Liberation Ventures
Liberation Ventures is a U.S. nonprofit field catalyst, founded around 2020 and publicly launched in 2023, that grants capital, conducts narrative and polling research, and convenes funders and 60+ movement organizations to accelerate the American reparations movement.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- Headquarters—
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Liberation Ventures does
Liberation Ventures is a U.S.-based nonprofit field catalyst founded around 2020 and publicly launched in February 2023, with a small team of 10–12 staff working to accelerate the American reparations movement. Its core offerings include a 10-year Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint, the Collaborative for Repair (a donor collaborative targeting $220 million in coordinated philanthropic capital), the Reparations Narrative Lab (which produces frameworks such as the Belief Arc and Narrative House plus field toolkits), a quarterly Reparations Research Consortium, and the Reparations Fundraising Lab delivered in partnership with For Impact. The organization has moved roughly $9.5 million to 60+ movement organizations since 2021 and is funded by 30+ institutional partners including Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Open Society.
Liberation Ventures does not generate commercial revenue. Its operating model is that of a philanthropic intermediary: it raises grants from foundations, aggregates capital and research, redistributes a portion directly to movement organizations, and convenes the field around shared frameworks and polling/research outputs (notably via a partnership with Princeton University). Annual grantmaking scaled from approximately $1M in 2022 to $3.3M in 2024 before plateauing near $3M in 2025 and $2.77M projected for 2026, while programmatic breadth (Fundraising Lab cohorts, narrative research, donor coordination) continues to expand. The primary customers of LV's work are movement organizations receiving capacity-building and grants, and institutional donors seeking coordinated, high-leverage entry points into the reparations field.
Liberation Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Liberation Ventures
- Legal name
- Liberation Ventures
- Website
- https://liberationventures.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Liberation Ventures is a U.S. nonprofit field catalyst, founded around 2020 and publicly launched in 2023, that grants capital, conducts narrative and polling research, and convenes funders and 60+ movement organizations to accelerate the American reparations movement.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Liberation Ventures industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Nonprofit Philanthropy and Movement Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Human Rights Organizations (813311), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB), Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), Post-Conflict Recovery, Reconciliation & Social Cohesion Programs (BPADAFAL)
Keywords
Liberation Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Grant Revenue: Liberation Ventures operates as a philanthropic intermediary, receiving grants from institutional funding partners and redistributing funds to reparations movement organizations through structured grantmaking programs.
- Donor Collaborative Contributions: The Collaborative for Repair is a donor collaborative raising $220 million to deploy resources aligned with the Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Liberation Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Liberation Ventures operates as a nonprofit field catalyst that mobilizes philanthropic resources into the U.S. reparations movement through annual grantmaking to 60+ partner organizations and the Collaborative for Repair donor collaborative raising $220 million. It builds movement capacity through annual convenings, coalition anchoring, and the Reparations Fundraising Lab, and develops narrative infrastructure via the Reparations Narrative Lab, the proprietary Belief Arc framework, narrative research conducted with Princeton University, and supporting toolkits and databases for narrative change practitioners.
Product overview
Liberation Ventures operates as a field catalyst organization offering a suite of interconnected programs and tools focused on accelerating the reparations movement. The core offerings include the Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint (a 10-year strategic framework) and the Collaborative for Repair (a $220M donor collaborative). Supporting these are the Reparations Narrative Lab and Reparations Research Consortium, which provide research infrastructure. The organization also offers practical tools including the Belief Arc framework, Narrative House schema, various workbooks and toolkits for narrative change, a reparations research database, state/local resource guides, a calendar of events, and the Reparations Fundraising Lab. Grantmaking services are facilitated through an online exploration form. The portfolio is unified by the Repair Framework covering reckoning, acknowledgment, accountability, and redress.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Collaborative for Repair: A multiracial community of donors who pool dollars and deploy resources aligned with the Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint, raising $220 million for the reparations movement.
- Reparations Narrative Lab
- Reparations Fundraising Lab
Products and services
- Reparations Grantmaking Blueprint
- Collaborative for Repair
- Reparations Narrative Lab
- Reparations Research Consortium
- Reparations Fundraising Lab
Quantifiable outcome
- $9.5 million moved to 60+ organizations since 2021
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Liberation Ventures
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Liberation Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Liberation Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- The Bridgespan GroupcoreOngoing strategic collaboration including co-authoring articles for Stanford Social Innovation Review, co-creating the Reparations Roadmap for Philanthropy, and hosting movement convenings. Jeff Bradach serves on LV's Board.
