Racial & Social Justice Resources

NEFA values an equitable, diverse, and inclusive world, which we interpret as all people having fair access to the tools and resources they need to realize creative and community endeavors. We acknowledge structural inequities that have excluded individuals and communities from opportunity based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, class, age, and geography, and strive to counter those inequities in our work. 
Learn more about NEFA's Mission, Values, & History

On June 3, 2020, NEFA released a statement in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Much of this list was curated using a list of anti-racist resources compiled at that time.

All artists, groups, collectives, etc. working with a social justice lens should consider applying for our artist grants. Please send additions to this resource list, below, to info@nefa.org; we curate this list and unfortunately are not able to include every recommendation we receive.

Grants & Opportunities

The National Leaders of Color Fellowship

The National Leaders of Color Fellowship program is a transformative leadership development experience curated by Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) in order to establish multicultural leadership in the creative and cultural sector. By partnering with the other United States Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs) the program has expanded nationwide and its mission has become a national endeavor.

Western Arts Alliance's Advancing Indigenous Performance

Western Arts Alliance (WAA) announces the launch of the Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP) Touring Fund, a new grant opportunity for presenters of Native performing artists. AIP deepens support for Indigenous performing artists and touring networks in ways that are rooted in the shared values of openness, inclusion, equity and generosity. The initiative aims to provide educational and career development resources for US-based Indigenous artists and presenters that will build audiences for Indigenous performing arts.

The AIP Touring Fund provides matching fee support to presenting organizations, which engage eligible performing artists through the touring programs of the six Regional Arts Organizations. Arts organizations outside of New England should contact their RAO about the matching support. Arts organizations in New England receiving funding through NEFA’s New England States Touring (NEST) for a project featuring Indigenous artists can receive an additional dollar-for-dollar match – up to 50% of the artist fee – from the AIP Touring Fund.

More Grants

  • Collective Futures Fund supports visual artists and artist-run activity in the Greater Boston area through grants between $2,000 and $6,000.
  • NDN Collective Radical Imagination Grant provides six Indigenous artists in the United States or U.S. Territories with $50k to radically imagine a new future, a better normal, and a more just world for all people and the planet.
  • Radical Imagination for Racial Justice seeks to support Boston-based artists of color (of all ages 14+) who are excited to bring to life their visions of a racially just society.

Visit our Professional Development page, which features our monthly Jobs & Opportunities blog posts, for more opportunities.

New England Organizations

  • Abilities Dance Boston disrupt antiquated ableist beliefs and disseminate the value of inclusion through dance.
  • ArtsBoston's Network for Arts Administrators of Color enhances the visibility of professionals of color in Greater Boston’s arts and culture sector, as well as widen the leadership pipeline and highlight opportunities for professional and personal growth in the field.
  • ArtsEmerson is Boston’s leading presenter of contemporary world theatre. They are dedicated to engaging all communities through stories that reveal and deepen our connection to each other. By cultivating diversity in the arts and in the audience, they ignite public conversation around our most vexing societal challenges as a catalyst for overcoming them.
  • Arts Connect International builds equity and inclusion in and through the arts.
  • Asian Pacific Islander Arts Network is a volunteer-run and led grassroots collaboration of artistic and cultural producers, funders, presenters, and supporters, formed to increase visibility and diverse representation of APIs on a regional and potentially national level through self-generated activity and advocacy.
  • BAMSFest (Boston Arts Music Soul Festival) creates a vibrant and inclusive arts and culture sectors for the City of Boston and beyond; a sector that celebrates all artistic talents, challenges societal perceptions, and empowers and engages audiences.
  • Black Lives Matter Boston is Boston’s chapter of BLM, working to raise new Black leaders, create a network for Boston Black folks, and end violence against Black people.
  • Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) believes that families have enormous potential to thrive, and that when immigrants are able to participate fully in society and create their own success stories, all of society benefits.
  • Castle of Our Skins seeks to change lack of equity in composer representation on concert stages and the omission of important stories and figures in Black history. 
  • Company One Theatre builds community at the intersection of art and social change.
  • ds4si is an artistic research and development outfit for the improvement of civil society and everyday life. The Design Studio for Social Intervention (DS4SI) is dedicated to changing how social justice is imagined, developed and deployed here in the United States.
  • Dunamis dismantles the "starving artist" narrative for Boston's Black and Brown communities.
  • The Front Porch Arts Collective is a new black theatre company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theater.
  • Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. Our resources and initiatives are collaborative and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing. We are becoming the ones we’ve been waiting for.
  • Lucy Parsons Center Collective is a volunteer-run nonprofit collective that operates as both a radical, independent bookstore and a community center, as well as a free meeting and event space for local activist groups or community activities.
  • Massachusetts Bail Fund posts bails of up to $2000 in Essex & Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts.
  • New England Blacks in Philanthropy works to shift the philanthropy paradigm from focusing on Black deficits to the potential and financial leverage of Black philanthropy by creating a strong alliance between funders and the community.
  • New England Innocence Project (NEIP) fights to correct and prevent wrongful convictions and ensure justice within the criminal legal system for innocent people throughout New England who are imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. 
  • Northeast Indigenous Arts Alliance strengthens and supports the Northeast Indigenous artist community by providing opportunities ​that will promote, protect, preserve and continue the artistic vitality of work in the region.
  • Peace & Justice Center of Vermont works on the interconnected issues of peace; human rights; and economic, social, and racial justice. The PJC is committed to raising awareness of these issues, redressing the harms of generational oppression, and equipping people with tools to lead viable social change movements that include and empower all people.
  • QAPA is committed to providing a supportive social, political, and educational environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and questioning people of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage in the Boston and New England area.
  • The Theatre Offensive presents liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color that transcends artistic boundaries, celebrates cultural abundance, and dismantles oppression.
  • Trans Resistance MA empowers trans people of color in Massachusetts.
  • The Vietnamese American Initiative for Development (VietAID) builds a strong Vietnamese American community and a vibrant Fields Corner through the following measures: promoting civic engagement and community building; developing affordable housing and commercial space; providing small business technical assistance and micro-enterprise development; and offering high-quality child care services.

