Sow Joy Peoples Fund

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Sow Joy Peoples Fund

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The Sow Joy Peoples Fund is a community led funding initiative supporting Black, Indigenous, people or color-led EJ grassroots organizations.

09/30/2026

Power feels risky when you don’t know what will happen when you share it. But that impulse needs to be relinquished. Because so much more beauty, creativity, authority and impact emerge when a community’s collective wisdom is harnessed. Some of our greatest wins were bore out of shared power—labor unions won future safeguards blocking mass terminations during budget fights (Sep 2026) and a federal minimum wage. Tenant unions won federal rent caps on LIHTC properties and public housing rents capped at 30% of a renters income. Neighborhood associations secured ongoing federal budget appropriations to Promise Neighborhood program. If philanthropy is going to share power, it needs to think beyond participation invitations and start thinking about institutions and structures where ppl have an ongoing stake in making decisions.

09/24/2026

“Got my ppl with me! The hottest ppl in the city and we keep ‘em with me”. We have one of the most talented community boards on this side of the Mississippi. And they can bring that talent to your community or organization. Drop your next event or volunteer activity so we can bring the squad out! If you need more personalized support, they have skills in org development, grant writing, and communications 😜 Serving the EJ movement is actually their job.

09/21/2026

A funder can conduct listening sessions or invite community members onto an advisory committee. These practices can be meaningful. But if the funder ultimately retains control over money, priorities, and the terms of the relationship, the fundamental power dynamic may remain largely unchanged. It’s important to know how the information from those listening sessions influence and shape actions of a foundation. It’s important to know what decisions advisory committees have authority on. At Sow Joy, participatory grant making is not the destination, but an ongoing practice to examine power, relationship, and accountability.

09/14/2026

We convene the environmental justice ecosystem at least two times a year for coordinating and Joy making. As a Grantmakers, our support doesn’t end with a grant. It goes out into the streets, it ensures material conditions are changed for communities and organizations are effective. As a movement, we jam together, plan together and stand together. Join us in building an ecosystem where we can all thrive.

09/10/2026

Sowing Joy. Sowing Justice. You might remember Tyrean Lewis as a small plot in North City, where neighbors watched over and protected it. It’s still there! With Samantha Minor stewarding the land with family and friends based in the neighborhood, reading stories to the little ones, and passing out the harvest. BUT Tyrean Lewis has grown and continues: With Tyrean at the helm, they have expanded to leased land to feed some of our cities biggest institutions like Saint Louis Zoo and restaurants alike contributing to a robust local food system. For their next phase, Heru is in search for additional land and will be sharing the wealth and knowledge by providing plots to interested youth. Supporting Sow Joy means sends ripples through our food, community economic systems. Reach out to our team to see how you can make a difference.

09/08/2026

🤣 🤣 🤣 Nonstop webinars, sessions and conferences on Trust Based Philanthropy or Equity Centered Decision Making or the theoretical concepts…you can’t conference your organization out of decades of traditional philanthropy. You just have to undo it, stop doing it, and get this…START DOING IT! If you find your foundation keeps getting stuck in these arduous and roundabout discussions, email our team and we can help you to stop counting on your fingers and toes and take the first steps in undoing, stop doing and starting 😃

08/27/2026

Sowing Joy in North County: Our grantee Janett Lewis is expanding! You originally knew Rustic Roots as a 6-acre farm with holistic wellness retreats, Saturday Farmers Market, and food boxes for our seniors. NOW they acquired additional lots and have since expanded to 16 ACRES for the future FOOD HUB and FOOD STORE. Serving up local and organic produce and value added products from the Rustic Roots farm and some of your favorite farmers in the St. Louis area. It’s not just a farm, it’s an emerging local food system.

08/24/2026

JOB POSTING‼️Now hiring funders to do their jobs

08/19/2026

We aren’t just sowing joy at Sow Joy Peoples Fund. We are Sowing Justice.

Grantee Tenants Transforming Greater St. Louis win better living conditions for renters

Spark local and regional campaigns

Organize and train renters in legal empowerment and renters rights

Takes the narrative to places of power

And NOW: Authors in a collaborative anthology! Their contributions go into courtrooms, municipal boardrooms, and classrooms driving the narrative of quality and dignified housing for all. We are honored to support the work of Tenants Transforming Greater St. Louis where justice is sowed

08/17/2026

Our team is back in the office from a much needed reprieve. We are here to remind ya’ll and ourselves of our focus:
1) Fund 2) Convene 3) Build

Address

St. Louis, MO

Website

http://www.sowjoyfund.org/

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