NoVo Creates $20 Million Social-Justice Fund to Fight Trump-Inspired Threats

Fulfilling its post-inauguration pledge to aid “communities under attack,” the NoVo Foundation, founded by Jennifer and Peter Buffett, announced Wednesday it will commit $20 million over four years to support social-justice work around the world.

The money will be granted through the Radical Hope Fund to programs that have feminist leaders as well as to those that seek to build movements that involve people around the world or that deal with multiple concerns. In addition, the fund will award money to programs that use media or the arts to promote social justice. Letters of inquiry will be accepted through October 4.

Novo was created by the son and daughter-in-law of billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett and had $527 million in assets in 2014.

Before President Trump’s inauguration in January, NoVo Foundation leaders wrote an opinion article published by The Chronicle arguing that “philanthropic institutions have a special opportunity — and a responsibility — to lead with courage” and calling on grant makers to support advocacy, activism, and organizing aimed at advancing equity and human rights, especially for the most marginalized people in society: women, minorities, and immigrants.

‘Long-term Transformation’

Other foundations have also made commitments in the wake of the presidential election: The Open Society Foundations dedicated $10 million to protect “those targeted by hateful acts” and government policies; the California Wellness Foundation shifted its $35 million budget to promote access to health care, help immigrants, defend the social safety net, and prevent violence and hate crimes; and the Rockefeller Foundation gave $500,000 each to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Anti-Defamation League, and the International Rescue Committee.

Meanwhile, other foundations have pledged to increase the amount they give because of concerns about cuts in government spending and policy threats nonprofits face under the Trump administration, including Packard and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

NoVo leaders said they intend the Radical Hope Fund to complement rapid-response efforts by supporting “proactive, forward-looking work focused on long-term transformation.” They said they would look for efforts that take risks, make leadership of women and girls of color a priority, reject nationalism, or make social-justice work more sustainable.

This is not the first big announcement from the NoVo Foundation this year. In April, the foundation announced that it would spend a previous $90 million commitment to help women and girls of color through community-led programs that target sexual violence and racism and help activists build solidarity.