National Organizations

  • The AAPI Civic Engagement Fund believes that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders must be an integral part of strengthening America’s democracy, improving the quality of life for all, and creating vibrant multiracial communities.
  • Anti-Asian Violence Resources
  • Asian American Community Resource includes organizations and resources by state
  • Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) expands and mobilizes resources for AAPI communities to build a more just and equitable society.
  • Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
  • The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC) supports and presents multidisciplinary art reflective of the unique experiences of Asian Pacific Islanders living in the United States.
  • The Bail Project™ National Revolving Bail Fund is a critical tool to prevent incarceration and combat racial and economic disparities in the bail system.
  • Bend the Arc: Jewish Action is a movement of tens of thousands of progressive Jews all across the country. For years, we’ve worked to build a more just society.
  • Black Trans Advocacy Coalition (BTAC) improves the black trans human experience by overcoming  violence and injustice in the world through the power, value, and love of all people.
  • Black Visions Collective believes in a future where all Black people have autonomy, safety is community-led, and we are in right relationship within our ecosystems.
  • Brave Space Alliance is a vehicle to empower and elevate queer and trans voices, particularly those belonging to people of color, to allow our communities a seat at the table on key decision making processes that impact the community of Chicago.
  • Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha is a worker-led organization where workers organize, educate and empower each other to fight for a voice in their workplaces and in their communities.
  • Diversity and Resiliency Institute of El Paso promotes the values of diversity and inclusion through education and training, fostering resiliency in professional practice, company culture, and within the community. We offer access to material which will prepare mental health and social services professionals to competently and confidently engage with marginalized groups, expand their knowledge base, and increase social awareness.
  • GAPIMNY is an all-volunteer, membership-based community organization with the mission to empower queer and trans Asian Pacific Islanders to create positive change. 
  • Isuroon is a grassroots nonprofit organization working to promote the well-being and empowerment of Somali women in Minnesota and beyond.
  • The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable is a network that strengthens and aligns the Jewish social justice field in order to make justice a core expression of Jewish life and help create an equitable world.
  • Little Earth Residents Association provides food and safety needs for residents of Little Earth of United Tribes.
  • Loveland Foundation brings opportunity and healing to Black women and girls through fellowships, residency programs, mental health support, listening tours, and more.
  • The Marsha P. Johnson Institute protects and defends the human rights of BLACK transgender people. We do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power.
  • Migizi Communications advances a message of success, well-being and justice for the American Indian community. Support them rebuilding after fire.
  • Minnesota Healing Justice Network provides a supportive professional community and mutual aid network for wellness and healing justice practitioners who also identify as IBPOC (indigenous, black, or people of color).
  • Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) seeks to reach millions, mobilize hundreds of thousands, and organize tens of thousands, so that Black political power is a force able to influence national and local agendas in the direction of our shared Vision for Black Lives.
  • NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
  • OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates fight for justice and fair treatment for all. Recent advocacy includes fighting for better hazing policies within the Department of Defense to help find justice for Pvt. Danny Chen. This ultimately led to legislation that will help protect servicemembers from being harassed, bullied, or hazed while in the line of duty. Local chapters are also involved in efforts to stamp out school bullying by hosting workshops and rallies across the country.
  • The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever they can reach them.
  • Powwow Grounds is a Native-run cafe, currently providing meals to elders, protectors and community, purchasing medical supplies, fire supplies, cooking supplies. 
  • Reclaim The Block organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety. 
  • Southside Harm Reduction works within a harm reduction framework to promote the human rights to health, safety, autonomy, and agency among people who use substances.
  • Spiral Collective is a volunteer full-spectrum reproductive options and support group comprised of doulas, birth-workers, and passionate reproductive justice advocates. based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, occupied Dakhóta territories.
  • Stop AAPI Hate tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
  • Unicorn Riot is a decentralized media organization that has been live-streaming uprisings.
  • The University of Southern California Master of Social Work Program's Diversity Toolkit

