iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility

Name

iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility

Legal name

iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility

Website

https://iffdn.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Racial justice grantmaking
• Philanthropic foundation
• Community power building
• Nonprofit grantmaking
• Narrative change funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Endowment Returns and Investment Income: iF operates as a private foundation funded by an endowment. The foundation's endowment was created from proceeds of the 1994 sale of Group Health Association to Humana Inc. ($50 million sale created Consumer Health Foundation). The foundation rebuilds its endowment through donations and investment returns to advance racial justice over a 10-year strategic plan.
2. Individual and Institutional Donor Contributions: iF actively seeks and engages individual and institutional donors that are values-aligned and unapologetic about anti-racism, economic justice and gender justice. The foundation's 2021 financial strategy has a fundraising component relying on Community-Centric Fundraising principles.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility is a private philanthropic foundation that makes grants to Black, Indigenous, and communities of color-led organizations advancing racial justice. Originally founded in 2018 as Borealis Philanthropy, the foundation operates grantmaking programs (BUILD, FUEL, GROW) and a narrative-change initiative (Narrative Alchemy, formerly Liberation Ventures) to support movement infrastructure, climate justice, K-12 education equity, democracy, and land/environmental justice.

Product overview

iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility is a private foundation focused on advancing racial justice through grantmaking, advocacy, and narrative change. The organization operates grant programs (Community Power Grantmaking providing multi-year general operating support), pilot initiatives (Let's GO DMV! Guaranteed Income Pilot), research and publications (Cracks in the Foundation report, Reparations Daily zine), documentary filmmaking (Diminished Returns, Coined in Blood), capacity building tools (Racial Equity Impact Assessment, Organizational Assessment), and educational programs (Healing Justice Digital Learning Labs, HBCU Internship). The foundation's work centers five pillars: Community Power, Culture, Healing Justice, Institutions & Structures, and Reparations & Economic Justice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BUILD Grantmaking Program Grantmaking program funding movement infrastructure and power-building organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and communities of color working on racial justice priorities.
• FUEL Grantmaking Program Grantmaking program directing resources to organizations advancing climate justice with an explicit racial justice lens.
• GROW Grantmaking Program Grantmaking program supporting K-12 education equity work led by communities of color.
• Narrative Alchemy (formerly Liberation Ventures) Initiative funding narrative-change work to shift dominant narratives on race and power, including a $5.5M commitment to a Peabody award-winning documentary project.
• Internship Program with USC Annenberg Internship program hosted in partnership with USC Annenberg, providing students hands-on experience in philanthropic and racial justice work.

Quantifiable outcome

• $27 million+ in grants given to nonprofits since 1994
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024iF commissioned and funded NCRP to develop 'Cracks in the Foundation: Philanthropy's Role in Reparations for Black People in the DMV' report, establishing a Reparative Framework for Philanthropy.
• Restaurant Opportunities Center of DC (ROC-DC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Implementation partner in the Let's GO DMV! guaranteed income pilot. ROC-DC organizer Vee Tucker approached iF about creating residual income for hospitality workers who lost jobs due to the pandemic.
• Washington Regional Association of GrantmakerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partner in the Let's GO DMV! guaranteed income pilot, serving as a campaign and table partner for the initiative, engaging funders in the regional effort.
• Boston University's Center for Anti-Racist ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021iF partnered with Boston University's Center for Anti-Racist Research led by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi to pilot a 'DC Policy Tracker' to rate housing policies in DC as racist or anti-racist.
• Resourcing Radical Justice (RRJ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartneriF is a co-founder and co-chair of Resourcing Radical Justice, a funders collective that centers Black liberation, divests from white supremacy and invests in Black lives by advocating for philanthropic sector transformation.
• Virginia Power Building FunderscoreStrategic or Co-development PartneriF is a co-founder of the Virginia Power Building Funders, which seeks to provide philanthropic support to institutions in Virginia led by organizers and advocates representing those most impacted by racial inequities.
• Civic Action Working GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartneriF is a co-founder of the Civic Action Working Group, which advances philanthropic support for community organizing and advocacy and the infrastructure necessary to support communities in the DC region.
• DC Guaranteed Income CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Let's GO DMV! guaranteed income pilot and broader efforts to make the case for permanent, government-supported guaranteed income.
• Western States CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartneriF uses Western States Center's organizational assessment tool to help organizations examine the ways in which they currently engage with issues of racial justice.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP): A research and advocacy organization that pushes philanthropy toward racial equity and community-led giving — comparable mission and a listed iF partner (authored the 'Cracks in the Foundation' report for iF).
• Borealis Philanthropy: A racial-justice-focused intermediary that pools philanthropic capital to Black, Indigenous, and people-of-color-led movements — a direct peer in mission and participatory grantmaking approach.
• Hill-Snowdon Foundation: A DC-based family foundation funding racial and economic justice organizing — a direct peer in mission and geography, and a listed iF funder.
• Greater Washington Community Foundation: A regional community foundation serving the DC metropolitan area with grantmaking and donor services — a direct peer in geography and mission, and a co-funding partner on Let's GO DMV!.
• Meyer Foundation: A Washington, DC-area private foundation that funds racial equity, housing justice, and nonprofit sustainability in the DMV region — a direct geographic and thematic peer to iF, and a listed partner/funder.

Broad incumbents

• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: A major philanthropic vehicle funding equity and economic opportunity — comparable in funding racial justice work, and a listed iF partner, but at much larger scale and broader portfolio.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: A major national health-focused foundation that has funded racial and economic equity work — a listed iF partner on Let's GO DMV!, but operating at much larger scale and broader scope.
• Open Society Foundations: A large global foundation with significant racial justice programming in the US — comparable mission but at much greater scale and broader geographic scope than iF.
• Ford Foundation: One of the largest US foundations with major programmatic work on racial equity and civic participation — operates in iF's thematic space but at vastly greater scale and broader scope.

Regional players

• Weingart Foundation: A Los Angeles-area private foundation funding racial equity and nonprofit capacity in Southern California — comparable mission and participatory grantmaking orientation, but operating in a different US region.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/if-fdn

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility