Bread & Roses Community Fund supports organizations pursuing social justice through activism and community organizing. They prioritize sustainable social change, addressing root causes of systemic issues, changing oppressive systems, and empowering communities for collective action. Leadership from affected communities is key, focusing on projects beyond social service or educational models, aiming for significant impacts at various levels.
Bread & Roses makes grants to organizations that employ community organizing to effect sustainable social change, specifically focusing on activities that lead to changes in policies or practices at the institutional or systems level. Community organizing activities supported include civil disobedience, mass protest, mobilizing community members to voice concerns or pressure officials, and providing spaces for political education. Their Opportunity Fund grants aim for special projects or emergencies outside of an organization’s regular activities, like demonstrations, coalition efforts, and forums, emphasizing a focus on organizing and activism with a clear understanding of the issues' root causes, a collective action strategy with concrete outcomes, a vision for systemic change, and leadership from affected communities.