Social Justice

The Social Justice Grants program builds on the Fleishhacker Foundation’s long-standing tradition of supporting individuals and groups that have historically been excluded from the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. The program currently funds two initiative areas: food justice and LGBTQ+ youth services.

LGBTQ+ Youth Initiative: The exceptional grantees listed here were selected through a competitive application process in 2023. The Foundation is not accepting new inquiries or proposals for this initiative.

Food Justice Initiative: A call for Letters of Inquiry has been sent to selected Bay Area food justice organizations. If your organization received a notice, the submission deadline is June 1, 2026.

This initiative supports six exceptional Bay Area organizations listed here that provide services that are uniquely tailored services to nurture LGBTQ+ youth. The Foundation is not accepting new inquiries or proposals for this initiative at this time.

The Foundation strategically invests in organizations that provide caring and responsive social, physical, and mental health, housing, educational, and/or career development services specifically designed to help LGBTQ+ youth successfully transition to a healthy, confident, thriving, economically self-sufficient adulthood.

Goals and Overview

The goal of this initiative is to support Bay Area service providers in their efforts to address the needs of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults (up to age 25) facing a lack of shelter or housing insecurity. The program focuses on organizations that:

• Work with LGBTQ+ youth and their families to prevent youth from becoming unhoused and/or provide youth with critical support when they cannot return to their families of origin;

• Engage and empower LGBTQ+ youth of color;

• Provide social programs and mental health services to help LGBTQ+ youth find community and support;

• Provide housing and basic needs support such as housing assessments, referrals, and the distribution of food, toiletries, and other necessities;

• Provide services to promote educational and career development that help LGBTQ+ youth improve their financial health, achieve educational goals, or gain career-oriented work experience; and/or

• Offer health and wellness services such as HIV/PrEP use counseling, medical appointments, insurance navigation, and the like.

The Fleishhacker Foundation awards general support to Bay Area LGBTQ+ youth organizations and program support to other Bay Area nonprofits with a proven track record of providing services specifically designed to meet the unique needs of this population.

Eligibility

Grantees are:

• Organizations incorporated as 501(c)3 nonprofits (including fiscal sponsors applying on behalf of a fiscally sponsored project) that offer programs that are specially designed to meet the unique needs of LGBTQ+ youth.

• Located and primarily offering programming in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, San Mateo, and/or Santa Clara counties.


• Organizations with strong support from their Board of Directors as evidenced by the percentage who make annual gifts.

Not eligible are:

• Fundraising events and galas.

• Capital or endowment campaigns.

Review Criteria

The most important considerations in assessing funding requests in this grant program are as follows:

• Does the organization have a strong track record of and sound plan for providing effective services to help LGBTQ+ youth to thrive?

• What are the organization’s programmatic plans for the coming year, how many youth does it intend to serve, and what role does it play in the service delivery structure for LGBTQ+ youth in the Bay Area?

• Does the organization engage and empower youth of color?

• How viable are the organization’s programming plans?

• Is there strong evidence of Board and community support for the organization, specifically, what percentage of Board members made financial contributions, and what other income has been raised or generated within the last year?

• Does the organization use its resources efficiently and well, seeking to collaborate and share resources when appropriate

• What are the financial needs of the organization?

Goals and Overview

The Food Justice Initiative aims to support small- to mid-sized Bay Area organizations working to improve consistent access to healthy, affordable food for local communities in low-income and disinvested areas. Emphasis is placed on addressing the root causes of food inequity and supporting community-led solutions that provide people with better long-term access to nutritious food by increasing availability, affordability, and awareness. We have a particular interest in Bay Area organizations that: 

• Improve consistent access to fresh, affordable, nutritious food in under-resourced areas, particularly food that reflects different cultures;

• Operate community gardens, micro farms, urban farms, or other initiatives that help people in under-resourced areas to produce their own food as a lasting means of achieving food security;

• Create opportunities for local, community-based producers, distributors, and retailers to grow, process, share, and/or sell fresh, affordable, and nutritious food in these areas;

• Provide clear, accessible, accurate, and culturally affirming information that gives people in under-resourced areasthe power to make effective decisions about what they eat and how our food economy should be structured;

• Positively impact health outcomes for under-resourced communities through improved ongoing access to nutritious food; and/or

• Provide opportunities for under-resourced communities to define their own food and agriculture systems.

