TNB has received notice that there is new funding available through the Miller Innovation Fund. In the past, they have focused on supporting innovations in organizing advocacy and civic engagement. This will no longer be the case as they are focusing on transforming systems that tend to be neglected by philanthrophy.

The Fund will focus on two majors areas in 2016:

Re-imagining Service Networks for the Most Vulnerable. The foundation recognizes that programs serving the poorest of the poor such as those affected by homelessness, domestic violence, refugee status, addiction and mental illness, former incarceration or old age, and similar populations are often trapped into patterns of service and strategy that are very difficult to break without dramatic shifts in organizational culture, relationships and practice. The Innovation Fund is a resource that can help service networks chart new directions.

Developing Community Based Economic Systems. Economic development strategy in communities tend to focus narrowly on jobs, income and business growth. This focus, though essential, overlooks many other drivers of community wealth, finance, economics, and exchange that support low-income communities.

By their very nature, the projects chosen will be experimental in their outlook and design.

Miller Innovation Fund seeks to support projects of up to three years’ duration with annual grants ranging from $20,000 to $50,000. Grants will be limited to Massachusetts.

For more information about the concept application process and the April 1st deadline, consult the Herman and Frieda Miller Foundation website.

As in the past, successful applicants will probably be strong coalitions and networks with strategic momentum and history of leadership in the field.

We wish good luck to those who apply!