The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has announced the recipients of its Fall 2022 State-Level Systemic Change (SLSC) Strategy grant awards. 

Trustees voted in November 2022 to approve 42 multi-year grants totaling more than $3.3 million to organizations across North Carolina. A list of organizations awarded Fall 2022 State-Level Systemic Change Strategy grants can be found here.  

Due to staff turnover and an internal assessment, in June of 2022, ZSR decided to not hold its SLSC Fall Open Cycle, which is normally open to any eligible local, regional, or state-level organization aligned with ZSR’s core values, mission and state-level vision and working to change state-level systems. 

However, the Foundation did award renewal grants to 32 current grantees whose grants were ending in December 2022 so they would not experience a gap in funding. In addition, ZSR awarded SLSC grants to 10 organizations conducting urgent, opportunistic, extraordinary and/or unforeseen work, and groups who had applied in earlier cycles and been deferred to the fall. 

“The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is honored to partner with nonprofits and other organizations that do so much good work on behalf of our state and the great people of North Carolina,” said Maurice “Mo” Green, executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. “In 2022, ZSR was five years into the implementation of its new All for NC grantmaking strategy and felt it an important time to review our strategies and priorities and reflect on how we can best meet our mission of improving the lives of all North Carolinians. During this time of transition, we are pleased to support these organizations.”   

ZSR’s State-Level Systemic Change Strategy supports state, regional and local organizations, coalitions, or collaboratives that are working to achieve systemic change at the state level within and across the following priority areas: Advancing Public Education, Fostering a Healthy and Sustainable Environment, Promoting Social and Economic Justice, and Strengthening Democracy. ZSR recognizes that each of these four areas intersect in multiple ways, and will look for approaches that not only strengthen each, but also work across them.​ 

The annual Fall 2023 grant cycle marks the next open cycle of the State-Level Systemic Change Strategy. This cycle is open to applicants who feel they are working toward the goals and meet the criteria of the strategy, which is described on the ZSR website here: State-Level Systemic Change Strategy | Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (zsr.org) and in this FAQ: State-Level Systemic Change Strategy Frequently Asked Questions | Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (zsr.org). The Fall 2023 grant cycle opens this summer. For the latest updates and information, sign up for the ZSR newsletter on the home page at www.zsr.org.