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 […]

The blessings of democracy are not automatic. Our system is designed to be powered by an engaged citizenry. So here is where we are now: we must rise to the challenge.  We know that the incoming administration will pursue a policy agenda that directly and negatively impacts the communities and the issues that are at […]

Words can be overrated in moments like this. Sometimes, sitting with the quiet is all that is called for and all that feels doable. But we at Maine Initiatives want to offer the following words of encouragement. Our work – what we do and why we do it – is rooted in deep and powerful […]