Samuel S Fels Fund

About Samuel S Fels Fund

Samuel S Fels Fund’s recent grantmaking is marked by a large capacity-building grant to Rockwood Leadership Institute for $300,000 in 2025, alongside a $135,000 grant to Windcall Institute and repeated support for Philadelphia-based movement organizations. That pattern points to a funder that uses both sizable institutional support and recurring operating grants to strengthen leadership, organizing, and organizational infrastructure. Across the recent grants list, the fund has backed immigrant-serving groups, housing and community organizations, trans resilience work, and coalition-based advocacy. The fund’s giving is concentrated in Philadelphia, and several grantees appear more than once across 2023, 2024, and 2025. Organizations such as Movement Alliance Project, Nationalities Service Center, Hias and Council Migration Service, Pennsylvania Voice, and Gender Justice Fund all received support in multiple years, suggesting an ongoing relationship with local partners rather than isolated one-time awards. The presence of both capacity-building grants and general support indicates that the fund supports organizations at the infrastructure level as well as through flexible operating dollars. Its program areas also extend to leadership development and wellness, reflecting a consistent emphasis on the people leading movement work, not only the programs themselves.

What Samuel S Fels Fund Funds

A clear thread in the fund’s grantmaking is movement-building and systems change. In 2024, it gave $75,000 to Map for capacity building, and in 2025 it awarded $30,000 to Lift Every Voice Philly Inc for general support. These grants sit alongside a three-year general operating program for Philadelphia organizations engaged in multiple movement-building strategies. Immigrant and newcomer-serving work is another recurring area. The fund gave $75,000 to Nationalities Service Center in 2023 and $50,000 in 2024 for general support, while also supporting Hias and Council Migration Service with $75,000 in 2023 and $50,000 in 2024. It also funds trans resilience and community defense. Gender Justice Fund received $50,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for the Trans Resilience Fund, and the Community Response Fund is reserved for emergency needs and election protection within the Movement Building Cohort.

How Samuel S Fels Fund Gives