TFN’s Mobility and Access Collaborative is an action-oriented effort that recognizes the urgent need to limit transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions in our escalating climate crisis, while eliminating underlying inequities in the mobility system. The collaborative brings together place-based, regional and national funders to share stories, examine best practices and explore critical issues. Funders engaged in the Mobility and Access Collaborative were instrumental in the launch of the Mobility Fund, which supports local advocacy efforts. Read on for more information about the Mobility Fund’s second round of grants. (You can learn more about the Mobility Fund’s first round of grants here.)
By The Mobility Fund
Eight mobility advocacy groups received a total of $391,500 in grants to support their work to advance equitable and sustainable transportation from the second round of the Mobility Fund.
The fund leveraged contributions from national funders with matches from local funders of nearly $761,000 to benefit local and regional non-profits working to make transit, biking and walking convenient, safe and accessible for more people.
“Transit is an essential service for getting people to work, school, medical appointments, and other important destinations in their lives,” said Tenzin Dolkar, Midwest Climate and Energy program officer for the McKnight Foundation.
“There has never been a more important time to invest in transit, biking, and walking—for people and for our planet. That is why the McKnight Foundation supports the Mobility Fund and the advocates working every day to protect and expand sustainable and equitable mobility options,” said Dolkar.
Transit service continues to be impacted by COVID-19 and those impacts fall disproportionately on underserved, underrepresented, and historically marginalized communities. Advocates working to protect, preserve and enhance mobility at the local level are chronically underfunded and the need for support is great. In Round 2, the Mobility Fund received 45 letters of interest, from which the Fund invited 17 proposals with a total request of $891,500.
“The Mobility Fund is a key philanthropic investment opportunity at the intersection of transportation, equity and climate,” said Lina Fedirko, program manager on the Transportation Team at the ClimateWorks Foundation, another investor in the fund. “ClimateWorks is excited to join partners for the second year, in supporting the local advocacy necessary to push for emissions free transportation that centers and serves people.”
“These grants are about supporting advocates fighting for a just, clean and healthy transportation future. It starts with these people and hundreds of others that deserve more support,” said Darryl Young, director of the Sustainable Cities Program at The Summit Foundation, which also supported the fund.
Grants provide general operations support and support for collaboration between community groups that advocate for mobility.
Grantees from the second round of the Mobility Fund are:
Active Transportation Alliance, Chicago ($50,000) Building Power for Equitable Transportation Investment: A project to support the Transportation Equity Network Advocacy Committee efforts to mobilize its membership around an advocacy strategy, to ensure a transparent and accountable decision-making process that prioritizes racial equity for Chicago’s 2022 capital spending and beyond.
Atlanta Bicycle Coalition ($72,500) Expanding More Equitable Transit in Atlanta: A project to create deeper collaboration between the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, MARTA Army, and the Partnership for Southern Equity to inform, educate, and empower community residents to advocate for more equitable, accessible transit in Atlanta.
Bike East Bay ($50,000) Community Organizing for Equitable Slow Streets in Oakland: A project to partner with the City of Oakland and local community groups to expand and permanently adopt Oakland’s post-pandemic Slow Street network.
Coalition for Smarter Growth, Fairfax County, Va. ($50,000) Safer Streets for Bailey’s Crossroads: A project to involve community members in advocating and winning design solutions to make their streets safer, and improve access to transit and services —i creating a model for local engagement and successful advocacy that can be applied in other priority communities.
Futurewise ($45,000) Advancing Equitable Transit-Oriented Communities on Seattle’s Eastside: A project to advocate in partnership with local BIPOC communities for updates to local neighborhood plans, accessible housing, and transportation policies that will create equitable, transit-oriented communities in the areas served by the upcoming Sound Transit East Link light rail expansion.
Health by Design ($24,000) Building the Indiana Mobility Management Network: A project to advance and accelerate efforts underway to establish a Mobility Management Network (MMN) for the state of Indiana in 2022.
Move LA ($50,000) Centering Equity for LA Transit Riders: A project to prioritize the restoration and expansion of LA Metro bus service, support funding for a fareless transit system pilot, and advocate for capital projects that prioritize bus speed and active transit that benefit low-income and communities of color.
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways ($50,000) BIPOC-Led Solutions for Community Safety: A project to support a workgroup is dedicated to reviewing and revising laws governing the use of our public streets to better meet the needs of the BIPOC community who have historically been excluded from the full and free use of this shared public space.
About the Mobility Fund
The Mobility Fund supports community-based advocacy around sustainable and equitable mobility through competitive grantmaking. To date, the fund has granted $778,000 to 17 mobility advocate groups working to advance equitable mobility access and use in communities since its launch in 2020. Thus far, grant recipients have reported $1,807,943 in additional funds leveraged, including local matching funds, producing a 232.4% return on the Mobility Fund’s investment. This fund is housed at Global Philanthropy Partnership. It is supported by the pooled funds of trailblazing regional and national philanthropic foundations who are comfortable working at the
nexus of equity and climate to transform broken systems. Fund processes are guided by an Advisory Team made up of local mobility advocates and national funders. For more information about the Mobility Fund, contact Martha Roskowski at martha@furtherstrategies.com.