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Black Migrant Power Fund

Website:

www.blackmigrantpowerfund.org/
Type:

Immigration Advocacy Group
Formation:

2022
Director:

Ola Osaze

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The Black Migrant Power Fund is an advocacy group that promotes the interests of Black immigrants and supports general liberal expansionist immigration policies. 1

The fund is a fundraising group on behalf of 13 groups that make up the fund’s membership. 2 The Four Freedoms Fund houses the fund, and the Four Freedoms Fund is in turn is itself housed at NEO Philanthropy, which is a left-of-center pass-through funding and fiscal sponsorship group. 3

Background

The Four Freedoms Fund and NEO Philanthropy founded the Black Migrant Power Fund in February 2022 after the controversial removal of Haitian illegal immigrants in near Del Rio, Texas in September 2021. The Four Freedoms Fund and NEO Philanthropy called a funder meeting in October 2021 titled “Centering Collective Black Power for Migrant and Racial Justice” which laid the foundation for the creation of Black Migrant Power Fund. 4

The left-of-center National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy provided strategic assistance in the creation of the fund. 5

In the fund’s first year, it raised over $4 million and gave $1.3 million to Black-led groups working on liberal expansionist immigration issues. 6

Funding Priorities

The Black Migrant Power Fund funds Black-led groups working on expanding immigration, especially from countries with significant populations of African descent. The fund supports efforts combating enforcement of immigration laws, particularly against Black immigrants; efforts to release Black families from immigration detention, advocacy for temporary protected status for Cameroonians, and advocacy for the repeal of Title 42, which it claims blocks people from seeking asylum at the southern border. 7

The group claimed credit for increased legal protections for Haitian migrants, ending the Remain in Mexico program which required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico until their legal process had concluded, expanding temporary protected status for people from Liberia and Myanmar, and passing legislation that increased regulations on immigration-related bail bonds in New York State. 8

The group’s primary donation recipients are the African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA), African Communities Together (ACT), Afroresistance, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP), Black Immigrant Collective, FANM, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, PANA, UndocuBlack Network, and Women Watch Afrika (WWA). These 13 groups also make up the fund’s membership. 9

Leadership

The Black Migrant Power Fund’s former lead director was Ola Osaze. Osaze works as a deputy director for the Four Freedoms Fund. Previously, Osaze co-founded and worked as the director for the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project. Osaze is a formerly illegal immigrant and previously worked for the Transgender Law Center, the Audre Lorde Project, Uhuru Wazobia, Queers for Economic Justice, and Sylvia Rivera Law Project. 10 Osaze joined the Trans Justice Funding Project in August 2023. 11

Jonathan Jayes-Green is a director of the fund in charge of setting up the governance and grantmaking structure. Jayes-Green previously worked as the vice president of programs at the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the founding executive director of UndocuBlack Network, and worked as the former national “Latinx” director for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) 2020 presidential campaign. 12

Donors

Several left-of-center foundations have donated to the Black Migrant Power Fund including Heising-Simons Foundation ($300,000), 13 WES Mariam Assefa Fund (undisclosed amount), 14 Ford Foundation ($812,500), 15 and Surdna Foundation ($300,000). 16

References

  1. Augustin, Nomzana. “Black Migrants Are a Key Part of America’s Multiracial Future. Funders Need to Empower Them.” Inside Philanthropy, April 2, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024/4/2/black-migrants-are-a-key-part-of-americas-multiracial-future-funders-need-to-empower-them.
  2. Ananda, Kitana. “This Juneteenth, a Campaign to Fund Black Migrant Power.” Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly, June 16, 2022. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/this-juneteenth-a-campaign-to-fund-black-migrant-power/.
  3. “About.” Black Migrant Power Fund. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.blackmigrantpowerfund.org/about.
  4. Ananda, Kitana. “This Juneteenth, a Campaign to Fund Black Migrant Power.” Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly, June 16, 2022. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/this-juneteenth-a-campaign-to-fund-black-migrant-power/.
  5. “About.” Black Migrant Power Fund. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.blackmigrantpowerfund.org/about.
  6. Augustin, Nomzana. “Black Migrants Are a Key Part of America’s Multiracial Future. Funders Need to Empower Them.” Inside Philanthropy, April 2, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024/4/2/black-migrants-are-a-key-part-of-americas-multiracial-future-funders-need-to-empower-them.
  7. Augustin, Nomzana. “Black Migrants Are a Key Part of America’s Multiracial Future. Funders Need to Empower Them.” Inside Philanthropy, April 2, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024/4/2/black-migrants-are-a-key-part-of-americas-multiracial-future-funders-need-to-empower-them.
  8. “Investing in the Visionary Leadership of Black Migrants through the Black Migrant Power Fund.” Grantmakers for Southern Progress, October 27, 2022. https://g4sp.org/investing-in-the-visionary-leadership-of-black-migrants-through-the-black-migrant-power-fund/.
  9. Ananda, Kitana. “This Juneteenth, a Campaign to Fund Black Migrant Power.” Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly, June 16, 2022. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/this-juneteenth-a-campaign-to-fund-black-migrant-power/.
  10. “About.” Black Migrant Power Fund. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.blackmigrantpowerfund.org/about.
  11. “Ola Osaze Joins the Team!” Trans Justice Funding Project, August 22, 2022. https://www.transjusticefundingproject.org/ola-osaze-joins-the-team/.
  12. “About.” Black Migrant Power Fund. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.blackmigrantpowerfund.org/about.
  13. “Black Migrant Power Fund.” Heising-Simons Foundation. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.hsfoundation.org/grant-highlight/black-migrant-power-fund/.
  14. “Four Freedoms Fund (Black Migrant Power Fund).” World Education Services. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.wes.org/fund/grantee/four-freedoms-fund-black-migrant-power-fund/.
  15. “144735 – Neo Philanthropy, Inc..” Ford Foundation. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/neo-philanthropy-inc-144735/.
  16. “Grants Database.” Surdna Foundation. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://surdna.org/grants-database/page/2/.
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