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OPPORTUNITY FUND ANNOUNCES IAN-JULIAN WILLIAMS AS PROGRAM OFFICER/ARTS

National Endowment for the Arts specialist brings equity-centered approach and commitment to artistic freedom to Pittsburgh-based foundation.

PITTSBURGH, PA, January 7, 2026 — Opportunity Fund is excited to welcome Ian-Julian Williams as Program Officer/Arts. Williams will guide the foundation’s arts grantmaking strategy with emphasis on its three priorities of arts funding: nurturing conditions that free artists to push boundaries in their creative practices, resourcing organizations to function as thriving culture houses, and activating people to develop passionate habits of art-going.

2025 End of Year Reflections

By opportunity-fund
December 23, 2025
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

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.

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $968,000 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

By Opportunity Fund
November 6, 2025
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

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.

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $933,489 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

By Opportunity Fund
April 15, 2025
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

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.

The Moment We Are In

By opportunity-fund
March 6, 2025
Opportunity Fund

Note: This is an excerpt of the speech given by Jake Goodman, Opportunity Fund’s Executive Director, at the foundation’s 10-year anniversary celebration on February 28, 2025.

I want to talk about the time we’re living in right now. It’s just February. Our country has elected a president whose administration is actively expanding its power, authoritarian in nature, dismantling so very much, wreaking devastation left and right. We’ve all been touched by it – some of us more than others. “And then they came for me” has never felt so resonant in my lifetime.

At Opportunity Fund we are asking: What do we do? What can we do? And with whom?

Here’s what I’m thinking:

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $1,380,500 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

By Opportunity Fund
November 15, 2024
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

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.

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $867,750 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

By Opportunity Fund
May 15, 2024
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

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

PITTSBURGH, PA, May 21, 2024 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $867,750 through 60 grants in the first half of 2024. The foundation reviewed 153 requests for funding, requesting over $2.48 million. This cycle, each of the 70 full applications were reviewed by one of the following: an arts community panel, a social & economic justice community panel, or the Opportunity Fund’s Board of Directors.

Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members. Trust is key to building strong relationships and, in turn, being in community. General operating support is a type of 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, 82%, provides unrestricted general operating support. Black-led organizations make up 29% of this cycle’s total grant partners, 47% are white-led, and 24% have Asian or multiracial leadership teams. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

OPPORTUNITY FUND ANNOUNCES ANNUAL REPORT, A PROCESS BOOK

By Opportunity Fund
January 11, 2024
Opportunity Fund

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

PITTSBURGH, PA, January 11, 2024 — Opportunity Fund announces the launch of its “Process Book,” a new type of annual report. This Process Book titled “Building on Trust” is intended to tell the story of the last nine years of work at Opportunity Fund and where the organization is heading. A theme of this journey as documented in the book is the profound importance of building trust, especially as Opportunity Fund looks toward the future.

By opportunity-fund
November 20, 2023
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

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

PITTSBURGH, PA, November 22, 2023 — Opportunity Fund announces grantmaking support in the total amount of $1,340,501 through 71 grants in the second half of the foundation’s ninth year. The foundation reviewed 147 requests for funding, requesting a total of $3,024,397. This cycle, each of the 70 full applications were reviewed by one of the following: an arts community panel, a social & economic justice community panel, or the Opportunity Fund’s Board of Directors who review both arts and social & economic justice applications.

Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members. Trust is key to building strong relationships and, in turn, being in community. General operating support is a type of funding that is unrestricted and allows organizations to use it as they best see fit to meet their goals. The majority of this year’s grant funding, 82%, is unrestricted general operating support. Black-led organizations make up 51% of this year’s total grant partners, 32% are white-led, and 17% have Asian, Latinx, and/or Native leadership teams. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

Exposure Artists Program

Sponsored by The Pittsburgh Foundation and Opportunity Fund, the Exposure Artists Program is guided by a shared belief in the need to support creative practice, to cultivate and fund diversity, and to advocate for racial justice in the arts community.

Exposure aims to elevate the work of artists through activities that create/generate/enhance visibility for the creative process, artwork and societal issues of our time.

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