Cross-Cutting / Intersectional Impact: July 2026 Funding Opportunities (8 new opportunities!)
78 opportunities; $300M+. From AI accountability to traditional knowledge, infrastructure workers to child researchers, this month's intersectional calls reward work that sits at the crossroads.
Hello everyone,
78 opportunities on the Cross-Cutting page this cycle, 8 of them new. This is the section where the standing landscape counts as much as the fresh calls, a deep bench of major foundations and always-open impact funds, but the newest money points somewhere striking. Three things stand out: the AI labs have become philanthropists; catalytic, venture-style capital has become the default shape of cross-cutting money; and corporate foundations and diplomatic posts carry the timed grants.
The AI labs have become philanthropists. The clearest new signal is who is now writing the checks. A year ago these were technology companies; this cycle they are among the sector’s largest funders. OpenAI is running two programs at once, the $50 million People-First AI Fund and an Economic Research Exchange paying economists to study AI’s effects on work. Anthropic’s Claude Corps places fellows inside nonprofits under a $150 million commitment, Schmidt Sciences is funding AI safety at scale, and Google sits behind the Build with Gemini XPRIZE. We called AI “cross-sector capacity” in June; this month the labs themselves have become grantmakers, and between them they account for more than $200 million of the money on this page.
Catalytic, venture-style capital is the default shape of cross-cutting money. Look past the timed calls and the section’s real structure shows: it funds founders, not projects. The rolling bench reads like an impact-investing roster, with Draper Richards Kaplan, New Profit, Founders Pledge, GiveWell, and Effective Ventures backing organizations and leaders, the Autodesk Foundation offering catalytic capital for engineering solutions, and accelerators from 500 Global to the Baobab Network and Mercy Corps Ventures supporting impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets. This is the missing-middle capital thread we named in May, now the section’s standing posture: always open, founder-first, and shaped more like investment than a grant.
Corporate foundations and diplomatic posts carry the timed grants. The deadline-bound money comes mostly from two places. Corporate foundations are out in force, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, lululemon, Truist, and the LEGO Foundation, alongside Global Citizen and PayPal. Diplomatic posts round it out, with the U.S. Mission to Mexico’s public-diplomacy statement and Japan’s grassroots human-security grants in Zambia and Uganda. It is the corporate-and-diplomacy blend we flagged in June, still doing the work of putting discrete, deadline-bound money on the table
Total Estimated Funding Pool: $300 Million+ USD in timed calls, of which roughly $210M comes from the AI labs alone.
The grants are organized into three categories:
Open Calls: Current grant and opportunities with a deadline. Grants are listed by closing date. 26 open opportunities – 8 new opportunities added!
Rolling Applications: current grant and opportunities with rolling applications (but it’s still best to submit as early as possible). 44 rolling opportunities!
Long term planning: Grants that have closed their current rounds, but are expected to open new windows. 8 long term opportunities!
A quick tip for returning readers: if you want to jump straight to the newest additions, use CTRL F to search for “New!” and navigate quickly to the latest funding opportunities
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Open Calls:
OpenAI Economic Research Exchange, OpenAI. *New!* *Closing Soon!*
OpenAI launched its Economic Research Exchange to fund external empirical research on how artificial intelligence is reshaping workers, firms, institutions, and the wider economy. The program pairs selected researchers with the OpenAI Economic Research team in scoped, project-based collaborations, giving them privacy-safe access to approved product and usage data so questions about labor markets, household welfare, education, and market structure can be answered with real evidence. OpenAI wants credible, independent findings, and it builds that independence into the design, keeping study design and analysis in the researcher's hands while routing data use through governance and privacy safeguards. The milestone structure and short proposal format signal a preference for tightly scoped, feasible work. The strongest fits are empirical economists with a publication record and access to distinctive data.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: External empirical researchers in labor economics, productivity, education, and related fields with a publication record and, ideally, unique data.
Funding amount: USD $25,000 PI grant plus USD $7,500 monthly RA stipend.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology; Economic Development & Livelihoods; SDGs 8, 9, 10. Focus: AI economic impact research, labor markets, productivity.
Deadline: July 5, 2026.
OpenAI is buying credibility it can stand behind, which is why the design hands you the analysis and keeps the data privacy-safe rather than curated to flatter the tools. The researchers who resonate propose a sharp causal question and treat the usage data as evidence, not endorsement. Come in with a tightly scoped study and clear milestones, and let your independence be the selling point.
BlackRock Future Builders RFP (2026 National Request for Proposals), The BlackRock Foundation. *Closing Soon!*
The BlackRock Foundation’s Future Builders RFP rests on a clear conviction: the people who build America’s infrastructure deserve durable economic security, and the fastest route there runs through high-quality skilled-trades training. This USD $25M round, inside a USD $100M five-year commitment, backs US nonprofits that train workers directly through pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, career navigation, and wraparound supports, or that strengthen the systems letting trades training scale. The design rewards a tight connection to real infrastructure demand, financial discipline, and scalable impact, with Jobs for the Future running a workforce-savvy review. It fits organizations with a proven trades-training footprint and the maturity to absorb a two-year grant.
