Education Justice Alliance
GRANTING VALUES
The Five Together Foundation is grounded in the core values of justice, compassion, and equity. Through our granting, the Foundation works to address the human impacts of inequitable systems and advance progress towards equitable, sustainable, and just societies.
A Trust Based Approach to Grantmaking
In addition to guiding our granting, our core values inform the processes we use in our granting and the kinds of grants we make. We recognize the inherent inequities of the current funding system and approach our granting relationships with compassion and an eye towards systemic equity. In practice, this means that we take on the work of the granting relationship whenever possible, asking as little of grantees in our grantmaking processes as we can.
Beyond funding, we support our partners through relationship building, connecting, and learning opportunities that strengthen their work and advance their impact.
Centering Community Expertise
We recognize that being funders does not make us experts in our grantees' work, and we prioritize the input of our community-based partners and grantees in our granting processes, using their insights to inform our decisions and strengthen our approach.
We also utilize ‘plus one’ grantmaking, which allows our existing grantees opportunities to recommend organizations that are making a meaningful impact in their communities. This helps us to broaden our reach, direct resources to organizations that may otherwise be overlooked, and focus on building ecosystems that meet outstanding community needs.
We aim to continuously learn about grantees' needs and use the data we gather to refine our processes, strategies, and support offerings.
We Believe
Justice means supporting fair laws and systems that are not rooted in racism or inequity.
Compassion means recognizing our common humanity and the responsibility that comes with privilege and capacity.
Equity means ensuring communities have access to the resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive.