Maine Initiatives

Want to do more to support immigrant leadership in Maine?

Maine Initiatives invites community volunteers to become Readers for the 2026 Immigrant-Led Organizations (ILO) Fund. All are welcome!

Volunteering as a Reader is a remote opportunity to support and learn more about the robust, diverse, and highly skilled ecosystem of immigrant, refugee, and migrant-led nonprofits working across the state.

Readers are assigned 3 applications submitted to the 2026 ILO Fund to read and evaluate. Completed evaluations provide valuable community insights for this year’s ILO Fund Grantmaking Advisory Committee to consider as they select 10 new grantee organizations. All ILO grantees receive a $45,000 unrestricted grant paid out over 3 years, in addition to opportunities for peer learning, networking, and capacity building with their fellow grantees.

***Download the 2026 Reader Opportunity Announcement linked below for detailed application instructions. Submit your application by February 25, 2026.
maineinitiatives.org/content/uploads/ILO_ROA_2026_v4.pdf

Photos: Members of the 2025 ILO Grantmaking Advisory Committee. Photo credit: Yoon S. Byun. ROA design by Pamela Chevez.

Applications are now open for the 2026 Immigrant-Led Organizations (ILO) Fund. The ILO Fund at Maine Initiatives is a participatory grantmaking program that funds, strengthens, and convenes immigrant, refugee, and migrant non-profit organizations in Maine, unceded Wabanaki Territory.

The 10 immigrant-led organizations chosen for the 2026 cohort will each receive a $45,000 unrestricted grant paid out over 3 years (July 2026 - August 2029), in addition to opportunities for peer learning, networking, and capacity building with their fellow grantees. Applications are due February 22, 2026 by 11:59pm ET.

Interested organizations are encouraged to review the Funding Opportunity Announcement with full details, eligibility requirements, and application instructions: maineinitiatives.org/content/uploads/ILO_FOA_2026_v8.pdf

You can also register for the optional February 4th information session for prospective organizational applicants: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/F-E36IKJTjGuSi4DP3oqNA #/registration

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Organizations chosen for the 2026 ILO Fund cohort will be selected by a Grantmaking Advisory Committee, the majority of which will be members of the immigrant community. Maine Initiatives’ participatory grantmaking process offers the ILO Fund ecosystem (current and past grantees, applicants, donors & peer funders, organizers, and members of the general public with a commitment to immigrant justice) opportunities to participate in the application design, review, and evaluation, and the grantmaking decision process. We view this participatory framework as an opportunity for both individual and collective learning about current work in Maine that advances immigrant flourishing, furthers immigrant movement building, and strengthens immigrant communities.

Images: 2026 ILO Funding Opportunity Announcement featuring 2025 ILO Grantees Mano en Mano (.maine) and New Roots Cooperative Farm (). FOA design by Pamela Chevez (.chevez).