Arts and Leadership Organizations

  • AlternateROOTS supports the creation and presentation of original art that is rooted in community, place, tradition or spirit. They are a group of artists and cultural organizers based in the South creating a better world together. As Alternate ROOTS, they call for social and economic justice and are working to dismantle all forms of oppression – everywhere.
  • ArtEquity offers training and consulting services to individuals and organizations on creating and sustaining a culture of equity and inclusion through the arts and culture. 
  • Arts Administrators of Color is an arts service network that focuses on networking and community building through the arts.
  • Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists envisions a strong and sustainable Asian American theater community that is an integral presence in national culture—evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future.
  • The International Association of Blacks in Dance preserves and promotes dance by people of African ancestry or origin, and assists and increases opportunities for artists in advocacy, audience development, education, funding, networking, performance, philosophical dialogue, and touring.
  • The National Black Theatre produces transformational theatrical experiences that enhance African American cultural identity by telling authentic stories of the Black experience. 
  • Native Arts and Culture Foundation brings a valuable perspective to contemporary life; inspires healing within indigenous communities and among Native peoples and the general population; and provokes thought, sparks discussion, explores solutions, and adds a vital contribution to our communities and world.
  • Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) is dedicated to creating racial and cultural equity in the performing arts field, by promoting professional opportunities for arts administrators and providing a platform to give voice and visibility to women of color. 

Legal Services

  • The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Massachusetts works every day in the courts, in the legislature, and in communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, Bill Rights, and laws of the United States.
  • API Legal Outreach provides culturally competent and linguistically appropriate legal representation, social services, and advocacy for the most marginalized segments of the community including low-income women, seniors, recent immigrants, and youth.
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice advances civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.
  • Lawyers for Civil Rights fosters equal opportunity and fights discrimination on behalf of people of color and immigrants. We engage in creative and courageous legal action, education, and advocacy in collaboration with law firms and community partners.
  • NAACP Legal Defense Fund is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.
  • National Police Accountability Project protects the human and civil rights of individuals in their encounters with law enforcement and detention facility personnel.
  • The Sylvia Rivera Law Project, founded by trans rights activist and attorney Dean Spade, provides direct representation for low-income transgender people and transgender people of color.

Mental Health and Healing

  • Detox Local is an extensive list of mental health and substance use resources specifically for the AAPI (American Asian and Pacific Islander) community.
  • Dive in Well offers digital classes on various wellness practices, to create a more inclusive wellness industry. Dive in Well hosts donation-based digital events like breathwork classes and therapy sessions aimed at centering self care.
  • Inclusive Therapists: Seeking counseling or therapy can be a vulnerable process. To that, add the challenges that marginalized populations face such as micro-aggressions, prejudice, and language/ financial barriers. Getting the right help can become an overwhelming task. Finding a therapist should not feel like a gamble. All identities in all bodies deserve equal access to quality, culturally responsive care. We aim to make this process simpler and safer.
  • Live Another Day - Extensive information on mental health and substance use resources for people of color. Their mission is equal access to life-saving resources. They have guides for Black, Latinx, Asian, and Native People.
  • Minka Brooklyn is a community led center for wellness and harmonious living that strives to create an inclusive environment where all people can heal and thrive.
  • Not Equal: Racial Disparities In Addiction/Substance Abuse Treatment - AddictionResource.net
  • Therapy For Black Girls was developed to present mental health topics in a way that feels more accessible and relevant. So often the stigma surrounding mental health issues and therapy prevents Black women from taking the step of seeing a therapist.

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Accessibility


It is the policy of NEFA not to discriminate on the basis of disability, and NEFA is dedicated to providing equal access to individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law. If you believe that a program or service is inaccessible to persons with a disability or is otherwise illegally discriminatory and you want to file a grievance, we have a formal process for doing so. To read more about our Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Grievance policy or how to submit a grievance, visit Arts & Accessibility. There, you will learn more about steps NEFA is taking to make our materials more accessible, how you might make your programs and services accessible, and more.

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