Humanity AI opens a $10 million grant call for community-led work on how artificial intelligence is built and used
The initiative of ten foundations, among them MacArthur, Ford and Mellon, opened its first open call on Sept. 10. U.S. 501(c)(3) organizations can seek $75,000 to $1 million, for up to three years, until Oct. 21.
Humanity AI, a five-year, $500 million grantmaking initiative backed by ten foundations, opened its first open call for grants on Sept. 10. It will give $10 million to U.S. nonprofits for community-led work on how artificial intelligence is built, governed and used. Initial applications are due by 7:59 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 21.
The call looks for work in which the people most affected by the technology, such as workers, students, educators and artists, set the goals, and it invites groups that have not usually seen themselves as shaping AI. Proposals must fall within at least one of three issue areas: education; labor and the economy; and the humanities, arts and culture.
Who can apply, and for how much
The lead applicant must be a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organization, and the work must serve communities in the United States. Individuals and informal groups apply through a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor or join a collaboration led by a 501(c)(3) organization. Companies and groups based abroad may join a collaboration but may not lead it. Tribal governments and public state universities may also apply.
Grants range from $75,000 to $1 million in three tiers: $75,000 to $150,000, $150,000 to $500,000, and $500,000 to $1 million. They may run for up to three years, and there is no preset cap on indirect costs. The initiative has not divided the money among the tiers in advance.
What the money is for
Proposals must take one of three approaches: shaping the rules for AI, such as educators drawing up guidelines for schools; building AI on community terms, through evaluations, audits or datasets; or challenging AI that communities feel is imposed on them. A project need not use AI at all, but where AI models are central to the work, reviewers will favor open-weight or open-source models over closed ones. Teaching people to use AI tools, promoting particular tools and research alone are out of scope.
Reviewers at Lever for Change, which supports the call, will screen applications first. Finalists are to be told in December and asked for more material, such as a budget; awards are expected in early spring 2027, dates the initiative calls estimates.
Humanity AI was announced in October 2025 by the Doris Duke, Ford, Lumina, Kapor, MacArthur, Mellon, Mozilla and Packard foundations, Omidyar Network and the Siegel Family Endowment. It is a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. In May it announced $8 million in grants to its first grantees and committed the $10 million for this call.
“This open call is an invitation to the communities living with AI's consequences to set the agenda instead.”
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Sept. 29, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
Found an error? Write to [email protected] and we will correct it.
For the organizations in this story: put the badge on your website
Put it on your About page or wherever you list press mentions, rather than in a footer that repeats on every page. It links to this story.
Linking is welcome and never required. Nothing about the story changes either way.