About the
Elevate Initiative
The Elevate Initiative, a partnership between Frontline Solutions and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is requesting proposals from organizations seeking to advance economic mobility and promote job quality. In 2021, Elevate launched its first RFP providing funding and facilitated learning through a community of practice for 16 organizations across the country. We then followed that up in 2022 by investing in 15 smaller, emerging organizations. This time around in 2023, we are merging those efforts–and the learnings that came with them–into one process that reflects an effort to expand relationships with organizations and leaders on the ground who are working to advance economic mobility within their communities.
For this round of the Elevate Initiative, up to sixteen (16) grants will be awarded to organizations nationwide who demonstrate a strong commitment to racial justice, and an ability to address economic disparities that affect Black and Brown workers.
Eight (8) Established Organizations will receive $150,000 to advance projects/programs to address economic growth within their communities. A typical profile for the Established Organizations category includes non-profits that have been operating for at least 7 years, can demonstrate success in their work and have an annual budget in the range of $500K to $2.5M.
Eight (8) Emerging Organizations will receive $60,000 to expand their capacity as they drive projects/programs to support Black and Brown workers in their communities. A typical profile for the Emerging Organizations category includes non-profits that have formed within the past five years, can demonstrate potential in their work and have an annual budget of up to $1M.
The Elevate Initiative Guiding Principles
A Black-owned, national consulting firm, Frontline Solutions centers its work on intersectional equity, community-driven innovation, and activating broad networks for change. These are the tenets governing this process and the space for you to work within, from the release of this RFP, through the distribution of grants, and throughout our convening of a learning community. Specifically, Frontline approaches this process mindful of the following principles:
Equity
We are interested in securing applications from organizations that might not normally be in a position to apply to the Gates Foundation. As a result, we have developed a process that is designed to evaluate the quality of the proposals regardless of the resources applicants may have at their disposal to create a proposal.
Transparency
We will provide complete information regarding the grant requirements, selection process, evaluation criteria, and the expectations of awardees.
Context
Frontline will endeavor to provide potential applicants with the fullest possible understanding of the context of this initiative in order to elicit the best possible proposals for achieving the goals of the project.
Respect
We want to respect your organization’s time and work. We will not require superfluous information or documentation upfront, but will clearly delineate what is required throughout the process in order to allow applicants the ability to determine whether this grant is appropriate for their work.