Eligibility

Eligibility Criteria

  • Be recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) or operate under the fiscal sponsorship of one.
  • Have at least one full year of programmatic activity and one year of financial statements.
  • Operate programs that directly benefit communities within Maddox’s 41-county Middle Tennessee geographic area.
  • Show evidence of meaningful connection to—and accountability with—the communities most impacted by their work (e.g., lived experience, staff representation, governance, advisory groups, volunteers, or long-standing partnerships).
  • Align with at least one of Maddox’s focus areas: Protecting the Natural Environment or Improving the Lives of Young People.

National and regional organizations are only eligible to apply if they meet the following criteria:

  • Have a Tennessee-based advisory board or governing body,
  • Provide separate financial statements (including a Tennessee-specific Form 990 or audit), and
  • Operate programs that demonstrably impact Middle Tennessee communities.

Partnership Priorities

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Jen Bailey is the Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, bringing her deep experience in community-based leadership, philanthropy, and movement-building to the organization.

Jen is the Founder of Faith Matters Network, a national Womanist-led organization accompanying spiritually-grounded leaders on their journey to heal themselves and their communities. Since its inception, Faith Matters Network has served over 25,000 leaders through its programs and initiatives. She is Co-Founder of The People’s Supper, a global initiative that has hosted over 2,000 gatherings in 135 communities to foster conversation and collective healing across lines of difference.

Committed to advancing social change through philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Jen serves on the boards of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Fetzer Institute, and The Healing Trust, where she is the Board Chair.

An Ashoka Fellow, New Pluralist Field Builder, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow, and Truman Scholar, Jen holds degrees from Tufts University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School, where she was awarded the Wilbur F. Tillett Prize for accomplishments in the study of theology. Her work has been featured by On Being with Krista Tippett, CBS This Morning, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more. She is also the author of To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss, and Radical Hope (Chalice Press, 2021).

email Jen: jen@maddoxfund.org