We envision a world where all people have voice and power to participate, and our natural resources are vibrant and resilient.
WHAT WE FUND
ARTS
We believe in the power of arts and culture to move hearts and minds in the pursuit of equity and justice in society. Artists and culture bearers are essential in inspiring community engagement, celebrating difference and advancing narrative change in support of a democracy that works for all.
Climate & Environmental Justice
Our climate/environment work supports equitable, science-based advocacy, policies and bold solutions that improve people’s lives, especially low-income communities and communities of color who are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. We have an obligation to address climate change and its many injustices – the time for action is now. Together, we can reverse these inequities and create healthy, thriving communities, a safer planet, and one sustainable world.
Civic Engagement & Voting Rights
We seek to realize a multi-racial democracy where every individual regardless of race, geography or income, has easy, safe and equitable access to election participation and civic engagement. Supporting the capacity and vision of frontline groups and relational organizers is an essential strategy to ensure a democracy that works for all.
The Fresh Sound Foundation embarked on an intentional learning journey around equity and trust-based philanthropy over the last few years. Working with trusted thought leaders and advisors, we have reflected deeply on our governance and grantmaking practices, and future succession planning. Our journey has strengthened our commitment to become an antiracist foundation, and has led us to support more flexible, multi-year funding for grantee partners.
In addition, Fresh Sound has continued to sharpen our “Urgency of Now” fund that moves grants all throughout the year related to key democracy strategies and unique needs of our grantee partners. We have updated Fresh Sound’s vision and mission, defined core values, and developed an equity statement reflecting our ongoing commitment to justice and equity across the foundation’s internal and external efforts. This learning journey has helped us experiment and strive for a more intersectional approach in our work to support arts & culture, environment & climate change, and democracy & civic engagement. We continue to assess and refine our approach and commit to being as transparent as possible about our evolution. Over the next year, Fresh Sound is considering innovative funding approaches that may affect the availability of funds for our regular grant cycles in the near term. We look forward to sharing our new strategic priorities for the future.PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
ArtsEmerson (ARTS) is the professional organization at Emerson College, based in the heart of downtown Boston.
