A $12 million grant competition was announced Wednesday for groups that are working to safely repatriate refugees to their home countries, help them settle and integrate into their host country, or resettle them in a third country.
Lyna Lam, one of the prize’s backers, credits a loan from the Vietnamese community in the United States with helping her family start a business and get on solid financial ground as new immigrants from Vietnam in the 1980s.
“After fleeing war, violence, or persecution, most refugees arrive in their new countries with few possessions and little support,” Lam said in a statement. “We are hoping to find and fund bold ideas to support individuals and families as they rebuild their lives.”
The grant was announced by Lever for Change, an offshoot of the MacArthur Foundation, and Iconiq Impact, a venture-philanthropy effort affiliated with Iconiq Capital Group, a California private-equity firm.
The competition is the third grant competition Lever for Change has managed since it was spun off the MacArthur foundation in 2019 as a separate nonprofit.
Lam and her husband, Chris Larsen, co-founder of the cryptocurrency payment company Ripple, are Iconiq Capital clients. The couple committed $10 million to the competition. The remaining $2 million was committed anonymously by a family that is part of the Iconiq network.
Groups have the best shot at winning a grant if they have deep roots in the community they serve, provide evidence to support their work, and have a plan for long-lasting positive impact.
Top Applicants to Be Announced
Lever for Change was created after MacArthur completed its first cycle of the 100&Change, a global $100 million grant competition. MacArthur committed to a second $100 million round and created Lever for Change to manage smaller competitions, including a $10 million prize for groups that want to increase women’s power and influence in the United States, a $10 million competition sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies to improve the lives of Texans, and a $10 million climate-change competition to reduce emissions in the United States.
Another Iconiq Impact competition, this one for a $10 million grant, is planned with Lever for Change for groups with ideas on how to strengthen American democracy.
Applicants to the original 100&Change competition attracted $419 million from other donors in addition to the $100 million MacArthur committed to the winners, the International Rescue Committee and Sesame Workshop.
To that end, Lever for Change plans to publicly share the top applications of the refugee competition in hopes of luring additional supporters. Organizations interested in participating in the competition must register online before May 5.
