Since joining Maine Initiatives in 2018, I have been in awe of what I have witnessed and learned from the immigrant-led ecosystem in Maine. This is a diverse, robust, resilient, and tenacious network of organizations working across a wide range of sectors: farming, food security, health, housing, gender justice, community organizing, advocacy, and more. They are deeply woven into the social and economic fabric of communities across Maine. They are contributing invaluable perspectives that build inclusive policies and intercultural understanding that benefit everyone across our state.  They are here to stay.

They are also a community repeatedly under attack and scapegoated for political aims. Violent arrests by federal immigration officers. Disregard of constitutionally protected civil liberties. Abandonment of legal precedents. False and dehumanizing rhetoric. Fighting against this hate time and time again requires a broad coalition of support.

The immigrant-led ecosystem is made up of organizations and leaders that know how to work responsively and collaboratively: they build bridges across communities to prioritize safety, advocacy, and factual and timely communication for those most at risk. It is one of the great privileges of my work that I get to be in deep relationship with these immigrant-led and -serving nonprofits, and lead a mobilization of resources with values-aligned allies, advocates, and wealth holders to protect and expand their essential work. 

This month, the 2025 Immigrant-Led Organizations Rapid Response Fund will distribute $583,300 to 44 immigrant-led and immigrant-supporting organizations in Maine. These grants support critically-important and trusted organizations on the frontlines of the current crises facing immigrants, migrants, refugees, and the undocumented, recognizing that there are pressing and diverse needs across the state. 40 of the grants will go directly to ILOs providing unique and vital services. The remaining grants will support infrastructure organizations who play an instrumental backbone role within the sector, including Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, and The Refugee and Human Rights Clinic at Maine Law. 

This is the sixth wave of rapid response funding the Immigrant-Led Organizations Fund has awarded since 2017, totalling over $2 million to immigrant-led organizations statewide to date. These efforts would not have been possible without the support of the Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative, a network of institutional funders, donor advisors, and individual donors committed to supporting immigrant flourishing in Maine. Rapid response funding work like this runs alongside the Immigrant-Led Organizations (ILO) Fund’s community-led, participatory grantmaking program, which provides multi-year, unrestricted grants to ILOs and will be launching its 3rd round of open applications in March 2026. 

Maine Initiatives remains steadfast in its long-term commitment and solidarity with immigrants of color and the nonprofit partners that support their self-determination, safety, and legal rights. I encourage everyone to learn more about Maine Initiatives’ immigrant-led and -serving grantees. You can support them all with a single donation by selecting the immigrant-serving focus area on the MaineShare online giving platform. These are the leaders on the forefront of immigrant flourishing, standing up for the community bonds we’ve all woven across Maine that protect our shared humanity, safety, neighborhood connections, and hope for a brighter future. 

In solidarity,
Shima Kabirigi, Senior Director 

Photo: Shima Kabirigi speaking to participants at the 2025 Immigrant-Led Organizations Fund Retreat. Photo credit: Yoon S. Byun