The ACLU of Alabama was one of two Alabama-based organizations receiving funds from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving challenge this week. Scott awarded the ACLU of Alabama $2 million.
The ACLU of Alabama will utilize this gift to support its core priority areas, including Voting Rights, Gender Justice, and Criminal Legal Reform. The funding will allow the ACLU to continue to invest in grassroots organizations and initiatives that represent the power of our communities across Alabama.
“This gift is a testament to the importance of investing in the Deep South,” said JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, the ACLU of Alabama’s Executive Director. This year’s legislative session, which has so far banned diversity education and training, criminalized absentee voting assistance, and is questioning transgender individuals right to exist, demonstrates why organizations like the ACLU of Alabama need to speak up, show up, and push back against lawmakers’ worst inclinations. We are grateful for the support from Ms. Scott and the validation from our peers that our collective vision, strategy, and focus is needed.”
In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources. The Open Call received 6,353 applications and initially planned for 250 awards of $1 million each. In the Fall of 2023, organizations top-rated by their peers advanced to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel recruited for experience relevant to this cause, and underwent a final round of due diligence. In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount.
"We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations," said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. "In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.”
More information on the Yield Giving Open Call and other initiatives can be found at www.leverforchange.org.