What Black Lives Matter does

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) is a private, US-headquartered nonprofit foundation founded in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi as the primary institutional vehicle for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The organization operates an abolitionist-centered model that funnels donations from individual supporters into grants and programs for Black-led organizations and Black communities, organized around six program pillars: Arts, Culture, Frontline Organizing, Healing Justice, Policy, and Research & Education. It is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, with a reported headcount of 1-10, and currently governed by a board chaired by Cicley Gay with D'Zhane Parker as Senior Director and Board Member.

The foundation's programmatic surface includes the Community Grants Program (over $40M to 70+ organizations since 2020, plus $12.54M to BLM chapters), the Student Solidarity Fund (microgrants of $1,000 to ~3,000 individuals and a $500,000 second phase for 500+ HBCU students), the What Matters podcast, the Black Play Matters initiative launched in July 2025, the Elaine Brown / Black Panther Building Initiative ($1M partnership in West Oakland), and a Transparency Center publishing IRS 990s. Revenue is generated through individual donations (which surged to $90M in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd) and merchandise sales via an official e-commerce store, with grants distributed on an invitation basis. Operating geographies span the United States with targeted international initiatives in Ghana, Niger, Jamaica, and the broader global Black diaspora.

The foundation has navigated significant governance turbulence since 2020, including the November 2025 board transition that ended Shalomyah Bowers' tenure, a voluntarily dismissed 2024 lawsuit against the Tides Foundation, an outstanding former board member lawsuit, and an April 2026 decision to divest the property acquired in 2020 as a stated step toward restorative justice. While brand recognition remains a defining asset, the organization is in a post-peak phase marked by retrenchment, governance reset, and reorientation of capital deployment rather than the mass-mobilization growth of 2020.

Name

Black Lives Matter

Legal name

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation

Website

https://blacklivesmatter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is a US-based nonprofit foundation that funds Black-led organizations advancing racial justice through grantmaking, microgrants, policy advocacy, and community programs across six pillars including arts, healing justice, and frontline organizing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Justice Nonprofit Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Global Health Advocacy, Policy & Rights Organizations (HLAJAKAO)

Keywords

• Social justice foundation
• Community grantmaking programs
• Racial equity advocacy
• Abolitionist movement organizing
• Policy reform campaigns

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: BLM Foundation receives donations from individual supporters, particularly surging after high-profile incidents of police violence (e.g., George Floyd in 2020). The organization raised $90 million in 2020 alone.
2. Merchandise Sales: Official Black Lives Matter merchandise store sells branded items including apparel, accessories, and home goods. All proceeds/profit from sales go to supporting the organization's community work.
3. Grants to Partner Organizations: BLM Foundation distributes grants to Black-led organizations. Since 2020, has given over $40 million to 70 unique organizations, plus $1.5 million in individual microgrants and scholarships. Also granted $12.54 million to BLM chapters and affiliated organizations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) is a private nonprofit foundation that operates as the primary institutional vehicle for the Black Lives Matter movement. The foundation funds Black-led organizations through grantmaking, provides microgrants to individuals, produces multimedia content (including the What Matters Podcast), runs community initiatives (such as Black Play Matters), and conducts policy advocacy and community organizing around racial justice, police abolition, and Black empowerment.

Product overview

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation operates as an abolitionist-centered foundation that serves as the primary institutional vehicle for the Black Lives Matter movement. The organization offers a portfolio of programs including grantmaking (Community Grants Program, Student Solidarity Fund), content/podcast media (What Matters Podcast), community initiatives (Black Play Matters), advocacy toolkits, and transparency resources. The foundation functions through six organizational pillars: Policy, Healing Justice, Research & Education, Arts, Culture, and Frontline Organizing. Rather than a unified technology product, BLMGNF is a philanthropic organization that provides funding, programming, and resources to support Black communities and abolitionist movements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Black Play Matters: An initiative investing in safe spaces, enrichment, and imagination for Black people around the world to reclaim play as a powerful act of revolution and liberation.
• What Matters Podcast
• Student Solidarity Fund
• Survival Fund

Products and services

• Community Grants Program A grantmaking program supporting Black-led thinkers, leaders, creators, and organizations working for change across six pillars: Arts, Culture, Frontline Organizing, Healing Justice, Policy, and Research & Education. Has granted over $40 million to 70+ unique organizations since 2020.
• Student Solidarity Fund A microgrant program providing financial relief to Black students and alumni facing student debt. Phase 1 awarded $1,000 grants to nearly 3,000 Black people; Phase 2 awarded $500,000 to HBCU students with $750 microgrants.
• What Matters Podcast
• Black Play Matters A healing justice initiative that invests in safe spaces, enrichment, and imagination for Black people around the world to reclaim play as a powerful act of liberation. Includes research partnerships, the Black Athletes Matter Awards, and public policy advocacy for play equity.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $40 million distributed to 70+ Black-led organizations since 2020
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor, flagship and core.

