The Envisioning Justice Grants for Organizations, offered by Illinois Humanities, provide funding to support community-based initiatives across Illinois that use the arts and humanities to advance conversations and actions toward a more just society. The 2025 grant cycle is open from April 18, 2025, at 9:00 AM through June 30, 2025, at 5:00 PM, with awards of up to $10,000. The grants are intended for collectives, nonprofit organizations, and other qualified groups whose projects are tied to the impacts of mass incarceration and justice reform in Illinois.
Grants support a wide range of project types, including prison education programs, community dialogues, independent media, and public events that address justice-related themes and center the lived experiences of impacted communities. Applications are particularly encouraged from groups located in or working with communities such as East St. Louis, Decatur, Carbondale, Galesburg, Urbana-Champaign, and Bloomington-Normal, but applicants from all regions of Illinois are eligible.
Eligibility requirements include having nonprofit, tax-exempt status in good standing or working with a fiscal sponsor. Applicants must be based in Illinois and up to date with any reporting requirements for prior Illinois Humanities grants. Priority is given to projects that are regional or statewide in scope, involve partnerships, and focus on populations significantly impacted by the criminal legal system. This includes currently or formerly incarcerated individuals, people serving long sentences, justice-involved youth, women (particularly women of color and survivors of gendered violence), LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and Indigenous populations.
The application process includes an option for a proposal interview for those new to grant writing. Applicants must request this at least three weeks prior to the deadline by contacting the program manager. Applications are reviewed over a six-week period, and selected grantees will be notified one to two weeks after final review. Grant agreements must be signed before disbursement, which occurs two to three weeks after agreement execution. A final report is due within 30 days of the project’s conclusion.
For additional questions or to request an interview, applicants can contact Tony Pizarro, Program Manager, at ejustice@ilhumanities.org or (312) 374-1565.
