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Proteus Fund Inc.

Amherst, Massachusetts

Grants

2024 (1 year)
$250,000

Disability Culture Lab

The Disability Culture Lab (DCL), housed at the Proteus Fund, is a new nonprofit media lab for the disability community. Its mission is to shift the narrative on disability and ableism in the United States from fear and pity to solidarity and liberation. Launched in the spring of 2024, DCL serves as a communications training facility and community hub for the disability justice movement. Through strategic communications trainings, leadership development, and culture-driven projects, DCL will equip the next generation of Disabled leaders to shift narratives about disability and ableism and change the politics of what is possible for Disabled people. This flexible support grant enables DCL to hire staff and launch programming in 2024, which includes standing up an in-house communications firm for the disability community, focused on north star narrative work, messaging, and media training.

2024 (5 years)
$250,000

Disability & Philanthropy Forum

Proteus Fund, founded in 1994 and based in Amherst, MA, connects philanthropy to the frontlines of social justice to advance racial, gender, queer, and disability justice, as well as an inclusive, fully representative democracy. The Disability & Philanthropy Forum, a fiscally sponsored project of Proteus Fund, is a philanthropic network seeking to dismantle ableism by increasing funding for disability inclusion, rights, and justice; amplifying the leadership of disabled people in the philanthropic sector; and educating philanthropy to build a culture of inclusion. This grant provides flexible support to the Disability & Philanthropy Forum for its core activities.

2022 (2 years)
$425,000

ReFrame

Reframe, housed at the Proteus Fund, equips individuals, organizations and networks with the acumen, skills, and strategic insights they need to advance narratives that support the conditions for racial, gender, and economic justice. It conducts research to understand and identify emerging narratives across society in real time. It also offers trainings in the use of narrative strategy to build power in local communities and mentorship opportunities for organizations and networks to integrate the use of narrative strategy into all they do. This grant provides flexible support to ReFrame to help scale its offerings to individuals and organizations across the country, including community-based groups working to combat racialized disinformation and conspiracy. ReFrame’s goal is to help align the social justice sector around stories that reinforce narratives to shift the terrain towards a more equitable society and a healthier democracy.

2022 (2 years)
$210,000

Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion Collaborative

Located in Amherst, Massachusetts, the Proteus Fund is a full-service philanthropy organization that partners with foundations, advocates, and individual donors to advance democracy, human rights, and peace. The Proteus Fund is the fiscal sponsor of the Transparency and Accountability Initiative (TAI), which is a collaborative of leading donors of global transparency, accountability, and participation programming. Transparency and Accountability Initiative is committed to building a more just, equitable, and inclusive society where citizens are informed and empowered; governments are open and responsive; and peoples' engagement with government advances the public good. TAI is helping donor members to improve grantmaking practices and strengthen their learning and collaboration.

2020 (2 years 4 months)
$300,000

Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion Collaborative

Located in Amherst, Massachusetts, the Proteus Fund is a full-service philanthropy organization that partners with foundations, advocates, and individual donors to advance democracy, human rights, and peace. The Proteus Fund is the fiscal sponsor of the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, which is a collaborative of leading donors of global transparency, accountability, and participation programming. The Transparency and Accountability Initiative is helping donor members to improve grantmaking practices and strengthening their learning and collaboration.

2018 (2 years 2 months)
$300,000

Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion Collaborative

Located in Amherst, MA, the Proteus Fund is a full-service philanthropy organization that partners with foundations, advocates, and individual donors to advance democracy, human rights, and peace. The Proteus Fund is the fiscal sponsor of the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, which is a collaborative of leading donors of global transparency, accountability, and participation programming. The Transparency and Accountability Initiative is helping donor members improve grantmaking practice and boost collective impact by promoting learning for improved grantmaking, enhancing data use for accountability, promoting more equitable taxation and tax governance, and strengthening civic space.

2016 (2 years)
$150,000

The International Human Rights Funders Group is a global network of donors and grantmakers committed to advancing human rights around the world through effective philanthropy. This award supports the organization’s general operations as it works to strengthen the impact and strategic effectiveness of human rights grantmaking.

2014 (2 years)
$200,000

The Democracy Initiative is a project of the Proteus Fund that was founded in 2012 by four large membership organizations - the Sierra Club, NAACP, Greenpeace, and Communications Workers of America - to establish a structure through which organizations addressing diverse issues including the environment, workers’ rights, and civil rights, can better engage their members on democracy reform issues in order to advance their primary goals. Through communications, research, and convenings, the Democracy Initiative helps its member organizations educate and engage their own memberships in money in politics and voting rights issues. The Democracy Initiative includes nearly 50 organizations representing a combined 30 million Americans.

2013 (3 years)
$225,000

The International Human Rights Funders Group (IHRFG), a project of the Proteus Fund, is a global network of donors and grantmakers committed to advancing human rights around the world through effective philanthropy. Its overarching goal is to assist funders in strengthening the strategic impact and effectiveness of their human rights grantmaking, serving as a “hub” through which funders share grantmaking strategies, avoid duplication, leverage funds for the field, and collaborate on key issues. MacArthur funds will allow IHRFG to enhance its range of educational and field-building programming, as well as embark on new areas of research.

2011 (3 years)
$150,000

To support the International Human Rights Funders Group (over three years).