Launched The Visionary Freedom Fund
Moved Money to the Field:
Covid 19 grants & Flexible Self-Care Fund: $625K moved to the field to respond to Covid-19 rapid response needs including but not limited to: supporting mutual aid, mental health and wellness support, direct service and distribution of food and supplies, etc.
Increased grantmaking dollar commitment to the field through an additional Surdna-approved increased spend allocation of $800K to AFF for FY 21.
General grants out the door: AFF granted $2,137,842 to 57 movement partners.
Combined, we moved an additional $1.4 million to our grantee partners.
Programming
Advanced Trust-Based Philanthropic Practices
Began to transform the grantmaking application and reporting process.
Waived reports, accepted repurposed grant applications and took updates over phone.
Fostered Deeper Relationships with and between Movement Partners through Virtual Convenings:
Hosted 3 movement partner check-ins/listening sessions, holding space for each other, sharing updates, strategies, challenges, mutual aid and solidarity.
Offered Capacity-Building and Technical Assistance Supports Through our S.O.A.R Program:
2 healing justice workshops led by Universal Partnership
12 weeks of narrative change support led by ReFrame
9 months of digital organizing training led by Social Movement Technologies
Launched Movement Partner Advisory Council (MPAC)
Comprised of 12 AFF grantee organizational leaders, to enhance our accountability to movements and create structures that ensure we’re community driven.
Hosted EASJ Virtual Plenaries for 100+ Organizations:
Road To Abolition
The Webinar brought together 62 grantee partner leaders for a transformative, cross-sectoral conversation between Youth Justice and Child Welfare leaders about what’s possible when we elevate abolitionist frames to imagine what lies on the other side of a carceral state.
The Mississippi Roots of Education Justice
The webinar made visible how the rich history of struggle, resistance, and organizing in Mississippi has shaped--and continues to influence--national and international movements for justice.
Launched AFF Community Bulletin Board
Collective Care, Collaboration & Community
A virtual meeting place for AFF grantee partners to list needs, share resources, and offer mutual support during COVID-19 and beyond. Comments from the Bulletin Board helped our fund figure out how to best support grantees during this time. We also shared broad level findings with other funders to help promote alignment and ease for grantee partners.
Board Action and Leadership:
C’Ardiss “CC” Gardner Gleser is the first community member to serve as Chair of the AFF Board, and continues to make visible the influential leadership of Black women in social justice philanthropy.
Wrote an open letter to foundation trustees: 5 Things You Can Do Right Now for Racial Justice. Letter was also featured on the National Center for Family Philanthropy’s website.
Hosted a joint learning session with trustees from Butler, Tow and other foundations around how to show up for racial justice movements.
Fundraised for Movement For Black Lives.
Organized board members to learn about anti-racism in a book club.
Advocated for trust-based philanthropy, shifting power and anti-racist grantmaking practices through our Out Of The Margins podcast.
AFF Staffed Up!
Hired Nyoka Acevedo as program officer.
Hired Zaira Cedano as program associate.
Important Movement Partner Wins:
Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights: Raise the Age Louisiana went into full effect as of July 1, 2020. All 17-year-olds arrested in Louisiana will remain in the juvenile justice system rather than being automatically prosecuted and incarcerated as adults.
National Immigration Law Center and Make the Road NY: Reinstatement of DACA.
Equal Justice USA: Newark, NJ redirected police funds to establish a city-wide anti-violence office.
Communities United for Police Reform: Passed STAT Act, which allows for greater transparency and accountability related to police misconduct.
Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth: Virginia bans Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP).
Youth Engagement Fund: Supported civic engagement organizations in swing states that turned blue such as Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan.
Center for Teen Empowerment: Rochester, NY moves to end public contract with school after a long battle.
Puente Human Rights Movement: Cops Outta Campus Campaign successfully removed school resource officers from campuses in Phoenix, AZ.
Youth First Initiative: Early release of youth from prisons due to COVID-19.
Movement For Black Lives and Representative Ayanna Pressley introduced The Breathe Act, a broad federal legislative act.
26 million people across all 50 states, including many of our partner organizations, protested for weeks in support of a call for a racial reckoning.
Released "Divest. Invest. Dream. Manifest." : The Four Pillars advancing narratives of justice.
Highlighting grantee partner work as well as trustee and foundation organizing.
Out of the Margins Podcast
Out Of The Margins podcast achieved 2,500 downloads and 25 episodes, lifting up the narratives and voices of our partners.
Social Engagement
An analytics snapshot of Andrus Family Fund's social channels.
AFF's Facebook page data shows spikes in engagement during January, March, July-Aug, October and December. These steady spikes in engagement represent a consistent posting schedule and audience growth led by branded and shared content. Engagement on all channels have seen a steady increase over the past year.
The top performing Facebook posts of 2020 were the "Youth Lead the Way for Youth Justice" podcast promotional textgram and the Facebook post highlighting the statement Manuela co-authored on the Black Lives Matter movement. The BLM statement post also performed well on Twitter garnering 1600 impressions. AFF's Visionary Freedom Fund Twitter post had more impressions than any other post. AFF's new board leadership announcement featuring CC performed the best on Instagram.