CONTACT: Jeannine Esposito, Root & Rebound, [email protected]

Oakland, Calif., March 19, 2024 – Today, MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving announced Root & Rebound as one of the Yield Giving Open Call’s awardees working with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. Root & Rebound received $2 million.

Founded in 2013, Root & Rebound (R&R) is a reentry advocacy organization that creates second chance opportunities by restoring and protecting the rights, dignity, and hope of systems-impacted people. R&R is a national organization providing direct legal services throughout California and South Carolina, and public education, systems reform, and narrative change nationally. The organization’s mission is to support people navigating reentry and reduce the harms perpetuated by mass incarceration.

In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources.

“Thank you, Yield Giving and Lever for Change, from the bottom of my heart, for investing in people like me,” said Carmen Garcia, Executive Director of Root & Rebound. “From my own lived experience of reentry, I know how vital our work here is and how far this gift will go in supporting people facing legal and unjust barriers on that journey.”

The Open Call received 6,353 applications and initially planned for 250 awards of $1 million each. In the Fall of 2023, organizations top-rated by their peers advanced to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel recruited for experience relevant to this cause, and underwent a final round of due diligence. In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount.

“We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.”

More information on the Yield Giving Open Call and other initiatives can be found at www.leverforchange.org.

###

Root & Rebound

Root & Rebound is a national reentry organization with offices throughout California and South Carolina. We work to reverse the devastating effects of mass incarceration and over-criminalization and transform the experience of reentry by providing critical legal resources, education, and ongoing support to the individuals, families, and communities impacted. To learn more, visit https://www.rootandrebound.org.

Yield Giving

Established by MacKenzie Scott to share a financial fortune created through the effort of countless people, Yield Giving is named after a belief in adding value by giving up control. To date, Yield’s network of staff and advisors has yielded over $16,500,000,000 to 1,900+ non-profit teams to use as they see fit for the benefit of others. To learn more, visit www.yieldgiving.com.

Lever for Change

Lever for Change connects donors with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change. Using an inclusive, equitable model and due diligence process, Lever for Change creates customized challenges and other tailored funding opportunities. Top-ranked teams and challenge finalists become members of the Bold Solutions Network—a growing global network that helps secure additional funding, amplify members’ impact, and accelerate social change. Founded in 2019 as a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lever for Change has influenced over $1.7 billion in grants to date and provided support to more than 145 organizations. To learn more, visit www.leverforchange.org.