Advancing justice, liberation, and climate action

Our approach:

The Manzanita Foundation is committed to supporting grassroots movements across the Bay Area (and beyond) in advancing justice, liberation, climate action, and abundance for all. We are excited to invest in organizations led by folks who have been most impacted by the systems that they’re solving for and who are deeply rooted in the communities in which they’re working. We believe that they are the best equipped to craft informed, holistic, and intersectional solutions and to implement them in an effective, just, and accountable way. This means that we direct the majority of our resources towards low-income communities of color who are building grassroots power.

We are humbled to be partnered with phenomenal organizations who are accelerating the overlapping and intertwined movements of climate justice, racial justice, trans liberation, gender equality, workers rights, disability justice, immigrant rights, environmental justice, economic justice, Indigenous sovereignty, food sovereignty, youth empowerment, and more.    

Photo of parent holding baby under sign that reads "Rammay West Garden." The back of their t-shirt reads "Rematriate the Land"
Photo of attendees of a Movement Generation justice and ecology retreat gathered in a verdant field
Climate protesters hold up signs such as "End climate chaos," "People vs. Fossil Fuels," and "Justicia"

  • "The problems are connected so the solutions have to be connected."

    -Taj James

  • "Money is like water; it's a precious, life-giving resource. If we use it for sacred, life-giving, restorative purposes, it can be medicine."

    -Edgar Villanueva

  • "How we do this work matters. We won't get to a different destination working the same way."

    -Vanessa Daniel

  • "I believe that structural change in the arena of philanthropy is an act of love."

    -Kat Taylor

Giving Boldly

Our giving strategy is centered on trust. Our ethos is to put resources in the hands of the people and then try to let go. We work hard to minimize red tape and paperwork. Given the relatively modest size of our endowment, we strive to provide significant support to our grantee partners over time by prioritizing long-term partnerships with multi-year, unrestricted funding. The bulk of our grants are between $20,000 and $30,000 per year, though we’ve made several smaller grants and a few larger grants, and we generally favor smaller organizations who will meaningful benefit from grants of this size.

We are always working towards giving more boldly and being unafraid to do things a little unconventionally if it means allowing resources to flow in a way that is less constrained for our grantee partners. We look to the following frameworks for guidance and inspiration amidst our continous evolution:

  • The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, an effort spearheaded by The Whitman Institute, has been instrumental in informing our trust-based approach to grantmaking. Learn more here.

  • Just Transition is a powerful, unifying set of principles, processes, and practices developed by Movement Generation with Climate Justice Alliance. It helps to inform how we invest and divest, build relationships, and strive to move through the world. Learn more here.

  • The Solidarity Philanthropy framework, developed through the insights from Massachusetts Solidarity Economy Initiative, urges us to constantly reflect upon the guideposts of Reparations, Democracy, and Power, as well as consider how we might help build a world beyond philanthropy. Learn more here.

  • The Resonance Framework, developed by Justice Funders and The Resonance Collaborative, has provided invaluable guidance in challenging our mindsets and practices across operations to be less extractive and more regenerative. Learn more here.

  • The Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, a set of principles created in 1996 during a meeting hosted by the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, provides important reminders for moving in right relationship. Learn more here.

Grantee Partner Spotlights

  • Mayor London Breed and The Transgender District leaders hold up announcement for pilot program

    The Transgender District

    recently launched a first-of-its-kind Guaranteed Income for Transgender People pilot program in partnership with the city of San Francisco

  • Photo of drawings made by children in Youth Vs. Apocalypse's Science in the Park program

    Youth Vs. Apocalypse

    has recently expanded its student clubs, which empower young people to organize and advocate for climate justice, to over 20 Bay Area schools

  • Photo of a protester holding up a hand-drawn sign that reads "Wilmington for Just Transition"

    Communities for a Better Environment

    was instrumental in the Los Angeles City Council’s groundbreaking vote to ban new oil wells within the city and to phase out all current oil wells within 20 years or less

  • Shelterwood Collective members dressed in hard hats and orange pants hold an electric chainsaw

    Shelterwood Collective

    has begun stewarding 900 acres of forest and prairie above the Russian River on Southern Pomo and Kashia lands. They also hosted their first cohort of QTBIPOC fellows this past summer

  • Girls Garage Advanced Design/Build team members sit on the ledge of the bus stop that they designed and constructed

    Girls Garage

    brought their Advanced Design/Build team to Vermont to design and build an epic, Little Free Library-inspired bus stop for the state’s public transit system

Please note that our grantmaking program is currently invitation-only. We don’t have the capacity to accept or respond to unsolicited funding inquiries at this time.