The Fleishhacker Foundation will consider requests for general support from Bay Area organizations whose primary focus includes more than one of the key activities listed above. Proposals will also be accepted for project support for programs focused on one or more of these activities at other Bay Area organizations. Requests for special projects or capacity building may also be considered. 

Additional organizational activities or characteristics may include:

• Providing employment opportunities for under-resourced groups; and

• Environmental benefits and promoting ecologically sound, sustainable food production.

Grants will range between $10,000 and $20,000. The Foundation initially awards one-year grants. These grants may potentially be renewed through a streamlined process for a second and perhaps third year.

Eligibility

Applicants must be:

• Organizations incorporated as 501(c)3 nonprofits (including fiscal sponsors applying on behalf of a fiscally sponsored project) that offer programming that is well-aligned with multiple key activities detailed above.

• Located and primarily offering programming in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, San Mateo, and/or Santa Clara counties.


• Of an annual budget of less than $4 million during its current fiscal year.

• Organizations with strong support from their Board of Directors, as evidenced by the percentage of those who make annual gifts.

Not eligible are: 

• Food banks, food distribution programs, or school gardens that do not also engage in efforts to address the root causes of food inequity and advance community-led solutions to provide people with better long-term access to nutritious food, as detailed above.

• Fundraising events and galas.

• Endowment campaigns.  

Review Criteria

The most important considerations in assessing requests are: 

• Does the organization have a proven history of developing structures that give people better long-term access to nutritious, healthy food by increasing availability, affordability, and/or awareness?

• What are the organization’s programmatic plans for the upcoming year, and how effectively are they likely to accomplish the initiative's main goals listed above?

• Does the organization engage and empower people from disinvested and low-income communities?

• Is there strong evidence of Board and community support for the organization? Specifically, what percentage of Board members made financial contributions, and what other income was raised or generated within the last year?

• Does the organization use its resources efficiently and well, seeking to collaborate and share resources when appropriate?

• What are the financial needs of the organization?

Application Procedures

A streamlined application process has been designed to minimize the administrative burden of fundraising on resource-stretched community-based organizations. Select organizations will be invited to send a brief Letter of Inquiry that provides standard information about the organization and its Food Justice programs. A limited number of full proposals will then be invited to ensure a close alignment between the number of applications and available funding.

Letter of Inquiry Procedures

Invited organizations that meet the eligibility criteria above may email a short Letter of Inquiry by June 1, 2026, to [email protected] with the subject line “Food Justice LOI.”  This grant program is not open to unsolicited Letters of Inquiry.

The communication should provide a brief description of the organization, its key programs, and its food justice initiatives. Please include information about the organization’s annual budget size, the annual budget for food justice programs (if different), the location(s) of the programming, the estimated number of people served by the organization’s food justice programming each year, and how its impact is evaluated. Please also indicate the request amount (up to $20,000). 

Application Guidelines

Organizations whose Letters of Inquiry are approved will then be asked to provide the following in a full proposal:

• A brief description of the organization that provides its mission and history, a short summary of its programs, and the communities it serves (including any readily available demographic information).

• A proposal narrative that provides a description of the organization’s food justice programming plans for the year ahead, focusing on activities between November 15, 2026, and October 15, 2027, and a listing of key goals, the estimated number of people served by the organization’s food justice programs, and a description of how impact will be tracked or demonstrated. Requests for special projects or capacity-building initiatives should provide the same information.

• The organization’s budget for the current fiscal year, with itemized income and expenses.

• A financial statement or audit for the organization’s last completed fiscal year, with itemized income and expenses.

• A list of confirmed and pending funders for the year.

• A list of the organization's Board of Directors with their affiliations and the percentage of Board members who made a financial contribution within the last year.

• Non-food justice specific organizations: A program budget for the organization’s food justice programming, with itemized income and expenses. A project budget is also required for special-project and capacity-building requests.

Timeline

The Foundation will notify prospective applicants by June 30 if a full proposal is invited. The deadline for submitting a full grant proposal is August 15, 2026. Decisions will be announced in November 2026.