Family Values @ Work Announces $400,000 in Grants to Advance Care Campaigns Across 12 States
Washington, D.C., April 13, 2026— Family Values @ Work (FV@W) today announced $400,000 in new grants to 17 grassroots organizations spanning a dozen states, bolstering its support of localized time-to-care campaigns across its national network. These investments are made possible through the generous support of the CARE Fund, Ford Foundation, Pritzker Foundation, and other philanthropic partners.
This first grant-making milestone of 2026 reflects FV@W’s continued growth and momentum. The organization is on track to exceed $1.5 million in total grants this year, building on expanding technical assistance and philanthropic investment in state-driven solutions that strengthen the nation’s care infrastructure.
The need for this work remains urgent. The absence of policies such as paid family and medical leave, paid sick and safe days, and affordable childcare costs U.S. workers more than $34 billion in lost wages each year. Most workers still lack access to paid leave for childbirth, serious illness, or family emergencies, with low-wage workers disproportionately affected, deepening racial, gender, and health inequities.
For millions of families, this gap creates impossible choices. Workers facing illness or crisis must choose between their health and their income, while caregivers are forced to choose between supporting loved ones and maintaining employment. Over a lifetime, workers can lose as much as $295,000 due to unpaid caregiving responsibilities.
For more than 25 years, FV@W has invested in and supported campaigns that have secured 15 paid leave programs and 68 paid sick and safe time policies, improving conditions for more than 69 million people across the country. This latest round of funding will strengthen the network’s dynamic, intersectional grassroots campaigns and position partners to continue advancing policy wins in communities nationwide. In 2025 alone, FV@W granted $3 million to its network and invested an additional $4.5 million to support democracy protection, labor rights, and narrative change efforts.
“I’m proud of the ambition and resilience our network continues to demonstrate, even in challenging times,” said Marianne Bellesorte, Network Director at FV@W. “Our partners are building power in their communities and driving forward solutions that expand access to paid time to care, improve implementation, and ensure workers understand and can exercise their rights.”
Grantee partners will use this funding to sustain coalition leadership, elevate the voices of those most impacted by caregiving policy, and build durable advocacy infrastructure. As one grantee leader, Josie Badger, noted, this support helps organizations “sustain effective coalition leadership, elevate the voices of people most impacted by caregiving policy, and build advocacy tools and skills that extend well beyond a single grant period.”
Leaders across the network underscore the dual importance of implementation and long-term organizing. “This is a year when policy rollout and power building are deeply connected,” said Lars Negstad, Policy Director of ISAIAH in Minnesota. “Families need support navigating new benefits, and they need trusted community organizations that can transform those experiences into sustained leadership and organizing. Family Values @ Work’s partnership makes both possible.”
As national attention grows around the economic and health impacts of an underdeveloped care infrastructure, FV@W is inviting continued philanthropic partnership to scale this work. Every investment strengthens frontline organizing, accelerates policy wins, and moves the country closer to a future where no worker has to choose between their paycheck and their family.
