FEDERAL GRANTS UNDER FIRE: Why This New Executive Order Matters and What We’re Doing About It
A new executive order from the White House is sending shockwaves across the nonprofit and public service ecosystem. Titled “Improving Oversight of Federal Grant-making,” the order rewires the DNA of federal funding — placing ideology over equity, compliance over innovation, and political alignment over public good.
For those of us designing systems for equity, justice, and access, this is a watershed moment.
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
The executive order redefines how discretionary grants are designed, reviewed, and even terminated.
From this point forward:
All federally awarded grants must align with the President’s policy priorities — not just the agency’s mission.
Grants that support equity, gender inclusion, civil rights, immigration, public health, or racial justice may be ineligible.
Peer review is now optional and advisory, giving political appointees final say on grant decisions.
Drawdowns will require written justification, increasing barriers for smaller orgs.
Multi-year projects can be terminated midstream — simply because they “no longer align.”
HOW WE’RE RESPONDING
Across our collective ecosystem of community-rooted initiatives and partners, we don’t panic. We plan. This is a systemic shift, and we’re building systemic responses.
Designing Resilient Infrastructure
We’ve always believed the future is local, community-centered, and designed by those most impacted.
That’s why we’re doubling down on:
Equity by Design: Headquartered in Tulsa, and expanding to Atlanta, Bentonville, KC, Pasadena, and Long Beach for phase one: Our flagship initiative focuses on infrastructure design that centers access: housing, health, mobility, food, and education.
The Equity Audit Platform : A data-to-action tool that gives communities power to show their own value, define needs, and track real-time change.
Capacity Partner Network: A support system for small orgs and collectives facing new grant compliance risks, helping them stay eligible and empowered.
2. Building Our Own Tech & Tracking Systems
We’re developing civic-tech platforms to manage compliance, measure equity impact, and create alternative funding models that don’t rely on federal disbursement alone.
The tools we’re building include:
Custom grant tracking systems for community groups
Risk assessment dashboards for passthrough entities
Integrated compliance checklists for evolving rules
A proprietary Equity Algorithm™️ to guide ethical resource distribution
3. Global Expansion & Private Funding Diversification
We’re not waiting for approval — we’re growing outside of outdated gatekeeping systems.
We will be launching an international access hub to support individuals with diverse needs with tools, resources, and place-based programming — funded through social enterprise, direct partnerships, and philanthropy.
Remix the System, our community-led initiative, is scaling nationally with data-backed storytelling, community design labs, and a global call to protect the human rights of the most vulnerable.
We’re strengthening private philanthropic partnerships across arts, health, and education to buffer volatility in federal funding.
4. What We’re Offering Our Partners
We know this executive order has major implications, especially for organizations like yours.
That’s why soon we are opening:
Grant Readiness Audits for small to mid-size nonprofits
Compliance Prep Tools for fiscal sponsors & passthrough orgs
Alignment Mapping Workshops to help you adjust program language while staying mission-rooted
Custom dashboards to track agency changes, drawdown protocols, and risk flags
If you’re an intermediary, a subgrantee, or a grassroots organizer — this moment was designed to squeeze you out. We’re designing to bring you in.
We Will Not Shrink
This order may aim to silence civil society, erase equity frameworks, and dismantle decades of public trust in peer review and scientific inquiry, but we will not shrink.
We will expand. Evolve. Remain unapologetically aligned with community-led solutions.
We are calling on our partners — locally and globally to do the same.
What You Can Do Right Now
1. Audit Your Federal Grants: Know your exposure. Understand your drawdown and compliance clauses.
2. Map Your Messaging: Align where necessary, but don’t erase your truth. Our language guides may help.
3. Join Our Network: Become a Capacity Partner or participant in our Citywide Equity Audit.
4. Protect Local Access: Donate or volunteer to strengthen community safety nets that federal policy may soon abandon.
5. Stay Smart. Stay Ready.
THIS IS A GLOBAL SHIFT
What’s unfolding isn’t just about grants. It’s about who gets to dream, who gets to define the public good, and who holds the pen when policy becomes reality.
We’re not just responding to a crisis. We’re designing the next system from the ground up.
