Red Mountain Foundry & Empowerment Fund
Social Justice Accelerator
Birmingham's iconic statute of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the forge. Vulcan, the largest cast iron statue in the world, sits at the top of Red Mountain, overlooking the city that was built by its abundance of three natural resources -- red iron ore, limestone and coal.
The name is inspired by Birmingham's Red Mountain ridge, the only place on the planet where iron ore, limestone, and coal -- the three raw materials needed to make iron -- were plentiful. And that distinction turned Birmingham into the "steel city of the South".
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The Foundry & Empowerment Fund is the innovation engine behind much of what MMI does -- generating ideas, pioneering technology, and collaborating on ways we can became the society our founding documents declared us to be.
It exists to help all of us build something new -- a future where each of us can thrive. And that starts with an approach to philanthropy and support that's fundamentally different.
Right from the beginning, it flips the script. Our starting assumption is that those closest to the problem -- not those with the resources -- are more than just the true experts. They're also far more invested in solving the problems ravaging their community than the rest of us will ever be.
The mission: Meet change-makers with deep lived experience, people who are already doing the work, right where they are with whatever they need: from assistance with strategy formation and organizational capacity-building to essential funding and coalition-building. All while treating them with respect, honoring their agency, and affirming of not just their intelligence but their integrity.
Which means being their ally, not their boss, filling in the gaps, not calling the shots, and trusting their read of the work's effectiveness, not ours.
That's what United Autoworkers president Walter Reuther did when he raised funds to help bail Birmingham marchers out of jail.
It's what the 10,000 additional people who converged on Selma did.
And it's what those who organizationally and financially supported the March on Washington did.
They empowered the people most capable of making change happen.
And change happened.
That's what we seek to do with people like the Harlem seamstress who offers neighborhood kids a place to study and get a hot meal after school. Or, the nurse who helps people in states that have banned gender affirming care to get out-of-state help. Or, one woman's effort to provide essential supplies to victims of arson in a homeless encampment in Richmond, CA.
Or, via projects and initiatives like Justice Coders, HomeWorks, the Clergy Underground, BYOJ (Bring Your Own Job), and the Passport Project, as well as MMI's broader democracy defense, poverty abolition, and culture change efforts. In addition, we provide direct aid during crises, gap-filling, needs-based scholarships for college students living away from home or on their own, and we support social justice film projects that elevate consciousness and advance humanity.
Which means being their ally, not their boss, filling in the gaps, not calling the shots, and trusting their read of the work's effectiveness, not ours.
That's what United Autoworkers president Walter Reuther did when he raised funds to help bail Birmingham marchers out of jail.
It's what the 10,000 additional people who converged on Selma did.
And it's what those who organizationally and financially supported the March on Washington did.
They empowered the people most capable of making change happen.
And change happened.
That's what we seek to do with people like the Harlem seamstress who offers neighborhood kids a place to study and get a hot meal after school. Or, the nurse who helps people in states that have banned gender affirming care to get out-of-state help. Or, one woman's effort to provide essential supplies to victims of arson in a homeless encampment in Richmond, CA.
Or, via projects and initiatives like Justice Coders, HomeWorks, the Clergy Underground, BYOJ (Bring Your Own Job), and the Passport Project, as well as MMI's broader democracy defense, poverty abolition, and culture change efforts. In addition, we provide direct aid during crises, gap-filling, needs-based scholarships for college students living away from home or on their own, and we support social justice film projects that elevate consciousness and advance humanity.