Partnership Priorities

Maddox prioritizes, though does not limit funding to, organizations that

  • Are rooted in and reflective of the communities they serve, including BIPOC-led and LGBTQ+-led organizations, or those demonstrating strong community-rooted leadership and governance.
  • Advance dignity, belonging, community voice, and shared decision-making in both their values and everyday practices.
  • Hold community-centered or liberation-aligned approaches in service of historically excluded communities.
  • Strengthen youth leadership, community well-being, or environmental stewardship through place-based, relationship-centered work in Middle Tennessee.
  • Operate with annual budgets under $1.5 million supporting a focus on small to mid-sized organizations.

Community-rooted Leadership

We welcome organizations whose leadership, staff, volunteers, or governance structures bring meaningful connection to the communities they serve—through lived experience, cultural knowledge, or long-term community relationship.

Representation

We understand representation may take many forms and review demographic and narrative information as part of a holistic assessment of alignment, values, and community accountability.

Eligibility

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Apply for a Grant

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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