Blog : Arts

Hello Everyone,

2025 has been a pivotal year for Opportunity Fund, for Pittsburgh, and for the nation at large. This year challenged us to grow as a philanthropic organization and as individuals.

We celebrated our ten-year anniversary, honoring ten years of working alongside brilliant grant partners and fellow foundations supporting the arts and social and economic justice – ten years of getting to know so many of you so well. Truly, it is the best part of our jobs. To date, Opportunity Fund has distributed a total of $20,382,786, 93% of which specifically benefits the Greater Pittsburgh region.

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CONTACT: 
Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund Executive Director 
jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org, 412-362-1300

PITTSBURGH, PA, November 7, 2025 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $968,000 to 71 partners as part of its second grant cycle in 2025. The foundation reviewed 176 requests for funding, requesting over $3.4 million. 

“Our guiding values have always included social justice, racial justice, queer liberation, and valuing of the arts and artists,” said Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund’s Executive Director. “While the current political moment features a federal government that employs intimidation tactics to scare people with resources away from directing them to specific populations and issues, we will not be deterred by political threats. As this cohort of grant partners exemplifies, we will move forward as we always have.

At a time when immigrants and refugees are being targeted and terrorized, the cycle’s largest grant ($150,000) joins other regional funders to pool support for the Collaborative for Immigrant Impact, a coalition of 18 organizations, to fuel a rapid, collective response to address the immediate impacts of policy changes on immigrant and refugee families in southwestern Pennsylvania.  

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PITTSBURGH, PA, April 18, 2025 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $933,489 as part of its first grant cycle in 2025. The foundation reviewed 164 requests for funding, requesting over $2.7 million. 

Opportunity Fund aspires to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners that are built on trust. The majority of all grants that Opportunity Fund awards provide unrestricted general operating support, which empower partners to use grant funds as they best see fit to meet their goals. This cycle, 89% of all the grant funds offer general operating support. 40% of the funding went to Black-led organizations, 44% to white-led, and 16% to Asian or Latino/a/e-led organizations or teams with multiracial leadership.

A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

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CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund Executive Director 
jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org

PITTSBURGH, PA, November 20, 2024 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $1,380,500 in the second half of 2024. The foundation reviewed 176 requests for funding, requesting nearly $3.2 million. This cycle, 70 full applications were reviewed by one of the following: an arts community panel, a social & economic justice community panel, or Opportunity Fund’s Board of Directors.

Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members. Part of this is providing general operating support which is funding that is unrestricted and allows organizations to use it as they best see fit to meet their goals. The majority of this cycle’s grant funding, 72%, provides unrestricted general operating support. Black-led organizations make up 43% of this cycle’s total grant partners, 29% are white-led, and 19% have Asian, Latino/a/e, or multiracial leadership teams. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

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CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org

PITTSBURGH, PA, May 25, 2023 — The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $1,040,750 in its ninth year of grantmaking. The Board of Directors and two community panels funded 62 out of 152 requests, plus 3 discretionary grants, that were seeking a total of $2,527,971. 31% of the dollars are for the arts and 69% for social and economic justice. The majority of this funding, 77%, is for unrestricted general operating support that can be used flexibly. 75% of grant partners are BIPOC-led organizations or organizations with multi-racial leadership teams; 66% are Black-led organizations. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

Including this current grant cycle, the foundation has awarded 980 grants totaling nearly $14 million since its inception in 2015. Grant cycles take place twice a year. Letter of Inquiry deadlines are January 15 and July 15 each year. Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of our website.

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CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org

PITTSBURGH, PA, December 7, 2022 — The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $1,447,000 in the second half of its eighth year of grantmaking. The Board of Directors, along with two community panels, funded 79 out of 145 requests that were seeking a total of $2,350,536. The majority of this funding, 77%, is for unrestricted general operating support that can be used flexibly as needed. 64% of grant partners are BIPOC-led organizations or organizations with multi-racial leadership teams; 50% are Black-led organizations. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

Since its inception in 2015, the foundation has awarded 914 grants totaling over $12.8 million. Grant cycles take place twice a year. Letter of Inquiry deadlines are January 15 and July 15 each year. Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of our website.

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