Focus Areas
Community Development and Entrepreneurship
We believe that the government has largely abdicated its responsibility in the area of community development. Although non-profit organizations should not be in the position of having to fill the gap, they are. Funders must step forward and provide these organizations with support.
We focus our resources on supporting non-profits that work with vulnerable populations through safety-net services, reentry programs, entrepreneurship, and workforce development in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Our Community Development program area has a restricted application process. Please refer to the Eligibility and Letter of Inquiry pages for more information.
Immigrant Issues and Human Rights
Immigration is a continuing source of vitality and rejuvenation of American society. We reject the anti-immigrant hysteria that swept the United States in the 1990’s, bringing with it the detention of thousands of immigrants. We support projects that provide alternatives to detention and advocate on behalf of detained immigrants and asylum seekers. We are especially inclined to support organizations providing legal aid to immigrants in detention, facing deportation, and/or seeking asylum. We make grants to human rights projects on behalf of vulnerable populations whose basic rights are being sacrificed by repressive governmental or religious policies or for the sake of global economic interests.
Our Immigrant Issues/Human Rights program area has a restricted application process. The geographic focus for the immigration program area is Northern California, with an emphasis on Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Please refer to the Eligibility and Letter of Inquiry pages for more information.
Environmental Conservation
We have a sense of urgency about the state of the planet and the web of life of which we are all a part. As a result, we support a variety of approaches to preserving the environment, including legal action, environmental justice advocacy, scientific inquiry, and direct action. We do not fund environmental education.
We are particularly interested in projects involving regional cooperation and those that combine conservation with environmentally sustainable development, giving local people a stake in conservation. In the Western United States we restrict our grantmaking to Northern California. We give grants on a range of issues from protection of old growth forests and rivers and the preservation of endangered species to pesticide reform and community action for clean air and water.
Our Environmental Conservation program area has a restricted application process. Please refer to the Eligibility and Letter of Inquiry pages for more information.
The Peace Process in the Middle East
We believe that both the Palestinian and Jewish people have a legitimate claim to their common homeland, and that a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is possible. The Firedoll Foundation funds organizations which agree that the people of Palestine and Israel have the right to share their ancient homeland in peace and security.
Given the dire conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories at this time, our current funding focus is on humanitarian assistance, economic development, and support of civil society in the West Bank and Gaza; support to organizations defending the internationally recognized human rights of the Palestinians living under occupation; and support of organizations working to end the Occupation. Please refer to the Eligibility and Letter of Inquiry pages for more information.
Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury is an “orphan” disability in the United States. We have not come to grips with the numbers of survivors of TBI, and our knowledge of the physical, emotional, and economic impacts of this disability on individuals, their families, and society is sorely deficient.
The Firedoll Foundation supports community-based, post-acute services for TBI survivors, especially programs that allow survivors to participate in and contribute to society, with a focus on Northern California. Please refer to the Eligibility and Letter of Inquiry pages for more information.
Geographic Areas of Interest
We fund in five different focus areas and the specific geographic locations below.
Community Development: Alameda and Contra Costa County only.
Environmental Conservation: The geographic focus for Environmental Conservation includes Northern California for forestry, watershed and species preservation, and environmental health and justice; Hawaii for Monk Seal conservation; and Eastern Pacific for fish stock preservation.
Immigration and Human Rights: The geographic focus for the immigration program area is Northern California, with an emphasis on Alameda and Contra Costa counties. There is an additional small focus area for national organizations doing civil rights work.
Middle East Peace: The majority of our grants are made to U.S.-based, or U.S.-fiscally sponsored organizations providing relief in Gaza and the West Bank.
Traumatic Brain Injury: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Solano Counties only.