New Profit Launches Inaugural Alumni Lab Cohort

New Profit is excited to welcome 12 Catalyze alumni organizations to our new Alumni Lab Catalyze cohort, providing $50,000 in unrestricted funding and advisory support to organizations working across the country to drive change and generate opportunity. As New Profit’s first cross-sector cohort of Catalyze alumni, these organizations model unique ways of collaborating across lines of difference to deliver critical support to the communities they serve.

The Alumni Lab cohort was developed in response to feedback from previous participants of our Catalyze cohorts that ongoing support from New Profit and access to a peer community are more important than ever. The recent and significant changes in the operating environment for many nonprofits—including a drastic reduction in federal funding, declining trust in institutions and social cohesion, and uncertainty about the future—have created major instability across the sector. In listening sessions, grantees highlighted the importance of flexible funding and access to a peer community in order to adapt their strategies to the changing environment. In some cases that means expanding their programs to meet increased needs, making a strategic pivot as an organization, or exploring formalized partnerships. 

New Profit’s Alumni Lab aims to provide social entrepreneurs with flexible, patient capital and peer support so they can continue to generate long-term impact while investing in their organizational sustainability. Organizations in this cohort are led by proximate leaders who are deeply connected to the communities they serve. As a result, they are able to lift the most pressing challenges those communities are currently facing and address urgent, critical needs. Additionally, these leaders are uniquely positioned to be thought partners and sounding boards for fellow cohort members who are navigating the shifting landscape. 

We invite you to learn more about these organizations and the impact they’re creating below:

• Black Girls Smile’s mission is to empower the mental health and well-being of young Black women and girls by providing gender-responsive and culturally-affirming mental wellness education, resources, and support. 

• Centro Unido Latino-Americano’s mission is to create secure spaces, establish cross-cultural partnerships, and promote social justice, health equity, and inclusive education opportunities for the Latinx community and beyond.

• Chainless Change’s mission is to serve as a community of recovery, advocacy, and support for those negatively impacted by the criminal legal system. 

• Convivir Colorado’s mission is to support youth impacted by migration as they find power in their migrant experience and use it to enrich themselves and their Colorado communities.

• Emergent Works’ mission is to build freedom through digital fluency, education, employment, and economic mobility. 

• Grassroots Law & Organizing for Workers is dedicated to leveraging legal resources to enhance the capacity and sustainability of the low-wage worker movement.

• Rhizome’s missionis to build collective power for young people to create the safer, happier, and healthier world they want to live in.

• Rural Opportunity Institute’s mission is to support youth, organizations, and communities to interrupt the cycle of generational trauma and design innovative solutions for healing and resilience.

• Sembrando Sentido’s mission is to foster civil society advocacy to combat the misuse of public funds, ensuring a fair and equitable distribution of resources in Puerto Rico. 

• Social Creatures’ mission is to build healthier communities and ensure that any individual, especially those who are socially isolated, can connect with others regardless of their circumstances.

• The Southern Movement Committee’s mission is to transform Tennessee by utilizing base building and leadership development to shift power, strengthen democracy, and enable communities to govern themselves.

• Vocal Justice’s mission is to inspire and prepare Black and Brown youth and other marginalized young people to become lifelong leaders for liberation.

In the coming year, this cohort will co-create a learning community through in-person convenings and virtual learning sessions, working with organizational leaders and the New Profit team and network to address the challenges and opportunities leaders are facing. We believe this cohort, comprised of alumni from our Civic Lab, Economic Mobility, Unlocked Futures, Equitable Education Recovery Initiative, and Mental Health Equity cohorts, will offer intersectional learning and growth opportunities for one another and the broader New Profit community.  

Stay up to date on these organizations and our full portfolio by subscribing to New Profit’s newsletter. Entrepreneurs in this cohort will also have the opportunity to share more about their work through our ongoing Social Entrepreneur Spotlight series. Learn more about New Profit’s funding opportunities here. 

About New Profit

New Profit is a venture philanthropy organization that backs social entrepreneurs who are expanding access and opportunity in America. New Profit exists to build a bridge between these leaders and a community of philanthropists who are committed to catalyzing their impact. New Profit provides unrestricted grants and strategic support to a portfolio of organizations led by visionary social entrepreneurs to increase their impact, scale, and sustainability. It also partners with social entrepreneurs and other cross-sector leaders to shift how philanthropy pursues social change to ensure that all people can thrive. Since its founding in 1998, New Profit has invested over $350M in 275+ high-impact organizations.