Become a Proposal Reader in the 2023 G4C Grantmaking Process

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
― James Baldwin

The open call for Proposal Readers for the 2023 Grants for Change cycle is now live.

Maine Initiatives convenes a broad base of community representatives to assist in the decision-making process for our Grants for Change (G4C) Program. This is an open call for volunteers to review and evaluate grant proposals from applicant organizations. Individuals are invited to apply to join our grantmaking process as Proposal Readers and to apply to join the G4C Grantmaking Advisory Committee. Proposal Readers will be able to attend special trainings, workshops, and events related to the G4C Program. 

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Who can be a Proposal Reader?

• Anyone! No experience necessary.
• All interested community members are invited to an Information and Q&A Session via Zoom.
• Are you a Board member, staff member, or otherwise affiliated with an applicant organization? That’s okay! We have designed our process to identify and mitigate potential conflicts of interest in this process.

What is the Time Commitment?

• Become a Proposal Reader: 5 to 10 hours of at home commitment (September – October 2023)
• Grantmaking Advisory Committee (if selected): Proposal Readers can apply to be selected for the Grantmaking Advisory Committee, which entails a two-day in-person retreat, plus one additional day for grantmaking decisions (all in November 2023), in the greater Portland area.

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Why We Want You To Become a Proposal Reader

• We seek to foster individual and collective change through relationship building and racial justice ecosystem strengthening through our participatory grantmaking process. 
• We open our process up to the full community to create opportunities for individual reflection and collective conversation about the needs of a robust and sustainable racial justice movement across Wabanaki Territory (Maine).
• Through our broad-participatory grantmaking process, we seek to engage people as active agents of greater racial justice in Maine and to mobilize and leverage new financial, social, and human resources to advance racial equity in our communities.
• This year’s grantmaking is part of a three-year commitment, during which Maine Initiatives’ is making $1.5 million in multiyear, unrestricted, general operating support grants to 36 BIPOC-led and -serving organizations furthering racial justice efforts in Maine. Help inform the selection of this year’s G4C cohort of twelve (12) organizations who will receive unrestricted, general operating grants of $45,000 paid out over three (3) years, $15,000 per year!