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ZSR Announces $19.2 Million in Funding to Organizations Working for Systemic Change in NC

During the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s (ZSR’s) November 2024 board meeting, ZSR’s Board of Trustees awarded 108 grants totaling $19.2 million to organizations working toward state-level systemic change in North Carolina.

The grants, most of which started on January 1, 2025, were awarded under ZSR’s State-Level Systemic Change strategy. They support nonprofit organizations working to change policies, power structures and other root causes of challenges so that all North Carolinians can lead fulfilling lives.

Our grant partners are working for meaningful and lasting progress within and across four issue areas:

  • Advancing Public Education
  • Fostering a Healthy and Sustainable Environment
  • Promoting Social and Economic Justice
  • Strengthening Democracy

Of the 108 grants awarded, 84 (78%) are for general operating support, and 78 (72%) are for multiple years.

Below is a list of the organizations awarded funding. To see all of ZSR’s current grant partners, explore our interactive map and database.

  • Action4Equity: For general operating support
  • Appalachian Community Capital Development Foundation: For the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Rural Investment Collaborative
  • Appalachian Voices: For general operating support
  • Asheville Greenworks: For general operating support
  • Beloved Community Center of Greensboro: For general operating support
  • Canary Media: For energy and climate reporting in North Carolina
  • Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition: For the Immigration Impact Lab
  • Carolina Beacon: For the North Carolina Collaborative Journalism Fellowship
  • Carolina Common Enterprise: For general operating support
  • Carolina Migrant Network: For general operating support
  • Casa Azul De Wilson: For general operating support
  • Center for Energy Education: For general operating support
  • Center for Progressive Reform: For the “Pursuing Equity and Justice in Response to Climate Change across NC” project
  • Center for Racial Equity in Education: For general operating support
  • Central Carolina Regional Education Service Alliance: For the North Carolina Principals of the Year Network
  • Children First CIS of Buncombe County: For the Western North Carolina Early Childhood Coalition
  • Clean Water for NC: For general operating support
  • Common Cause Education Fund: For general operating support of its North Carolina programs
  • Communities in Partnership: For general operating support
  • Community Civil Activist: For general operating support
  • Conservation Fund: For the Resourceful Communities project
  • Conservation Trust for NC: For general operating support
  • Conservatives for Criminal Justice Reform: For general operating support
  • Council for Children’s Rights: For general operating support
  • Croatan Institute: For the “Soil Wealth Areas: A Place-based Model to Catalyze Capital for Systemic Change across North Carolina Communities and Landscapes” project
  • Democracy NC: For general operating support
  • Disability Rights NC: For general operating support
  • Dogwood Alliance: For general operating support
  • Down East Partnership for Children: For general operating support
  • Duke University: For Duke Law Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility’s Inclusive Juries Project
  • Education Justice Alliance: For the Every Child North Carolina Coalition project
  • EducationNC: For general operating support
  • El Centro Hispano: For El Colectivo North Carolina
  • El Centro Hispano: For general operating support
  • El Pueblo: For general operating support
  • Elizabeth City State University Foundation: For HBCU Give Back
  • Emancipate NC: For general operating support
  • Enlace Latino NC: For general operating support
  • Environmental Defense Fund: For general operating support of its North Carolina programs
  • Equality NC Foundation: For general operating support
  • Equity Before Birth: For general operating support
  • Good Stewards of Rockingham: For general operating support
  • Hispanic Federation: For general operating support of its North Carolina programs
  • Hispanic Liaison of Chatham County: For general operating support
  • Industrial Commons: For the “Supporting Rural North Carolina Communities through Cooperative Development” project
  • Innovation Project: For general operating support
  • Just Economics: For general operating support
  • Lighthouse Environment Partners: For general operating support
  • Lillian’s List Foundation: For general operating support
  • Lotus Campaign: For general operating support
  • MomsRising Education Fund: For general operating support of its North Carolina programs
  • Mountain BizCapital: For general operating support
  • Mt. Calvary Leadership Development Corporation: For general operating support
  • NC Asian Americans Together: For general operating support
  • NC Budget & Tax Center: For general operating support
  • NC Center for Nonprofit Organizations: For general operating support
  • NC Central University: For the Social Justice and Racial Equity Institute’s Poverty Research Project
  • NC Child: For general operating support
  • NC Climate Solutions Coalition: For general operating support
  • NC Coalition Against Domestic Violence: For general operating support
  • NC Coalition to End Homelessness: For general operating support
  • NC Coastal Federation: For general operating support
  • NC Conservation Network: For general operating support
  • NC Council of Churches: For general operating support
  • NC Early Childhood Foundation: For general operating support
  • NC Equal Access to Justice Foundation: For general operating support
  • NC Health News: For general operating support
  • NC Housing Coalition: For general operating support
  • NC Justice Center: For general operating support
  • NC Prisoner Legal Services: For general operating support
  • NC Sustainable Energy Association: For general operating support
  • Neighborhood Funders Group: For LIFT Fund’s Southern Workers Opportunity Fund
  • North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Education Fund: For general operating support
  • OurBRIDGE: For general operating support
  • Piedmont Business Capital: For general operating support
  • Pisgah Legal Services: For general operating support
  • Planned Parenthood South Atlantic: For general operating support
  • Pro-Choice NC Foundation: For general operating support
  • Prospera NC LLC: For the “Latino Entrepreneurship Support in North Carolina” project
  • Public School Forum of NC: For the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity & Opportunity’s “Equity Framework for Change” project
  • Public School Forum of NC: For general operating support
  • ROC USA, LLC: For general operating support of its North Carolina programs
  • RREPS: For general operating support
  • Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA: For general operating support
  • Rural Opportunity Institute: For general operating support
  • SD Foundation: For general operating support of its North Carolina programs
  • Southeastern Wind Coalition: For general operating support
  • Southern Alliance for Clean Energy: For the “Advancing Equitable Access to Electric Vehicles, Infrastructure, and Jobs in Underserved Communities in Raleigh” project
  • Southern Coalition for Social Justice: For general operating support
  • Southern Environmental Law Center: For general operating support of its North Carolina programs
  • Southern Vision Alliance: For the “It’s Our Future” project
  • Southern Vision Alliance: For general operating support
  • Student Action with Farmworkers: For general operating support
  • Sustain Charlotte: For general operating support
  • Toxic Free NC: For general operating support
  • Triad Restorative Justice: For the “Phase 2: Restoring Youth Coalition of North Carolina” project
  • Triangle Land Conservancy: For the Good Ground Initiative
  • Tyrrell County Community Development Corporation: For general operating support
  • UNC-Chapel Hill: For general operating support of the School of Government’s “Lead for North Carolina” project
  • UNC-Chapel Hill: For the Gillings School of Public Health/Environmental Sciences and Engineering’s Environmental Justice Action Research Clinic’s “Establishing a Culture of EJ” project
  • UNC-Chapel Hill: For general operating support of the Carolina College Advising Corps
  • UNC-Chapel Hill: For general operating support of Carolina Across 100
  • Village of Wisdom: For general operating support
  • WEBB Squared: For general operating support
  • WeBuild Concord: For the North Carolina Community Land Trust Coalition
  • Working Landscapes: For general operating support
  • You Can Vote: For general operating support