We are the only organization led 100% by and for autistic BIPOC committed to advancing community mutual aid and systemic change with a unique focus on disability justice, economic justice, and racial justice. We work as one of the only disability activism organizations with a nonhierarchical, collective decision-making, and horizontal structure, and are planning a long-term transition away from the founder-led model to a worker-managed, self-directed nonprofit structure. This structure and our commitments give us a unique position at the nexus of informal mutual aid projects, community organizing campaigns, and public policy and research-oriented systems change work, which few organizations are able to do even with larger staffs. Additionally, we foster numerous partnerships to support interns and fellows through many different programs to build capacity for the future of the autistic and broader disabled BIPOC community, and benefit from expertise and lived experience in many sectors. We stay in community and partnership with former staff, partners, and fellows, which enables us to sustain critical relationships across our community. We are also well known across the disability rights and disability justice communities, and thrived for the first four years of our existence solely on widespread community support in small dollar and larger donations.

The Fund has given nearly $300,000 in individual microgrants (up to $500) to autistic people of color. We are currently publishing a series of community-informed policy and research briefs on topics of importance to autistic people of color, as well as building a leadership and movement building fellowship program to support emerging and established disabled BIPOC leaders seeking to replicate our model.

What our grantee is saying: “The Autistic People of Color Fund has always been a labor of radical love and community care. We are so grateful and honored to be chosen for this support from the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter to help us take care of each other. As a small, truly grassroots organization, we rely on community support to keep going. This grant will support our commitment to sustainability in how we do the work.”