Dream Fund Legacy
The Fulfilling the Dream Fund viewed affirmative action as an effective legal tool for redressing inequities and lack of opportunities based on race and ethnicity or gender.
By increasing the philanthropic support available to protect and strengthen affirmative action and other diversity programs, the Dream Fund aimed to help redefine how the U.S. thinks about, talks about and achieves racial and gender inclusion. Throughout the duration of the initiative, the Dream Fund's goals and objectives were to:
- Make racial justice and gender equality an urgent national priority;
- Strengthen and expand the use of affirmative action and related strategies for dismantling structural exclusion that limit opportunities for people of color and women;
- Improve public understanding of structural exclusion and of the social advantages gained by eliminating unequal outcomes that result from structural discrimination; and
- Engage the American public in an earnest examination of the nation's commitment to provide equal opportunity and access in education, employment and contracting.
Where we worked:
The Fulfilling the Dream Fund's Structure and Sub-Funds
Forty-one funders participated in the Dream Fund from 2004-2010. The Dream Fund collaborative offered grantmakers the opportunity to pool resources and extend their geographic reach, whileat the same time increasing the knowledge and capacity of its funders and grantees. A broad range of foundations participated in the Dream Fund, including those with a regional or local focus, through the establishment of several sub-funds:
- The National Dream Fund: Funders without geographic restrictions participated in this fund, providing grants to organizations whose work had significant impact on the field. As members of the National Dream Fund Steering Committee, these participants worked with local funders to set the Dream Fund's strategic goals and objectives, determined general eligibility and programmatic criteria, and made grant determinations.
- State or Regional Consortiums: Funders with geographic focus or an interest in a specific state or region formed a consortium within the National Dream Fund that made grants in targeted areas. Five regional consortia were established: the Chicago Consortium, North Carolina Consortium, Colorado Consortium, Michigan Consortium and the Nebraska Consortium. Each consortium consisted of one or more donors and collectively raised a minimum of $100,000. Consortium representatives joined national funders in setting Dream Fund goals and objectives, determining eligibility and programmatic criteria, making grant determinations and ranking local organizations to submit proposals.
- State or Regional Funds: State and regional funders also could create a fund specifically for their region by raising at least $500,000. These donors worked with PIP staff to set priority issues for their fund, screened grant applications, and made recommendations for funding. Three funds were established at this level: the California Dream Fund, the Minnesota Dream Fund and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Dream Fund.
- Strategic Opportunities Fund: Formed in 2008, the Strategic Opportunities Fund provided resources in regions where affirmative action policies had become the focus of public debate. It provided resources to key national, statewide, or grassroots groups working to preserve affirmative action. Grantees of this sub-fund coordinated their activities to share information and strategies. This particular fund provided an opportunity for donors who were concerned about affirmative action issues at the state and local levels to pool their resources and work in a coordinated manner.
The Fulfilling the Dream Fund is a project of Public Interest Projects (PIP), a 501(c) (3) New York-based public charity. PIP served as the Dream Fund's grant management arm and worked in concert with the Dream Fund's funder governance bodies to provide strategic direction for and operational management of the Dream Fund network.
