The Silverbird Fund is a private foundation that supports social entrepreneurs.
We believe that, with proper support, the efforts of small-scale, committed and talented changemakers can grow into powerful and lasting transformation.
We work both at the local and national levels, and look to create synergistic bridges between the two.
SILVERBIRD CT
The Silverbird Fund’s work in Connecticut focuses on supporting innovative, talented and committed social entrepreneurs in Fairfield County, one of the America's wealthiest yet socially and economically unequal communities. We look for leaders who have the vision and drive to make a lasting difference in the lives of those they serve, and to effect change more broadly in the community and beyond.
Find: we look for people close to the problems they seek to solve, and who have limited access to funding
Fund: we make multi-year commitments and provide unrestricted funding
Support: we work to help our grantees connect with other funding, coaching, and other useful relationships and supports
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A national nonprofit organization that trains, support, and sustains family child care providers. The mission of All Our Kin is to transform the nation’s child care system, which results in a triple win: child care providers succeed as business owners; working parents find stable, high-quality care for their children; and children gain an educational foundation that lays the groundwork for achievement.
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Black Boarders CT is a nonprofit organization that gives Black and Brown youth access to the slopes, promoting diversity and inclusion in winter sports, snowboarding in particular.
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This nonprofit organization focuses on promoting peace through sport. They provide Bridgeport families the tools to help stop the senseless trauma and violence affecting our youth. They use sports as a vehicle for conflict resolution based on a multifaceted approach of prevention, intervention, enforcement, and social-emotional tools. They empower youth with self-confidence, discipline, and skills necessary to succeed in sports and life.
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Faith Acts for Education are people of faith building power to get children the education they deserve. They believe that every child deserves the opportunity to graduate from college, take care of their family, and fulfill their God-given potential.
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INTEMPO is a Stamford, CT-based youth-development organization that provides high-quality classical and intercultural music education to children predominantly from immigrant backgrounds and from communities underrepresented in the arts.
INTEMPO is committed to connecting the dots between intercultural music education and its influence on the overall development of children.
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RYASAP (Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership) works to ensure the safe and healthy development of youth, young adults, and families by actively engaging organizations, public officials, and community leaders around issues that matter most to the community.
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YBI is committed to empowering underprivileged youth with workforce readiness & business development skills for community development. YBI’s vision is for all communities to be inclusive, stronger, and well connected for the benefit of every child.
SILVERBIRD US
In addition to its local initiatives, Silverbird actively supports national networks of social entrepreneurs, creating a bridge between its place-based work and broader efforts. This approach encourages a two-way flow: integrating national insights into our regional activities and elevating local projects into national neworks. By doing so, Silverbird fosters meaningful collaborations and added impact, both locally and nationally.
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Ashoka pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship forty years ago and have supported to date almost four thousand Ashoka Fellows across the globe with stipends, catalytic connections, strategic advice, and an unmatched peer community that is for life.
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Arbor Rising funds and supports promising social entrepreneurs so they can grow their ideas into sustainable forces for change. In addition to unrestricted funding, Arbor Rising grants include hundreds of hours of our capacity-building consulting support around key initiatives such as outcomes measurement, financial forecasting, and stakeholder management.
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Camelback aims to create a more diverse social innovation ecosystem that leverages the genius of all people. They identify local leaders with promising ideas, and empower them to enact change within their communities through our initiatives where we provide an intentional blend of coaching, capital, connections, community, and curriculum.
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Promise is a nonprofit venture studio that attracts, supports, and connects promising entrepreneurial talent, capital and stakeholders to pave the way for the sustainable growth and impact of social entrepreneurship in Early Childhood Development (ECD). They support nonprofit and for-profit ventures and organizations at any stage of development that reach (directly or indirectly) children, prenatal to age 5 in the U.S., and their families and communities who are facing the greatest adversities.
The Silverbird Fund additionally supports a group of organizations that have captured our attention by using innovative methodologies and practices when supporting the members of their community.
These organizations combine the use of the arts, meditation and mindfulness practices, literacy programs, and their community’s strengths to create learning spaces for children and adults, alike.
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Community Access to the Arts nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities through the arts. Through dynamic arts workshops in painting, dance, theater, singing, drumming, juggling, yoga, creative writing, and more, CATA artists tap into their potential, explore new talents, and share their unique points of view.
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The Children’s Literacy Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire a love of reading and writing among children up to age 12 throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. Since 1998, CLiF has served over 350,000 children at higher risk of growing up with low literacy skills in communities across every region of the Twin States.
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Community Mindfulness Project empowers all people to lead healthier lives by expanding access to mindful meditation. Their services include: meditation & nonviolent communications sessions and workshops; community listening, brave space conversations; and training & support for affiliates, facilitators.
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Give a Beat’s mission is to use the power of music as a pathway to healing and opportunity for those impacted by the criminal justice system.
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Inner Explorer is a mindfulness platform designed to support mental health and well-being in schools and centers. Through daily practice with Inner Explorer, school communities learn how to cultivate critical life skills, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and resilience. These skills work to address chronic stress, trauma, and adversity, while also fostering compassionate and equitable learning environments.
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Inward Bound’s mission is to provide in-depth mindfulness programming for youth and the parents and professionals who support them. Inward Bound’s programs guide participants in developing self-awareness, compassion, and ethical decision making, and empowers them to apply these skills in improving their lives and communities.
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Kite’s Nest is a center for liberatory education in Hudson, NY. Their mission is to build the collective capacity of young people to bring about personal transformation, social connection, healing, and systemic change. Their programs engage experiential education, the arts, meaningful job training, and civic action as tools for building community power.
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PMI’s mission is to provide prisoners, prison staff, and prison volunteers, with the most effective, evidence-based tools for rehabilitation, self-transformation, and personal & professional development. In particular, they provide and promote the use of proven effective mindfulness-based interventions (MBI’s).
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Room to Read envisions a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that prepares them to lead fulfilled lives and make positive change — in their families, communities and the world. They are achieving this goal by helping children in historically low-income communities develop literacy skills and a habit of reading, and by supporting girls as they build skills to succeed in school and negotiate key life decisions.
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Sow Well Tots is on a mission to sow the seeds of well beings through nurturing, nature-based early childhood education for children of all backgrounds, ensuring that their school is a place where the cultural wholeness of children is seen and embraced.
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The Student Diplomacy Corps (SDC) creates opportunities for underserved high school students from across the nation to access dynamic summer study away programs that build college readiness, deepen empathy and unleash the potential of youth.
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Whole School Mindfuless envisions a mindful education system in which every school has access to a culturally responsive Mindfulness Director. They envision compassionate, resilient schools that support all community members to meet personal, relational, and global challenges with increased clarity and an unwavering commitment to justice.
Silverbird does not accept grant applications or requests for funding, however we are always interested to learn about new leaders and organizations in our focus areas. To be added to our inquiry and contact list, please share your email contact.