How We Create Change - Voqal Partners

HOW WE Create Change.

We love to partner with the visionary underdogs, renegades, and mavericks – the ones who aren’t afraid to get a little messy in the pursuit of justice. We’re all about the people pushed to the sidelines for far too long. Those communities that have been ignored, marginalized, and downright mistreated – they’re our top priority.

They’ve forged their own frontlines while centering joy, care, and abundance. When we fund them, we do it right. There is none of that restricted grant nonsense here; communities can allocate as they need. We believe in giving organizations the freedom to spread their wings, follow their guts, and face challenges with heart so they can lead us to our liberated destiny.

But hey, we’re not perfect. We know there’s still work to be done, changes to be made. That’s why we’re always striving to do better, to be better. Multi-year support, larger grants, participatory philanthropy, and open applications – it’s all on the horizon.

FELLOWSHIPS

We know that you can change the world. You know you can change the world. But powerful gatekeepers, who benefit from the status quo, only provide funding to their like-minded friends and networks. We believe any social justice change agent with a good idea should have a fair chance at trying it. To do this, they need money to hire employees, rent office space, fund daily operations, conduct research and development, market services, and much more. We are here to support entrepreneurs with early-stage funding and coaching. For more information about the Fellowship, click here.

Grantmaking

We are in crisis. A powerful few are working to build an inequitable system that only works for them. They are strategic, coordinated, and well-funded. And it is past due, frankly, for us to respond in a similarly strategic, coordinated, and well-funded manner. That is why we make grants to C4 organizations, doing public policy advocacy and system change work. We support a network of the best community organizers and movement-building groups in the country. We carry out our work in a way that builds up communities so they can gain political power.

Impact Investing

Have you ever felt like you were running in circles? We have. How can we solve social problems with 5% of our capital if the remaining 95% is invested in companies that cause the very harm we are trying to eliminate? We can’t. So, we’re looking for ways to use our assets to do more than generate profits for our programs. We are working on a new investment framework that invests in people, products, services, and communities that directly advance an equitable and sustainable economic, environmental, political, and social system. This shift is not easy and will take time, but we are committed to it and to keeping you informed. Sign up for our newsletter for periodic updates about this work.

Mobile Citizen

We have all seen students without internet access sitting in fast food parking lots to use public Wii-Fi to do homework. Access to the internet is no longer a luxury. It is a basic necessity, essential for education, healthcare, public safety, and other activities of daily living. Our internet infrastructure is inadequate or nonexistent in too many places. We aim to close the digital divide by offering low-cost internet access to schools, libraries, nonprofits, and social welfare agencies so they can better carry out their missions. In partnership with them, we can improve internet access. For more information about Mobile Citizen, click here.

PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY

We could continue treating the symptoms. Or we could remove the cause. Government policies and programs affect almost every aspect of our lives, from education and employment to housing and health care. With our unique position as a 501(c)4 organization, we advocate for public policy changes that promote progressive norms and rules. We are committed to addressing change at the systems level rather than addressing change at the surface.