Lever for Change will celebrate its third birthday this month and we have much to celebrate. When we launched in 2019, we hoped to accelerate solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems by encouraging problem solvers to think big and by connecting those big ideas with donors willing to support them with large, multi-year grants of more than $10 million. Our team of six had serious doubts about whether we would succeed. Nonetheless, we set out with the ambitious goal of driving $1 billion in philanthropic funding to outstanding organizations by 2023.

The $22 million Stronger Democracy Award will drive structural reforms to help improve political representation and increase the participation of all citizens in the United States’ democratic process.

Lever for Change announced nonprofit microlending platform JUST as the recipient of the inaugural Jack Dilenschneider Award for Social Justice.

Thanksgiving makes me think of pecan pie and pecan pie makes me think of pareto optimality. What can I tell you? I’m an economist.

In May 2021, Lever for Change introduced the Swift Grants fund, aimed to provide small grants to Bold Solutions Network members for collaborative projects. This fund provided an outlet for the world’s top problem solvers to leverage expertise and join forces to find creative solutions in their fields.

Racial Equity 2030 will unleash transformative solutions to improve the lives of children, families, and communities across the world.

In the latest issue of Social Investor magazine, Cecilia A. Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change and managing director at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, shares her work accelerating the impact of philanthropy.

Hosted by Pivotal Ventures, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The Challenge Will Award Additional Funding to Two Finalists and Feature Top Ideas On the New Equality Can’t Wait Idea Lab Website

A friend of mine, a master teacher, is fond of an exercise in which she asks her students to briefly study a dime and then, without looking back at it, write down 10 of its features. Most can only recall two or three. Then she asks students to join forces in small groups and, working together, most can now reconstruct the full list. How does this apply to our work at Lever for Change? We’ve learned that working in partnership with others often leads to increased productivity and better outcomes for all.

Funding Will Help Increase Industrial Renewable Thermal Energy 150 Percent and Slash Industrial Thermal Emissions 30% by 2030.