Geographies: United States, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (North America).
Who can apply: US-based nonprofits delivering or supporting high-quality skilled-trades training, proposing either direct worker training or capacity-building solutions.
Funding amount: Two-year grants of USD $500,000 to $1,000,000; USD $25,000,000 over two cycles.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Workforce Development; SDGs 4, 8, 9. Focus: skilled trades, apprenticeship, career pathways, economic security.
Deadline: July 10, 2026.
AI Accountability Fellowships, Pulitzer Center. *Closing Soon!*
The Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Fellowships are funding 8 to 10 journalists from anywhere in the world to pursue 10-month in-depth reporting projects on how governments and corporations deploy predictive, generative, and surveillance AI in policing, medicine, social welfare, criminal justice, and hiring. The 2026 to 2027 round is the fifth cohort, indicating the Pulitzer Center has moved past project-fund framing into institutionalizing AI accountability journalism as a coherent field rather than commissioning episodic stories. The funder logic is field-building: cohort design, peer-learning community, methodology replication, pro bono legal support, and Global South inclusion are the structural features, not the cash. Fellowship envelope is up to USD $25,000 per project (USD $20,000 for reporting plus USD $5,000 for engagement and impact). Direct AI-reporting experience is not required; journalists from any beat are eligible. Use of large language model tools to generate or substantially draft the proposal itself is explicitly discouraged, a values-aligned design choice mirroring the substantive ethic of the work.
Geographies: Global. Open to journalists from any country.
Who can apply: Staff or freelance journalists working on any platform, including print, radio, video, and multimedia. Reporters from all beats and formats eligible; direct experience covering AI is not required. Team applications allowed with one designated lead Fellow. English proficiency required for proposal submission; writing samples, letters of commitment, and professional references may be in other languages. Applicants must propose a concrete pre-reported project (not a general theme) with a letter of commitment from a media organization prepared to publish the final work.
Funding amount: Up to USD $25,000 per project (USD $20,000 for reporting costs plus USD $5,000 for engagement and impact activities). Non-cash benefits include mentorship, training, global peer-learning community, and pro bono legal support.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Arts, Culture & Media; Innovation, Science & Technology; Governance & Justice. Focus areas: AI accountability journalism, predictive AI, generative AI, surveillance AI, AI in public services, field-building, Global South AI reporting.
Deadline: July 12, 2026.
The Pulitzer Center consistently selects fellows who arrive with a concrete, pre-reported project rather than a general theme to explore, and who can show a media outlet’s letter of commitment to publish. Proposals framed as “I would like to research AI in X” without pre-reporting evidence rarely advance. Direct AI-reporting experience is not a filter, but pre-reporting depth on the proposed story is.
Zendesk Tech for Good Impact Awards 2026, Zendesk Foundation. *Closing Soon!*
Zendesk Foundation’s Impact Awards seek to help nonprofits scale high-volume, high-stakes support services by pairing cash awards with donated Zendesk software. The funder’s investment logic focuses on service delivery capacity: strengthening how organizations respond to requests, coordinate teams, and support beneficiaries, particularly in moments of crisis or in programs that build community connection and resilience. A third priority area targets economic mobility by backing organizations that create career pathways into tech, including workforce development tied to customer experience roles.
Geographies: Global (with country exclusions listed in eligibility requirements).
Who can apply: Registered nonprofit organizations (including U.S. 501(c)(3) public charities and foreign charitable organizations) applying in English via the online application form with proof of nonprofit status.
Funding amount: USD $5,000 - $50,000 per organization; free Zendesk software donation.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation & Technology; Focus areas: nonprofit technology, service delivery platforms, crisis response, workforce development.
Deadline: July 15, 2026 (11:59 pm ET).
This is a service-infrastructure play that treats better support operations as a force multiplier for frontline programs and beneficiary outcomes.
2026 People-First AI Fund, OpenAI Foundation. *New!* *Closing Soon!*
The OpenAI Foundation has opened its 2026 People-First AI Fund, offering unrestricted grants to United States community nonprofits exploring how artificial intelligence can strengthen the work they already do. The Foundation is funding three kinds of organizations: those connecting people to services like legal aid and public benefits, community arts and cultural groups, and local journalism outlets. Its premise is that access is agency, so the money goes to trusted, locally rooted organizations rather than technology projects, and grants are sized to a share of each applicant's budget. Requiring no prior AI experience and no use of OpenAI tools signals that the Foundation wants to lower the barrier to engagement. The strongest fits are small to mid-sized charities with deep community trust and genuine curiosity about AI.
Geographies: United States.
Who can apply: US-based 501(c)(3) public charities with annual operating budgets between USD $500,000 and USD $10,000,000, deep community trust, and genuine interest in exploring AI.
