Accelerator Grants
Meet LFW’s Accelerator Grantees
We are excited to introduce our 2023 Accelerator Grant recipients. Accelerator Grants are one-time grants designed to accelerate time-sensitive civil justice work and launch impactful projects. The grants support innovative and responsive initiatives that benefit from a one-time infusion of funds.
LFW funds civil justice organizations doing strong anti-racist work, centering historically excluded communities, and impacting long-lasting systemic change. The grants prioritize civil justice work for groups that have been disproportionately under-resourced by legal aid, including: Native and Indigenous Peoples, clients without lawful immigration status, and the civil/criminal divide for re-entry and justice-system impacted individuals.
For the 2023 grant cycle, LFW’s Board awarded Accelerator Grants to seven outstanding projects. We centered race equity in our evaluation process, considering the proposal’s fit within the grant’s criteria and priorities, the organization’s leadership, community involvement and anti-racist practices, and the potential impact the proposal could have on BIPOC communities.
Read more about those projects below.
2023 Accelerator Grantees
Carl Maxey Center: $40,000
Launching Spokane’s first Racial Justice Help Center & Legal Clinic to provide free and confidential legal advice, support, and representation to directly address racial discrimination related to employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, healthcare, policing, and more.
CHOOSE 180: $40,000
Expanding services for justice-impacted youth by piloting an integrated legal aid program with Legal Counsel for Youth and Children that includes individualized legal assistance, group workshops, and advising on civil matters such as eviction rights and immigration rights.
Disability Rights Washington & Look2Justice: $55,000
Building a peer-driven, self-sustaining, and replicable legislative advocacy training model by and for incarcerated people in Washington State prisons, focusing on criminal-legal reform, racial justice in sentencing, and how to advocate with impacted people and legislative committees.
El Centro de la Raza: $45,000
Serving the needs of undocumented Latinx clients by providing bilingual legal consultations and referrals on an assortment of legal issues, including immigration and civil legal issues, through in-person clinics at El Centro de la Raza and virtually throughout the state of Washington.
Entre Hermanos: $30,000
Expanding legal services clinic for low-income Latinx trans immigrants to focus on the community’s unique legal needs, including name changes and gender changes on identity documents.
Lavender Rights Project: $60,000
Stopping the deaths of transgender people of color in Washington State through a community-led legal campaign advocating for meaningful policy change to raise awareness and end the mistreatment of people of color within carceral systems.
Skagit Legal Aid: $40,000
Providing high quality, thoughtful, and intentional legal services with local tribal communities in the Skagit Valley and creating a dedicated law clerk position and focused externship with Seattle University for tribal law issues.
LFW is dedicated to being responsive to the emerging needs of the communities we serve.
Our Accelerator Grants are one-time grants designed to accelerate time-sensitive civil justice work and launch impactful projects. The grants support innovative and responsive initiatives that would benefit from a one-time infusion of funds.
We seek to fund civil justice organizations doing strong anti-racist work, centering historically excluded communities, and impacting long-lasting systemic change. Accelerator Grants prioritize civil justice work for groups that have been disproportionally under-resourced by legal aid, including:
- Native and Indigenous peoples,
- clients without lawful immigration status, and
- the civil/criminal divide for re-entry and justice-system impacted individuals.
Grants are one year in length (January 1, 2023- December 31, 2023) and typically range from $20,000-$100,000. Proposals must be focused on civil justice work in Washington State.
Examples of eligible projects include: legal advocacy for establishing a statewide healthcare system for residents without lawful immigration status; or launching a new app that helps clear Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs). Ineligible projects include: on-going expenses; budget shortfalls; board training; etc.
A Letter of Intent (LOI) is the first step of the grant application process for Accelerator Grants. An LOI is an overview of your organization and project. You can view the LOI here. You will receive notification by September 23 if LFW’s board has selected your proposal to move on to a full application. The full applications will be due October 7 and includes more detailed questions about the goals and impact of your project.
Who can apply: Civil legal aid providers or organizations in partnership with civil legal aid providers are eligible to apply.
Grant amount: Typically range from $20,000 to $100,000