- GetFreecoreCo-authored Stanford Social Innovation Review article on reparations and multiracial democracy with LV staff Nicole Carty and Vikas Maturi.
- New Yorkers for ReparationsminorCo-conducted the 2024 NY New York Reparations Poll (N=2008) on beliefs and sentiment surrounding reparations.
- FirstRepairminorCo-created the State and Local Reparations Resource Guide connecting people to advocacy resources for task forces and policies.
- Harmony LabsminorCollaborated on narrative research including the 'Narratives For Reparations' report on U.S. audiences' media consumption about race and reparations.
- Narrative InitiativeminorLV's Trevor Smith contributed article on building narrative power for reparations.
- For Impact (Reparations Fundraising Lab)coreRuns the Reparations Fundraising Lab, a year-long program developing reparations organizations' skills and confidence to build enduring relationships with funders. Second cohort launched April 2025.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Liberation Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- MacArthur Foundation: Featured LV as a Grantee Story for the Reparations Narrative Lab; functions as both funder and broader incumbent in the same racial-equity and narrative-change space.
- Ford Foundation: A major incumbent funder in LV's grantmaking ecosystem; sits upstream of LV as a financial partner but operates a much broader portfolio including racial equity, making it a broader-incumbent peer.
Others
- The Bridgespan Group: A nonprofit consulting firm co-authoring strategic work with LV and represented on its board; comparable as an enabling ecosystem participant rather than a direct programmatic peer.
Direct peers
- PolicyLink: A national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity; a current LV board member organization with overlapping funder base and movement-support role in the reparations ecosystem.
- The Movement for Black Lives: A national network of Black-led organizations organizing for reparations and Black liberation; a key LV grantee and coalition peer at the center of the U.S. reparations ecosystem.
- Thousand Currents: A philanthropic intermediary that regrants and builds capacity for grassroots movements globally, structurally analogous to LV in being a small team stewarding pooled donor capital toward movement infrastructure.
- Borealis Philanthropy: A racial-justice-focused philanthropic intermediary that pools and deploys resources across Black-led movement organizations, structurally similar to LV's role as a re-grantor and field catalyst.
- Haymarket People's Fund: A movement-aligned grantmaking intermediary funding progressive social justice organizing, comparable to LV in operating as a pooled re-grantor to grassroots organizations.
Emerging players
- Harmony Labs: A narrative-change research organization that has collaborated with LV on reparations narrative research; comparable as a fellow narrative-infrastructure provider with overlapping audiences but a broader social-justice remit.
- Narrative Initiative: An organization building narrative power for progressive movements, with overlap to LV's Narrative Lab and Belief Arc work in methodology and audience research.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Liberation Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceLiberation Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Liberation Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Liberation Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Liberation Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Liberation Ventures
What does Liberation Ventures do?
Liberation Ventures operates as a nonprofit field catalyst that mobilizes philanthropic resources into the U.S. reparations movement through annual grantmaking to 60+ partner organizations and the Collaborative for Repair donor collaborative raising $220 million. It builds movement capacity through annual convenings, coalition anchoring, and the Reparations Fundraising Lab, and develops narrative infrastructure via the Reparations Narrative Lab, the proprietary Belief Arc framework, narrative research conducted with Princeton University, and supporting toolkits and databases for narrative change practitioners.
Is Liberation Ventures a public or private company?
Liberation Ventures is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Liberation Ventures founded?
Liberation Ventures was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
How does Liberation Ventures make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Grant Revenue is the primary driver. The others are donor Collaborative Contributions.
Who are Liberation Ventures's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are MacArthur Foundation and Ford Foundation. The Bridgespan Group is listed as an others. Direct peers are PolicyLink, The Movement for Black Lives, Thousand Currents, Borealis Philanthropy and Haymarket People's Fund. Emerging players are Harmony Labs and Narrative Initiative.
Does Liberation Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for Liberation Ventures.
What industry is Liberation Ventures in?
Liberation Ventures's product category is Nonprofit Philanthropy and Movement Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAN, Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations, with a secondary code of BPAGAFAB, Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations. Its NAICS code is 813311 and its SIC code is 8300.