Wallace Global Fund is putting every dollar we have where it is needed most, when it is needed most.
After more than three decades of partnering with people-powered movements fighting for democracy, a healthy planet, and gender, racial, and economic justice, Wallace Global Fund has concluded its grantmaking operations, deploying 100% of its resources during a historic moment that demanded a commensurate response.
In the following report, “ALL IN: Building Power, Scaling Change, Meeting the Moment,” we have documented the foundation’s approach to grantmaking and mission-aligned investing, the inspiring work of our partners, our spend-out process, and the legacy we seek to leave behind. We hope others in the sector will find it useful as we all navigate these difficult times.
Read the Full ReportWe were guided by the moral compass of Henry A. Wallace, vice president of the United States during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration and one of the principal architects of the New Deal, who was the original donor that led to the creation of WGF.
Wallace lived during a great inflection point in American history, serving as a beacon of progressive thought at a time when both democracy and economic equality were under dire threat. His prophetic warnings of a rising “American fascism” sounded the alarm about the danger that lies at the intersection of xenophobia, corporate hegemony, and the abusive power of the state.
Above all else, Wallace believed in “people over profit,” understanding that social change comes from building broad-based power that challenges moneyed interests that perpetuate injustice—an analysis that has guided our work right up to our final days.
“Democracy must put people first and dollars second. Stand up and fight for your rights.”
Wallace Global Fund’s spend out is the culmination of our 30-year approach to philanthropy, rooted in our founder’s values and following the lead of our partners on the front lines. History teaches us that transformative change happens only when people organize and confront those in power to demand justice. Proudly considering ourselves an activist funder, we have thrown our full weight behind movements driving this change, using all of the tools within our reach—our grantmaking, our investments, our role as a convener, and our voice as an advocate.
Wallace Global Fund has supported organizers on the ground by facilitating the conditions necessary for movements to take root, funding the nonprofits that help them thrive, and backing them directly. We are honored to stand alongside the movements we have supported over the years, including:
WGF centered FGM/C in its grantmaking since inception, including pathbreaking work to end this extreme form of gender-based violence. With our spend-out, WGF is seeding Her Horizon Fund, a catalytic new pooled fund to drive resources to frontline- and survivor-led organizations working to end FGM/C worldwide.
In 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation became the epicenter of an Indigenous resistance movement defending land and water and opposing the harmful extractive industry. WGF supported the movement and local priorities during the aftermath, including community-owned renewable energy and agroecological solutions.
WGF helped cultivate one of the most powerful climate justice movements to date, starting on college campuses and spreading across the globe to municipalities, pension funds, faith bodies, financial institutions, and more. A generation of young climate leaders emerged from this wave of activism, many of whom hold influential roles in climate action and democracy today, launching new campaigns and policies.
Frontline leaders are driving a shift in power away from top-down government solutions and large NGOs and toward organizations developing local capacity and agency. In 2026, WGF’s South African partners launched the Community Just Transitions Centers and Fund (CJTF), a participatory, community-owned financing and support mechanism for locally led Just Transitions and climate resilience initiatives, which are in turn supported by the Fund.
As democratic norms, institutions, and practices in the United States are under dire threat, a powerful new movement to defend and expand democracy is emerging. A substantial portion of our grantmaking and final spend out has backed organizers resisting authoritarianism, while advancing a powerful model of democracy and a vision for our country’s future that puts the dignity of all above the profit of a few.
Like Henry Wallace, we too find ourselves at a pivotal moment in history. Democracy is under siege by authoritarian forces, the upper tier of the economy is swelling with riches at the expense of the people, and the accelerating climate crisis is making our planet a less healthy and more dangerous place.
But in these moments, when everything seems to be crashing down, tremendous leaps forward also become possible. Organizers on the ground are moving at lightning speed to confront those in power and demand justice, accelerating existing movements and forming new ones that will forge a path beyond this dark moment and seek not a mere return to where we were 20 years ago, but a world that is many times better.
Wallace Global Fund made the decision to pour 100% of its remaining resources into these movements—tens of millions of dollars in the past year alone—not because they need us, but because we need them.
In addition to our spend-out in support of our movement partners, we have established two legacy initiatives to honor the values of our founder and his family and to continue some of the critical work they began.
The foundation provided an endowment to IPS to support its critical progressive work on movement strategy, policy development, and public engagement, and to establish the Henry A. Wallace Fellowship Program that will honor our founder’s values and legacy, as well as WGF’s commitment to youth leadership. The fellowship will train and prepare 12 emerging leaders each summer in collaboration with the IPS team.
Learn moreWallace Global Fund made a $14 million catalytic investment in a new fund and movement support hub designed to drive resources to frontline activists and organizations working to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). The fund’s goal is to pool $100 million from bilateral, philanthropic, and corporate donors and reach a “tipping point” toward ending FGM/C in a generation.
Learn more
As Wallace Global Fund draws to a close, there is one more legacy we seek to leave behind, and that is a message to our peers in the funder community:
Join us in mounting a philanthropic response that this historic moment demands of us all.
We have reached a critical moment when we all must reexamine the norms of our sector and ask ourselves whether we are responding in a way that is commensurate with both the threats and opportunities that lie before us. To be sure, we have seen some courageous moves from our peers in recent years, but as a sector, we need to step up and fully meet this challenge.
For Wallace Global Fund, the one and only appropriate response was spending out. We recognize that this is not the path every foundation will take, but there are certain principles and practices that we offer to the sector that we believe can lead us all in the right direction.
Resist the powerful urge to steer clear of conflict and disruption. Ask yourself what our partners on the front lines would say and do, and match their bravery with your own words and actions.
Pour resources into the organizing, infrastructure, and capacity of those on the front lines working for a just world. They are the people who have always advanced human rights and protected democracy, so fund them at scale to succeed.
Use your voice, your organizational practices, and your power as a convener and donor organizer to create change far beyond the reach of your own grantmaking. Align your investments with your programs, and use mission investing to advance your priorities.
Give until it hurts, whatever that looks like for your own giving as a donor or your organization. Given surging returns, surging needs, and fertile ground for transformative change, 10% should be the bare minimum for any funder that is serious about the struggle we are in.
We hope you will take a look at our report for more detail about how Wallace Global Fund has carried out these principles during our own lifespan and our spend out, but most importantly, to see the tremendous impact our partners have made over the years.
If there is one thing this process of winding down and documenting our story has driven home, it is that, as often as we may feel despair in the face of injustice, we are truly in good hands. Our partners are building the power to change the world, and reminding us that a thriving multiracial democracy, a flourishing planet, and a just and equitable society are not only possible—they are also within reach. Henry A. Wallace knew that if we trust in the people and give them what they need to realize their power, we cannot fail, and organizers on the ground are demonstrating that every day.
Thank You.
