth justice is another major thread. The foundation gave $650,000 to New Jersey Institute for Social Justice for the campaign to close youth prisons and reinvest in communities, and its active youth justice program emphasizes community-based alternatives and ending youth incarceration. The foundation also funds justice infrastructure. Vera Institute of Justice received $500,000 for Vera Louisiana to launch a criminal justice data dashboard, showing interest in data tools that support reform work. In addition, it supports evaluation and learning, as seen in grants to ORS Impact for programmatic evaluation and framework implementation.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$25.5M
Total Assets
$601.1M
Total Revenue
$29.6M
Total Expenses
$33M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $25K and $200K, with a median of $100K.
25th Percentile
$25K
Median
$100K
75th Percentile
$200K
Geographic Reach
National32 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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