Redefining Philanthropy: How the Disability Inclusion Fund is Architecting a New Ecosystem of Justice

In the traditional landscape of institutional philanthropy, funding for the disability community has long been defined by a "charity model"—a top-down approach that prioritizes medical research and direct services while often sidelining the actual voices, autonomy, and lived experiences of disabled people. However, a seismic shift is underway, led by the Disability Inclusion Fund (DIF) at Borealis Philanthropy. By centering the expertise of the disabled community and embracing a participatory grantmaking model, the DIF is proving that true liberation requires more than just capital; it requires a fundamental redistribution of power.

The Genesis of a Movement: A New Paradigm

The Disability Inclusion Fund was established in 2020, emerging during a period of global reckoning regarding systemic inequality. Since its inception, the fund has moved $19 million into the hands of grassroots organizations led by and for disabled people. The core philosophy driving this work is simple yet radical: those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.

The work is spearheaded by leaders like Brown-Booker, a disability justice practitioner whose own intersectional identity—as a Black and Filipino individual who has lived with a disability for her entire life—informs every facet of the fund’s strategy. Under her guidance, the DIF does not function as a traditional gatekeeper. Instead, it operates as a bridge, facilitating resources to projects that the community itself identified as essential during an exhaustive initial landscape analysis.

Chronology: From Concept to $19 Million Impact

• 2020: The Disability Inclusion Fund (DIF) is launched under the umbrella of Borealis Philanthropy, with an explicit mission to support disability justice work and leadership.
• 2020–2021: The DIF conducts a massive landscape analysis, engaging directly with community members to identify funding gaps. The findings reveal that while medical research and direct services receive significant funding, the "infrastructure of liberation"—arts, technology, rest, and collaborative organizing—is chronically under-resourced.
• 2021–2023: The fund implements a participatory grantmaking model, inviting disabled leaders to sit on committees and decide where capital is directed.
• 2024: Total disbursements reach the $19 million milestone, funding diverse initiatives ranging from Sins Invalid’s cultural work to "joy grants" that prioritize the sustainability and mental health of disabled activists.

The Infrastructure of Liberation: Beyond the Check

One of the most profound critiques of modern philanthropy is the tendency for funders to restrict capital to specific, project-based deliverables. This often forces organizations into a cycle of "performative productivity" that ignores the need for organizational health.

The DIF breaks this cycle by providing general operating support. By allowing grantees the autonomy to allocate funds where they are most needed—whether that is staff salaries, rent, technological upgrades, or even rest—the DIF recognizes that an organization’s stability is its greatest asset.

"We are constantly asking what the ecosystem needs besides a check," says Dozan, a key leader at Borealis. This approach encompasses capacity building, executive leadership transition support, and robust mentorship. By treating grantees as partners in an ecosystem rather than mere recipients of aid, the DIF is building long-term institutional power for the disability movement.

Official Responses: Shifting the Donor Mindset

A significant challenge in the philanthropic sector is the disconnect between donors and the communities they intend to serve. For Borealis, bridging this gap requires more than just standard reporting; it requires a fundamental change in how donors perceive their own role.

Dozan emphasizes that donor engagement is not about education in the traditional sense, but about transformation. "There is an intentionality in inviting donors to ‘move differently,’" she notes. When a donor fails to grasp the necessity of a specific funding path, Dozan does not view it as a failure of the donor’s empathy, but rather as an invitation to approach the information from a different angle.

By helping donors understand the structural realities of the communities they support, Borealis creates a ripple effect. When those donors return to their own rooms and board meetings, they bring with them a new vocabulary and a new set of questions. "The next time that they’re sitting in a room making a decision about capital, they are asking a different question because of something that they learned through us," says Dozan. "And that is how we hold each other accountable."

Supporting Data: Where the Money Goes

The allocation of the $19 million distributed by the DIF illustrates a departure from historical funding patterns. While traditional foundations have poured billions into medical research that often objectifies disabled bodies, the DIF has prioritized:

1. Technology and Access: Investing in the digital tools that enable disabled people to participate fully in modern society.
2. Arts and Culture: Funding organizations like Sins Invalid, which use the arts to challenge the stigma of disability and celebrate the richness of disabled identity.
3. The Ethics of Rest: Through "joy grants," the fund acknowledges that the labor of activism is grueling. Providing the resources for leaders to rest is treated as a strategic investment in the movement’s longevity.
4. Collaborative Grants: Supporting multi-organizational coalitions that work on intersectional policy and community defense.

Implications for the Future of Philanthropy

The model utilized by the DIF and Borealis Philanthropy offers a blueprint for the future of the social sector. It challenges the "savior complex" that has historically plagued charitable giving and replaces it with a model of accountability and mutualism.

1. The Power of Participatory Grantmaking

By allowing communities to make the decisions, the DIF minimizes the inherent power imbalance between the funder and the funded. This ensures that the funding is not just well-intentioned, but actually effective.

2. Radical Accessibility

Accessibility is often treated as a box to be checked, but for Borealis, it is a foundational pillar. Their open-door policy, where grantees can engage directly with program officers to troubleshoot challenges, creates a culture of transparency that is rare in the opaque world of institutional funding.

3. Long-term Ecosystem Investment

By focusing on capacity building and infrastructure, the DIF is ensuring that when the "next big thing" in activism arises, the disability community will have the organizational strength to respond from a position of power, rather than a position of scarcity.

Conclusion: A Movement-Centered Future

The work being done by the Disability Inclusion Fund is a testament to what happens when we stop asking, "What does the charity need?" and start asking, "What does the movement need?"

As Brown-Booker aptly summarizes, the accountability to the movement space is what distinguishes the DIF from its peers. By listening to the community, respecting their expertise, and providing the resources necessary for them to define their own path toward liberation, the DIF is not just funding disability justice—it is actively participating in it.

The success of this $19 million initiative serves as a clarion call to the rest of the philanthropic sector: the time for top-down, restricted, and paternalistic funding is over. In its place, we must build a future defined by community-led decisions, institutional trust, and a commitment to the radical idea that disabled people are the best architects of their own future. As the ecosystem continues to grow, the lessons learned here will likely shape the trajectory of social justice movements for decades to come, proving that when the community leads, the results are nothing short of transformative.