Our Work

Momentum Fund

The Momentum Fund supports emerging organizations employing innovative strategies to address root causes of structural racism in New Jersey.

Launched in the fall of 2021, the Dodge Foundation’s Momentum Fund used a new community-engaged process to select and fund ten emerging organizations employing innovative strategies to address the root causes of structural racism in New Jersey. Each of the ten organizations, selected and nominated by community, received unrestricted funding of $150,000 over three years, along with other capacity-building support. We believe this runway of flexible funding will offer these organizations time, space to explore new approaches with more freedom to self-determine the best course forward in their work. 

Learn more about the Momentum Fund partners:  

  • Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajadores Agricolas – CATA Glassboro, NJ

    CATA facilitates the leadership development of the farmworker and immigrant communities as they strive for better working and living conditions. They use community engagement and capacity building so workers are prepared to lead their own advocacy and organizing campaigns for justice.

  • Education & Training Institute, Inc (New Labor) New Brunswick, NJ

    New Labor educates, organizes, and fights for better work conditions and social justice in the workplace. With a base of around 4,000 members, New Labor organizes to empower its members and amplify their voices in the community, workplace, and political realm.

  • IDEA Institute for the Development of Education in the Arts Camden, NJ

    The Institute for the Development of Education in the Arts (IDEA) is as arts education and creative learning organization that connects underserved youth and their families to the life-affirming quality of the arts. Their work is about building more socially resourceful and vibrant communities by strengthening human potential through creativity, culture, and arts based learning.

  • New Jersey Resource Project West Creek, NJ

    Based primarily in South and Central New Jersey, the New Jersey Resource Project educates and connects community leaders and those directly impacted who have critical expertise to work together for solutions and to take action toward an economically just and resilient future.

  • Newark Community Street Team Newark, NJ

    Newark Community Street Team (NCST) is a resident-run organization whose mission is to reduce violence in the South Ward of Newark through a community-based strategy that does not rely on arrest and incarceration. NCST treats community violence as a public health issue by intervening in, preventing and treating violence.

  • Newark Science and Sustainability, Inc. Newark, NJ

    Newark Science and Sustainability, Inc. works to eradicate the normalcy of food deserts in historically underserved and underrepresented communities while building pathways to green jobs. Thier motto “Think Global, Act Local, that’s Glocal” drives the development of equitable programming in NJ and in the Dominican Republic.

  • Palestinian American Community Center Clifton, NJ

    PACC is strictly a non-political and non-religious organization whose mission is to sustain and strengthen ties to Palestinian heritage while empowering the success and well-being of the entire community.

  • South Ward Environmental Alliance (Clinton Hill Community Action) Newark, NJ

    The South Ward Environmental Alliance (SWEA) is a grassroots environmental justice organization with a goal to reduce air pollution and protect the health of residents in the Clinton Hill, Dayton Street, and Weequahic neighborhoods of the South Ward. SWEA’s motto is One Ward United for Environmental Justice.

  • The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center Newark, NJ

    The HUBB uses therapeutic arts and entertainment as a key outreach and engagement strategy to reach youth and support families. Their current facility includes a state-of-the-art recording studio, video production room, podcast radio station, and computer work areas, as well as group meeting spaces to support deep creativity and therapeutic and restorative groupwork (called “Circles”).

  • VietLead (Urban Affairs Coalition) Camden, NJ

    VietLead is a strong grassroots community organization based in Camden & Philadelphia, that is creating a vision and strategy for community self-determination, social justice, and cultural resilience. VietLead has been deeply embedded in Camden County organizing Southeast Asian, Black and Brown youth and community for six years through their urban agriculture, youth leadership, civic engagement, community defense and health & healing programs.