Investment Strategy
In 2016, the Grove Foundation decided to align all of its assets with its mission to ensure that all people have access to resources, respect and a sense of belonging, and the opportunity to live and contribute fully as themselves. We began the process by rewriting the investment policy statement and then transitioning approximately $150 million from more traditional investments to mission-aligned investments.
Black Led Power Building
In early 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Grove Board member Eva Grove made an additional financial contribution to the Foundation. The board and staff decided to allot an equal amount for each program area, and the remaining amount would be used for flexible or discretionary funding. Grove staff decided to reallocate the foundation-flexible money specifically to Black-led organizations working on power building, and civic engagement, or that focused on ending state violence.
Racial Equity & Shared Leadership
The Grove Foundation’s staff and board thought about our racial equity approach for a few years before embarking on a formal learning and implementation journey in 2016. There was already an organizational commitment to racial justice, particularly at the program officer level, before it became an institutional priority. We concentrated internally on creating a distributed leadership model honoring our commitment to racial justice.
Trust-Based Philanthropy
The Grove Foundation’s trust-based philanthropy model was ignited by our racial equity lens and core belief that the people most impacted by oppression and injustice – those living at the intersection of racism, sexism, transphobia, disability, xenophobia, and classism, to name a few – should be resourced so that they can design, implement, and sustain solutions. We believe that true, trust-based collaboration is essential among nonprofits and funders.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Black Led Power Building:
- Oakland’s Black Organizing Project who were doing specific work around getting law enforcement of schools.
- The Power Coalition For Equity & Justice in Louisiana, a state coordinating table for 501c3 and 501c4 focused on voter engagement. They also provided relief dollars after Hurricane Ida hit in 2021.
- After the Jackson Water Crisis in Mississippi, Grove committed rapid response funding to People’s Advocacy Institute to get folks essentials like water and diapers.
Investment Strategy – Carveout Investments:
- Rainmakers Fund (indigenous-focused) at RCAC
- Navajo Power
- Reproductive health company (confidential)
- EcoTrust Forest Management
- Mission Driven Finance – Freedom 100 Fund
- California Rebuilding Fund
- SOAR Fund
- Grid Alternatives
- IRC CEO – loan fund
- The People’s Land Fund
- Working Power Impact Fund
- Adasina Fiscal Justice Strategy
- Bloomlife
- Cooperative Energy Futures
- NexLegacy
- Solar Holler
- Pigeonly