Fund for New Jersey announces latest grant recipients


The Princeton-based Fund for New Jersey has announced that 18 non-profits in the state have been awarded grants from the organization totaling $1,250,000.

For 50 years, the Fund for New Jersey has supported initiatives that seek to improve the quality of public policy decision-making on key issues that affect people in the state. This grants cycle, funding was awarded to projects addressing climate change and clean energy, environmental protection, voting rights, education issues, criminal justice reform, social justice and workers’ rights, and transportation issues.

“We at The Fund are pleased to invest in these policy organizations working to offer solutions that address the growing climate crisis, protect the state’s natural resources, improve public transportation, expand voting rights, and promote racial and economic justice in New Jersey. These investments are critical in making New Jersey a better place to live, with access to opportunities for all residents and newcomers,” said Kiki Jamieson, president of the Fund for New Jersey.

Jamieson highlighted the work of the NJ Domestic Workers Coalition, which is comprised of six grassroots organizations that advocate for the rights of domestic workers such as housekeepers, nannies, and home care workers in New Jersey. “Many of these workers are typically excluded from overtime pay, federal labor laws, minimum wage, and other labor protections that we often take for granted,” Jamieson said, adding that in New Jersey, 97 percent of domestic workers are women, 60 percent are women of color, and 52 percent are immigrants. “Too many of these workers are denied lunch breaks, owed money, or at risk on the job due to the lack of safety precautions,” Jamison said. “Eliminating the inequalities that domestic workers face is a critical task that we must overcome to give them a real opportunity to succeed and to treat them with dignity and respect.”

Grant Recipients List


Democracy & Social Justice

• A $75,000 general operating grant to League of Women Voters of New Jersey Education
Fund to protect New Jersey’s democracy, with a focus on communities of
color and voters whose first language is not English.

• A $100,000 general operating grant to New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund to
advance public policy solutions that foster health care access and affordable coverage,
promote economic and social justice, and end poverty in New Jersey.

• A $100,000 general operating grant to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
to support criminal justice reform in the state, protect reproductive rights, and advance racial
justice work.

• A $100,000 general operating grant to New Jersey Institute for Social Justice to support
and advance racial and economic justice in the state’s urban communities and to expand
voting rights.

Environmental Protection

• A $65,000 general operating grant as year three of a three-year grant to the New
Jersey Conservation Foundation to advance policies that protect the environment and
support the rapid transition to renewable energy in New Jersey.

• A $60,000 general operating grant as year three of a three-year grant to the
Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions to advance state and local policy
to improve water quality, protect water supplies, and reduce plastic pollution.

• A $55,000 general operating grant as year three of a three-year grant to the New
Jersey Highlands Coalition to protect and defend the Highlands Act and the Regional
Master Plan and to educate the public and decision-makers about the importance of
protecting natural resources of the Highlands.

• A $50,000 general operating grant for year three of a three-year grant to the Pinelands
Preservation Alliance to advance and enforce policies to protect the natural resources of
the Pinelands region.

• A $50,000 general operating grant to NY/NJ Baykeeper to protect, preserve, and restore
the water quality of the Hudson-Raritan Harbor Estuary.

• A $25,000 program grant to New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund for its
Green in ’21 Initiative to inform candidates and the public about pressing environmental
and environmental justice issues.

Climate Change & Clean Energy

• A $75,000 general operating grant to New Jersey Work Environment Council to advance
policies for climate and clean energy, Right to Know, and COVID-19 worker protections,
and to provide leadership to the Jersey Renews coalition.

• A $75,000 general operating grant to Environment New Jersey Research and Policy
Center to advance climate and clean energy and equitable transportation work in New
Jersey, and to provide leadership to the Jersey Renews coalition.

• A $25,000 general operating grant to GreenFaith to educate and mobilize faith leaders
on equitable clean energy policies emphasizing green jobs and environmental health
and to provide leadership to the Jersey Renews coalition.

• An $85,000 general operating grant to Eastern Environmental Law Center to provide
legal advocacy and expertise to advance climate resiliency, promote clean energy, and
protect water quality.

Transportation

• A $25,000 program grant to Regional Plan Association to support its Move NJ campaign
that focuses on research, outreach, communications, and coalition-building to support
full and dedicated NJ Transit funding.

• A $50,000 general operating grant to Tri-State Transportation Campaign to organize and
advocate for a strong and equitable public transit system and advance climate-resilient
transportation policies focusing on environmental justice communities.

Workers’ Rights

A $120,000 three-year operating grant to Adhikaar, New Labor, Wind of the Spirit, Casa Freehold, Unidad Latina en Accion New Jersey, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance ($20,000 each) to advocate for and implement a New Jersey Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights.

Education and Anti-Poverty

A $75,000 general operating grant to Advocates for Children of New Jersey to advance state and
federal policies that support low-income children and families and improve children’s
educational outcomes in disadvantaged communities.