The Opportunity Fund is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that is based in Pittsburgh and focuses on grantmaking in Western Pennsylvania. The Fund awards grants to organizations and enterprises that advance left-of-center social and economic policies, with particular focus on African-American and LGBT-interest advocacy. The Fund also provides grants to organizations involved in performing and visual arts. ¹

Overview and Activities

In December of 2019, the Opportunity Fund announced that in its eighth cycle of funding, it established grants totaling $896,200. Since its founding in 2015, the Opportunity Fund has awarded 421 grants totaling over $5.3 million. Notable recipients include the left-wing Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), the Abolitionist Law Center, and the Women’s Law Project. ² AfGJ has numerous associations with the radical left, running efforts in defense of the de facto socialist dictatorship of Venezuela,³ publishing a defense of the North Korean regime,⁴ and taking actions on behalf of radical-left extremists including Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal. ^{5 6 7}

In 2020 alone, the Opportunity Fund awarded 53 grants to left-of-center, Pittsburgh-based organizations, totaling $638,500. In April 2020, the Fund created a $500,000 COVID-19 Response Fund for previous applicants to receive funding throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these grants went to support performing arts organizations that had their operations halted during the pandemic, including Alia Musica Pittsburgh and Chatham Baroque. ⁸

The Opportunity Fund also initiated the Investing in Professional Artists performing arts grantmaking program with the Pittsburgh Foundation and Heinz Endowments. Together, the grantmaking organizations have awarded $170,000 since June of 2020 to both individual artists and Pittsburgh-based organizations to support public art. ⁹

Leadership

Jake Goodman is the executive director of the Opportunity Fund. ¹⁰ Goodman has argued that “racism and white supremacy and anti-Blackness are baked and caked onto every American system, and into American life and into our own bodies as white people.” ¹¹

1. “THE ARTS, AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE.” Opportunity Fund | Grants for The Arts, and Social and Economic Justice. Accessed September 28, 2020. https://www.theopportunityfund.org/.
2. Wilhelm, Tiffany. “OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $896,200 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE | Opportunity Fund.” Opportunity Fund | Grants for The Arts, and Social and Economic Justice. Last modified December 3, 2019. https://www.theopportunityfund.org/2019/12/03/awards-2019c2/.
3. “Protest at OAS says ‘U.S. hands off Venezuela!’” Workers World. June 09, 2017. Accessed November 30, 2017. https://www.workers.org/2017/06/09/protest-at-oas-says-u-s-hands-off-venezuela/
4. Smith, Stansfield. “An Interview with North Koreans.” Alliance for Global Justice. April 07, 2013. Accessed December 07, 2017. https://afgj.org/an-interview-with-north-koreans. Workers.org version: Smith, Stan. “A Korean View of Current Situation.” Workers World, April 12, 2013. https://www.workers.org/2013/04/8171/. Archived version of both: AfGJ + Workers.org – North Korea
5. “Political Prisoners in the USA.” Alliance for Global Justice. September 07, 2017. Accessed December 08, 2017. https://afgj.org/politicalprisonersusa
6. Pamela Anderson Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2014, Part XV
7. “AfGJ’s Fiscally Sponsored Projects.” Alliance for Global Justice. Accessed December 08, 2017. https://afgj.org/sponsored-projects/fiscally-sponsored-projects/fiscally-sponsored-projects.
8. Maruca, Julia. “Local Fund Awards More Than $630,000 to Pittsburgh Arts and Social Justice Organizations.” Pittsburgh City Paper. Last modified June 26, 2020. https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/local-fund-awards-more-than-630000-to-pittsburgh-arts-and-social-justice-organizations/Content?oid=17527515.
9. “Investing in Professional Artists Announces $170,000 in Grants | The Pittsburgh Foundation.” The Pittsburgh Foundation The Pittsburgh Foundation. Last modified June 24, 2020. https://pittsburghfoundation.org/ipa-2020.
10. “Opportunity Fund Team.” Opportunity Fund | Grants for The Arts, and Social and Economic Justice. Accessed September 28, 2020. https://www.theopportunityfund.org/#ourteam.
11. Maruca, Julia. “Local Fund Awards More Than $630,000 to Pittsburgh Arts and Social Justice Organizations.” Pittsburgh City Paper. Last modified June 26, 2020. https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/local-fund-awards-more-than-630000-to-pittsburgh-arts-and-social-justice-organizations/Content?oid=17527515.