Funding Opportunities

Roots of Change (ROC) Fund Issues Request for Proposals: First Deadline Is July 29, 2003

A group of funders has come together to launch the first foundation collaborative focused on supporting the transition to sustainable food systems in California. This collaborative—the Roots of Change (ROC) Fund—will work to transform California food systems by identifying and making grants to high-leverage funding opportunities.

The ROC Fund aims to increase the human and financial resources devoted to this issue and support work toward systemic change. The Roots of Change (ROC) Council—a high-level advisory board of food systems experts that represents the many sectors of the food system—advises the ROC Fund.

The ROC Fund has identified two key projects to undertake during the first year of the Fund. These initial projects focus on organizational activities that strengthen the food systems movement; they will serve as the base for all future work of the Fund. The ROC Fund hopes to preserve the majority of pooled funds for the ideas and initiatives that emerge from these projects.

Below are PDF documents about the proposals and general information about the Fund.

• Roots of Change Fund, General Information (PDF 72K)
• A Vivid Picture of California's Sustainable Food Systems (PDF 245K)
• Sustainable Food Systems Leadership Network (PDF 189K)

These documents are also available to download at the ROC Fund Web site.

For this first round of funding, the ROC Fund will use a two-step proposal process. Letters of Intent (LOIs) will be due on July 29, 2003. LOIs will be reviewed by the ROC Council and ROC Funders and full proposals will be invited on August 21, 2003. Full proposals will be due on October 17, 2003. Grant awards will be announced in late November 2003. Full details on the timeline and what to include in the LOIs are outlined in each RFP.

Note: The ROC Fund hosted two grantseeker conference calls on Monday, July 7, 2003 for all interested parties. The first call focused on the "Vivid Picture" RFP and took place from 10 a.m - noon. The second call focused on the "Leadership Network" RFP and took place from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.. Both calls were recorded and transcripts of the calls may be accessed from the ROC Fund Web site. ROC Fund staff will continue to be available to answer questions after the calls.

The ROC Fund encourages you to share and circulate these documents with other organizations that may be interested in these projects.

Jamaica Maxwell
Program Director
Web site: Roots of Change (ROC) Fund
423 Washington Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone 415-421-4213 x24
Fax 415-982-7989