• Ebony Beach ClubmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership for Juneteenth on the Pier celebration at Santa Monica Pier. The collaboration celebrates Black joy, freedom, and community reclamation. 100% of ticket proceeds are donated to Black Surfers Collective and Aquatic Futures Foundation. Ebony Beach Club was founded in 1957 as an exclusive Black social club during Jim Crow-era California.
• Black Surfers CollectivemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Beneficiary of Juneteenth on the Pier event proceeds. Organization creating equitable access to the ocean and providing healing justice through surf and environmental connection.
• Aquatic Futures FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Beneficiary of Juneteenth on the Pier event proceeds. Organization providing marine science education, career pathways, and healing justice to the Black community through ocean engagement.
• Get FreemajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership for the '250 Years' campaign ahead of America's 250th anniversary. Joint pledge for reparations, truth-telling, and freedom. Get Free Kickback events to mobilize communities around historic reckoning and Black liberation.
• NOBEL Women (National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025NOBEL Women officially endorsed the Black Play Matters initiative, declaring that joy, imagination, and play are fundamental human rights for Black communities.
• Free All MindsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Grantee partner in Black Play Matters initiative. Year-round leadership academy in Camden, NJ dedicated to guiding young men academically, professionally, and emotionally. Boasts 100% high school graduation rate with 96% advancing to college or trade school.
• AfrikicksmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in Niger and Ghana delivering humanitarian aid: 5,000+ pairs of shoes, 40,000 toys, $150,000 worth of clothes, and three water wells improving health and clean water access for over one million people in Africa.
• TUFF (Teaching Us Fitness and Fundamentals)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Grantee partner in Black Play Matters. Youth empowerment program in New York through mentorship in fitness and financial literacy, using sports to build leaders.
• Excite All StarsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025New Orleans-based youth development organization serving 6,500 families with over 50,000 hours of programming annually. Born from Hurricane Katrina recovery, providing leadership development in academics, arts, and athletics.
• GrassROOTS Community FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership supporting wellness initiatives in Jamaica, part of ongoing international community engagement efforts.
• Daughters BeyondminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner organization in New Orleans supported through community engagement initiatives.
• Southside Boys and Girls ClubminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in holiday giveback events delivering toys and assistance to children and families in need.
• Southern Queens Park AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in community engagement efforts in Queens, NY.
• House of DawnminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in holiday giveback events.
• Fab 5 FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in holiday giveback events.
• Oakland and the World EnterprisesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership with Elaine Brown's organization to fund The Black Panther building project in West Oakland. BLM presented $1 million to fund the affordable housing community and cooperative businesses for formerly incarcerated individuals. This represents a flagship initiative connecting BLM's abolitionist mission with economic empowerment.
• City Teaching AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Featured on What Matters podcast episode about reimagining education, discussing community-driven holistic education models.
• Anti Police-Terror ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Featured on What Matters podcast episode about community safety. Oakland-based coalition building models to eradicate police terror.
• STAR Program DenverminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Support Team Assisted Response program featured as alternative to traditional policing model on the What Matters podcast.
• UpTogether (formerly Family Independence Initiative)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnership for Student Survival Fund providing $500/month guaranteed income for 18 months to 30 previously incarcerated Black individuals in West Garfield Park, Chicago.
• HBCU Pa'lantemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Collaboration during LatinX Heritage Month to connect diverse African Diaspora youth to HBCUs, highlighting AfroLatinX contributions within the African Diaspora.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ACLU: Major civil liberties advocacy organization engaging in litigation, lobbying, and public education. Comparable in civil rights mission and donor mobilization scale, though more litigation-focused.
• Tides Foundation: Large progressive philanthropic intermediary providing fiscal sponsorship and grantmaking infrastructure. Comparable as a multi-tenant foundation platform, and BLMGNF previously had a financial relationship with Tides before their 2024 lawsuit.
• Ford Foundation: One of the largest U.S. foundations with significant racial justice and equity grantmaking. Comparable as a major institutional grantmaker operating in the same funding ecosystem though far larger and broader in scope.
• Open Society Foundations: Large global foundation funding racial justice, civil rights, and movement-building work. Comparable in funding racial justice grantees and structural reform, but operates at materially greater scale and breadth.
• National Urban League: Historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization. Comparable in mission (advancing economic and racial equality for Black Americans) and broad donor base, but with a longer history and service-delivery orientation.

Direct peers

• Movement for Black Lives: A national network of Black-led racial justice organizations. Directly comparable to BLMGNF in mission and ecosystem, functioning as an umbrella coalition that channels resources and policy advocacy for Black liberation.
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Long-standing racial justice legal advocacy and litigation organization. Closely comparable in mission (combating racial discrimination) and donor base, though more litigation-focused versus BLMGNF's grantmaking approach.
• Color of Change: Online racial justice organization mobilizing members for campaigns and policy change. Directly comparable in digital organizing, donor base, and racial justice focus, with similar grassroots-driven GTM.
• Borealis Philanthropy: A philanthropic intermediary specifically funding racial justice movements. Directly comparable as a grantmaker to Black-led movements, with overlapping funder base and similar grantee ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Marshall Project: Nonprofit news outlet covering criminal justice issues, including policing. Comparable in adjacent criminal-justice reform space and shared abolitionist-aligned narrative framing around police violence.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/blklivesmatter
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCud6qp6HqpAJU4STFw8Uk7Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/BlackLivesMatter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blmgn
• Instagraminstagram.com/blklivesmatter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Black Lives Matter