July 13 …

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGN or BLMGNF) is a nonprofit organization that grew from the #BlackLivesMatter movement to coordinate advocacy, chapter support, and funding for Black liberation efforts.

The foundation traces its formal origins to July 13, 2013, when activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi created the Black Lives Matter project. Their organizing efforts evolved into an entity that eventually became a registered nonprofit foundation dedicated to supporting activism, public education, and community initiatives.

This network expanded in response to high-profile incidents of police violence beginning in 2014. It continued to grow through the late 2010s and into the 2020s, developing chapters and national organizing efforts.

Founders Garza, Cullors, and Tometi established the movement’s core principles and created an infrastructure that prioritized Black voices and abolitionist ideas. Additionally, numerous organizers, local chapter leaders, and allied activists played pivotal roles in enhancing the network’s reach and visibility, particularly during significant protest waves following the 2014 Ferguson unrest and the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

The foundation’s mission emphasizes the end of state-sanctioned violence, investments in Black communities, policy advancement, support for grassroots organizers, and the promotion of Black arts and culture. Its multifaceted approach includes grantmaking, public campaigning, training, and coalition building, all while focusing on an abolitionist critique of policing and prisons and advocating for community-based alternatives.

Achievements include heightened national and international awareness of police violence and systemic racism, the growth of local chapters and allied organizations, influence on public discourse and cultural production, and some policy reforms at the municipal and state levels. While the foundation and its leaders have gained mainstream recognition and invitations for speaking engagements and advisory roles, they have also faced scrutiny regarding governance and finances.

Despite this, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has been instrumental in mainstreaming conversations about racial justice and fostering enduring civic engagement, earning awards and honors for its founders and affiliated activists from media, academic, and civil-society entities.