Funding amount: Up to 10% of an organization's annual operating budget, up to roughly USD $1,000,000 (USD $50,000,000 committed in total).
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Governance, Policy & Advocacy; Social Inclusion & Community Wellbeing; SDGs 9, 10, 16. Focus: community access and agency, AI for nonprofits, local journalism, legal aid.
Deadline: July 15, 2026.
The prize this Fund is really chasing is community trust, with AI as the experiment layered on top, which is why it needs no prior tech experience. Do not overbuild an AI project; describe the relationships and the populations you already serve, then name one honest question about how AI might strengthen that work. Curiosity plus rootedness reads stronger here than technical fluency.
Claude Corps Fellowship 2026, Anthropic. *New!* *Closing Soon!*
Anthropic, with CodePath and Social Finance, runs Claude Corps, a fully funded twelve-month fellowship that places early-career talent inside mission-driven nonprofits to put AI to work across their missions. Anthropic is using the program to widen access to AI benefits during a period of economic change, and to invest directly in the workers absorbing that change. It seeks to back two outcomes at once: host organizations that gain durable AI tools and systems, and fellows who build skills that carry into their careers. The selection design, weighting everyday comfort with AI and demonstrated drive over formal credentials, signals that Anthropic values judgment and self-direction over background. The strongest fits are early-career applicants who already use AI daily, work well on teams, and are ready to relocate.
Geographies: United States.
Who can apply: Individual early-career applicants (under two years of full-time work experience) authorized to work in the US who already use AI daily and are willing to relocate; no degree or coding background required.
Funding amount: USD $85,000 salary per year plus full benefits and up to USD $2,500 in Claude API credits (USD $150,000,000 total program commitment).
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Governance, Policy & Advocacy; SDGs 4, 8, 9, 10. Focus: early-career AI fellowship, nonprofit AI capacity, workforce development.
Deadline: July 17, 2026.
What this fellowship rewards is demonstrated initiative and everyday fluency with AI, not pedigree, so a polished resume matters less than a story of something you actually built or changed. In the short-answer questions, be concrete about a moment you took action in your community and a mistake you learned from. Let self-direction and genuine curiosity come through more than credentials.
Global Citizen and PayPal Small Business Impact Awards 2026, Global Citizen. *New!* *Closing Soon!*
Global Citizen, with PayPal as sponsor, runs the Small Business Impact Awards to recognize small and medium businesses that pair commercial viability with tangible benefit to their local communities. The two organizations use the award to spotlight founder-led businesses already doing community work, from supporting local causes to creating jobs and sustainable local practices, and to connect winners with payments expertise, marketing support, and a global stage. What they seek to back is durable local impact carried by an independent business rather than a one-off project, signaling that judges weigh how a venture changes its community over time, not its size. The requirement for three years of operations and letters of recommendation rewards proven, locally trusted operators. The strongest fits are established, owner-run small businesses improving the places they serve.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: Owner-run small businesses with three or more years of operations, under 50 staff, under USD $1,000,000 in revenue, and clear community contributions.
Funding amount: USD $20,000 per winner; total pool USD $300,000.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Economic Development & Livelihoods; SDGs 1, 8, 11. Focus: community-serving small business, local economic impact, founder-led enterprise.
Deadline: July 19, 2026.
The judges are looking for a business that quietly changes its community over time, not a flashy startup or a single good deed. Longevity and local trust are the currency here, which is why they ask for three years of operating history and recommenders who know you. Tell the story of how your business has reshaped the place it serves, and let your community vouch for that in the letters.
Earthna Prize 2026, Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future (Qatar Foundation). *Closing Soon!*
The Earthna Prize honors projects that preserve, integrate, and adopt traditional knowledge to address contemporary environmental challenges, run by the Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future, a Qatar Foundation policy center. Up to four winners each receive USD $250,000 as an unrestricted grant from a USD $1,000,000 pool, presented at the Earthna Summit 2027, across five focus areas: water systems, food systems, terrestrial ecosystems, marine and coastal ecosystems, and built environments. Any legally incorporated entity worldwide may apply, including community-based organizations and private sector entities, and projects in least developed countries are explicitly welcomed. The judging grid puts half the score on the traditional knowledge itself: its relevance, the degree of threat to it, innovation, and replicability.
Geographies: Global; projects in least developed countries explicitly welcomed.
Who can apply: Any legally incorporated entity; CBOs and private sector included.
Funding amount: USD $250,000 each, up to 4 winners (USD $1,000,000 pool).
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Agriculture & Food Systems; Innovation & Technology. Focus areas: traditional ecological knowledge, water systems, food systems, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, built environments, sustainability.
Deadline: July 20, 2026 (portal closes automatically, no late entries).
Inside the 50 percent traditional-knowledge criterion, innovation and replicability together carry 30 of the 50 points, more than relevance and threat combined. Frame your practice as a living method others can adopt, not heritage under glass; the grid rewards transfer, not preservation alone.
