Learn more about the past and current projects and organizations that have received Sparkplug grants.
| Grant Cycle | Project or Organization | Summary | Amount | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Fall | Unity Circles | Unity Circles (UC) is building a Transformative Justice (TJ) Hub within Boston working towards the abolition of carceral systems. A new network of individuals and communities that center healing and transformation over punishment and crime, striving to build skills in order to replace cycles of violence with cycles of healing. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Maritsa | Funding supports the creation and launch of new work by Bulgarian-American musical artist Maritsa. Maritsa explores questions of belonging, inner transformation, combining intelligence and love, and making a difference through individual authenticity. Her vision is to artistically embody new perspectives of wisdom, drawing from the wisdom of her culture. | $11,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | National Students for Justice in Palestine | National Students for Justice in Palestine has prepared materials and refined internal structures to launch a new initiative: National Network. This will restructure the student movement to include a representative decision-making body, regional and national communication networks, and shared resources, unifying SJPs across North America for the first time. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Sol Underground | #SolutionsNotSweepsATL is a push for Atlanta to adopt a Housing First model to end the housing crisis, end the criminalization of poverty and support its poor, working class, and unhoused citizens and meet our first demand, housing justice. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project | Voz’s leadership school aims to deepen the pool of immigrant leadership in Oregon. Participants will learn how the political process works, key organizing skills like canvassing and actions, and leadership development. These new leaders will play key roles in the development of new advocacy efforts like enforcing workplace rights. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Calypsus Brass, inc. | Calypsus will commission, record, and perform works by emerging composers from diverse backgrounds. Our aim is to encourage equitable representation in chamber music by commissioning, recording, and promoting these new works. | $12,421 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions | Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions works to end incineration and transition Westchester County, NY to zero waste. The county’s largest industrial air polluter is the aging Wheelabrator trash incinerator located in the predominantly Latinx and Black City of Peekskill, where they burn the county’s trash in this environmental justice community. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | First State Abortion Fund | In a post-Roe America, barriers to abortion access have increased. On top of new restrictions are existing barriers like an unsafe home, caring for additional children, and above all else - affordability. The First State Abortion Fund serves as a resource for abortion seekers previously depending on neighboring state funds. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Camden for Clean Air | We aim to close down the #1 air polluter in all of Camden City and County: the Covanta trash incinerator, which contributes to the health disparities we face in our environmental justice community. We’re organizing our city and municipalities throughout the county to steer trash away from the incinerator. | $15,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Urbe Apie, Inc. | Urbe Apie, Inc. is a BIPOC, low-income community organization in Puerto Rico working on the permanence of our community. We will use the funding to decide on an affordable housing and community ownership model, prepare outreach and presentation materials and create a solidarity and support network. | $20,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Kokua Na Aina (help the land) | Hawaii faces ongoing threats of incineration schemes (burning our trees, trash, sewage sludge, and recyclables) all in the name of "renewable" energy, as well as new plans to turn wastes into aviation fuel with toxic, polluting technologies. We’re working to stop these threats and promote clean energy and zero waste. | $15,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Reality Speaking Inc. DBA Reuniting Family Bail Fund | The Reuniting Family Bail Fund supports families who are fighting criminal cases. Through courtwatching, weekly meetings and case strategy, families are getting the best outcomes for their loved ones. Purely Speculation is a live biweekly broadcast hosted by directly impacted people telling their stories of triumph and trauma. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Poder Casas Móviles–a project of the Tucson Alliance for Housing Justice | Poder Casas Móviles–a project of the Tucson Alliance for Housing Justice–builds the power of Mobile Home Park resident leaders to defend their rights and to advocate for systemic change. We provide political education training, base building support, legal services training, and facilitation to support resident-led campaigns. | $15,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Chainless Change, Inc. (CCI) | Chainless Change will strengthen our CAMP organizing program through trainings for our team and organizers, most of whom are BIPOC. With a seasoned trainer, we will host workshops on campaign planning, tactics, power mapping, recruitment, communications, and security culture. We will also contract technical support to develop campaign infrastructure. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees | HWHR seeks support for research and organizing efforts to support advocacy to counter the fact that recently arrived Haitian refugees are put in a cruel and heartbreaking position: entering the country with no pathway to work-authorization and significantly restricted access to other resources forcing them to accept informal unprotected . | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Return Strong! | In the upcoming year, Return Strong will use a grassroots organizing model centered on “Envisioning a New Normal” based on the core belief that prison does not need to be dehumanizing as we build an expectation of restorative rehabilitation that is healthy, effective and focused on holistic wellness. | $12,500 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Saginaw Community Alliance for the People | Saginaw CAP is building capacity to complete several projects and serve the city of Saginaw through public advocacy, education, and empowering residents through civic engagement. Our main project- the United Power Training School- will develop and implement a curriculum to turn concerned citizens into powerful community advocates. | $15,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Equality for Flatbush | Alternatives to Calling 911 is a project by Equality for Flatbush (E4F) that is reducing contact, and therefore violent confrontations, between cops and BIPOC people in central Brooklyn and across the borough. E4F will build this project’s capacity by hiring a director, training responders, and designing a dispatch system. | $15,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Palestine Writes Literature Festival | Support for the second Palestine Writes Literature Festival, the only literature festival in North America dedicated to celebrating Palestinian literature and other cultural productions. | $10,000 | Website |
| 2022 Fall | Far From Home Intiative | Our goal is to build a coalition of diverse people who use their voices and lived expertise to raise awareness of the collateral consequences and discrimination that public housing authorities (PHAs) have on communities of color. Far From Home (FFH) has taken significant steps since releasing the FFH report earlier | $15,000 | Website |