Heising-Simons Action Fund
ActiveCivil Rights & Advocacy
About Heising-Simons Action Fund
The Heising-Simons Action Fund focuses on progressive policy and civic power building, funding advocacy and electoral-action organizations that advance climate policy, racial and economic justice, family and child welfare, and civic engagement. They prioritize national and state-based action funds and grassroots organizing groups — often providing repeated, unrestricted or general support to accelerate campaigns, voter engagement, and capacity-building. Their giving favors organizations that translate policy priorities into electoral or legislative impact rather than direct service delivery.
Focus Areas
Electoral and voter engagement for progressive causes (national and state-level action funds)Climate advocacy and mobilization (climate-PACs, climate jobs and climate equity campaigns)Grassroots organizing for racial and economic justice (Black and Latinx-led orgs and multiracial organizing networks)Family, children and caregiver policy advocacy (paid family leave, early childhood, moms and caregivers organizing)Capacity-building and infrastructure for progressive coalitions (technical assistance, new-left accelerator-style supports)
Who They Fund
nonprofit grantees (Heising Simons Action Fund grantees and similar organizations)
About Heising-Simons Action Fund
The Heising-simons Action Fund’s recent giving is defined by large, repeated grants to advocacy and electoral organizations that work on climate policy, family and child welfare, and civic engagement. Its biggest recent award in the data is $700,000 to States United Action Inc for general support, and that scale is consistent across a portfolio built for campaign and coalition work rather than direct services. The fund also backed Alliance for Safety and Justice Action Fund with $645,000 in 2025 and directed $550,000 to Children’s Funding Accelerator Inc, showing how it links public-policy aims to organized advocacy infrastructure. Across the grant list, the funder favors action funds, resource centers, and mobilization groups. It supported Climate Equity Action Fund twice, including $500,000 in 2024 and another $500,000 in 2025, and gave $500,000 to First Five Action Fund in 2023. Other awards went to groups working on climate mobilization, children’s funding, safety and justice, and progressive coalition building. The pattern points to a funder that uses sizable grants to sustain policy campaigns, organizing networks, and messaging capacity.
What Heising-Simons Action Fund Funds
Climate advocacy is a clear theme. The Heising-simons Action Fund gave $500,000 to Climate Equity Action Fund in 2024 and another $500,000 in 2025, and also awarded $400,000 to Climate Power in 2023 for Climate Power. In the same area, it provided $500,000 to Sixteen Thirty Fund in 2023 for the Climate Equity Action Fund. Family and child policy is another lane. The fund gave $550,000 to Children’s Funding Accelerator Inc in 2025 for general support, $500,000 to First Five Action Fund in 2023 for general support, and $400,000 to Save the Children Action Network in 2023 for general support. For organizing and civic power, it supported Center for Community Change Action with $500,000 in 2023 and $400,000 in 2024 and 2025, and gave $400,000 to Momsrising Together in both 2023 and 2024. It also backed Parent Voices Action with $400,000 in 2025.
How Heising-Simons Action Fund Gives
Typical grants cluster around the six-figure range: p25 is $100,000, the median is $200,000, and p75 is $300,000. Recent awards in the list show frequent $400,000 to $500,000 grants, with several larger commitments above that. The foundation’s giving is recurring rather than one-off: Climate Equity Action Fund, Children’s Funding Accelerator Inc, Center for Community Change Action, Care in Action Inc, and Momsrising Together each appear in more than one year. The fund does not fund individuals and does not make program-related investments. Leadership is listed as Elizabeth Simons.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$16.2M
Total Assets
$2.7M
Total Revenue
$14.7M
Total Expenses
$17.1M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $100K and $300K, with a median of $200K.
25th Percentile
$100K
Median
$200K
75th Percentile
$300K
Geographic Reach
National16 states funded
About 37% of grants go to recipients in GA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
ELIZABETH SIMONS
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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