My natural place is to be hopeful: holding fast to the faith that our work, though arduous, is rooted in a vision that a better world is possible.  “The arc of moral history is long, but it bends toward justice.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This faith is certainly being tested in this period […]

What’s possible through collective effort This month I’m sharing an open letter with you. My thoughts are addressed to an amazing group of eighteen people who said yes to being the first cohort of donor organizers in Maine Initiatives’ inaugural Giving Project. Since 2010, Giving Projects across the country have trained thousands of donor organizers […]

Maine Initiatives Senior Director Shima Kabirigi has led the Immigrant-Led Organizations (ILO) Fund and the Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative since 2018. In our April 2025 interview, Shima shares reflections on opening applications to the 2nd year of the ILO Fund’s participatory program, the differences she sees now in attacks on immigrants’ rights compared to […]

Please join us in celebrating the 2025 Giving Project Fund for Community Organizing Grantees: Each of these organizations is doing important and inspiring work that shows how community organizing is a powerful lever for making change from the bottom up. Their work is democracy in action led by and for their communities, and focuses on critical […]

The Declaration of Independence states that the government must derive its “just powers from the consent of the governed.”  I do not consent.  I do not consent to closing our nation’s doors to refugees and asylum seekers and opening new doors of entry for wealthy people willing to pay $5 million for a “Gold Card.” I […]

We are not backing down. On his first full day in office, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) that ended DEI programs in the federal government. While it is clearly within the President’s authority to shape and shift the focus of the agencies and departments of the Executive branch of government, this EO went […]

Costco. Walmart. McDonalds. American Airlines. Starbucks. All of these major corporations have been in the news recently for their actions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI): either rededicating themselves to a culture that values and prioritizes DEI (Costco) or explicitly stepping back from these commitments (Walmart, McDonalds, American, Starbucks).  While this may seem to […]

Maine Initiatives announces its 2024 Grants for Change Cohort, awarding $540,000 in new grants to 12 community-based organizations whose work advances racial justice in Maine. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: lia@maineinitiatives.org December 16, 2024 Maine Initiatives is thrilled to announce the 2024 Grants for Change Cohort: 99 Years PodcastBlack Owned MaineLand in CommonMaine Indian Tribal-State CommissionMaine […]