This week, MAZON announced more than $2.84 million in partnership grants to local anti-hunger organizations, bringing its support to three new organizations — the Indiana Justice Project, the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center, and Alabama Arise.
“We are confident that these new investments will grow the impact of our longtime support for local organizations in some of the most food-insecure communities in the country,” said Mia Hubbard, MAZON’s Vice President of Programs. “Particularly in today’s political environment, we are proud to be supporting and partnering with these incredible local leaders as they work to advance policy change, build coalitions, and seek justice for all those facing hunger and inequity in their communities.”
MAZON refocused its grantmaking in 2018 after three decades of seeding, supporting, and strengthening the anti-hunger advocacy movement. As one of the nation’s largest investors in local anti-hunger advocacy, and the sole Jewish organization focused on ending hunger, MAZON’s partnership grants are structured to increase or sustain staff capacity at local anti-hunger organizations. With this week’s announcement, MAZON’s Emerging Advocacy Fund has invested nearly $12 million in 19 states and Puerto Rico.
“We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity MAZON has provided us,” said Adam Mueller, Executive Director of the Indiana Justice Project. “With the Food Justice Fellowship, we hope to change the landscape of food access advocacy in Indiana. Using a legal lens, we will focus on systems improvement, identifying and addressing barriers to SNAP participation.”
“North Carolina families shouldn’t have to struggle to put food on the table when we can come together to build systems that ensure access to affordable food in every community,” said Alexandra Forter Sirota, Executive Director of the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center. “We are excited to partner with MAZON to deepen understanding of the ways in which hunger is holding our state back and connect people with the policymakers who have the power to choose anti-hunger policies. Together we believe North Carolina can be a state where every family has the nourishment to thrive.”
“Funding from MAZON will build health equity in Alabama by providing staff capacity to engage our grassroots partners in improving child nutrition,” said Robyn Hyden, Executive Director of Alabama Arise. “We will continue to build upon the momentum from our prior MAZON partnership to further expand community eligibility for free school meals and lay the groundwork for a Healthy School Meals for All Campaign.”
MAZON’s current Emerging Advocacy Fund partners are:
- Alabama Arise (Montgomery, Ala.)
- Alaska Federation of Natives (Anchorage, Alaska)
- Alaska Food Policy Council (Homer, Alaska)
- Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (Anchorage, Alaska)
- Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (Little Rock, Ark.)
- Center for Rural Affairs (Lyons, Neb.)
- Centro para la Nueva Economía (San Juan, PR)
- Children’s Action Alliance (Phoenix, Ariz.)
- Espacios Abiertos (San Juan, PR)
- Feeding Indiana’s Hungry (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- Feeding Kentucky (Frankfort, Ky.)
- Feeding Northeast Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.)
- Florida Impact (Tallahassee, Fla.)
- Florida Policy Institute (Orlando, Fla.)
- Hawai’i Appleseed (Honolulu, Hawai’i)
- Hawai’i Children’s Action Network (Honolulu, Hawai’i)
- Hawai’i Foodbank Collaborative (Honolulu, Hawai’i)
- Hawai’i Public Health Institute (Honolulu, Hawai’i)
- Hunger Free Oklahoma (Tulsa, Okla.)
- Indiana Justice Project (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- Indy Hunger Network (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- Instituto del Desarollo de la Juventud (San Juan, PR)
- Kansas Action for Children (Topeka, Kan.)
- Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (Lawrence, Kan.)
- Kentucky Equal Justice Center (Lexington, Ky.)
- Latino Community Fund (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Nebraska Appleseed (Lincoln, Neb.)
- North Carolina Center for Budget & Tax (Durham, N.C.)
- Oklahoma Policy Institute (Tulsa, Okla.)
- Open Sky Policy Institute (Lincoln, Neb.)
- Poverty Solutions Group (Winter Garden, Fla.)
- Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
- Tennessee Justice Center (Nashville, Tenn.)
- Voices for Georgia’s Children (Atlanta, Ga.)
- William E. Morris Institute for Justice (Phoenix, Ariz.)