Disrupt Foundation

Disrupt is the Podjarny family foundation. We seek to disrupt the status quo of social injustice by supporting people, local communities and organisations working for positive change, and by amplifying their impact through technology. As a new foundation, we are on a learning journey as we build our strategy. We are a small team and we currently primarily work proactively to seek out organisations, rather than assessing unsolicited applications. We aim to build a relationship of trust with those we support, and hope over time to explore new and more participatory models of giving. We prefer to give organisations core funding, and we hope to offer grantees not only funding but also the tools to grow and scale their work, either through tech solutions or through other organisational resources. Disrupt makes grants to organisations and people whose mission aligns with ours. At this early stage in our development, we will mostly reach out to organisations directly as we learn the needs of the communities we work with. We want to tackle the root causes of a problem, not the symptoms, and we believe this can be achieved using a multilevel approach. Alongside our long-term work for change, we want to be able to identify and respond to current external opportunities and urgent needs. We will not fund pure service providers, unless the provision is levered to effect long-term social change. We will also not fund activities that are run by, dependent on or chiefly funded by government agencies. In the UK, we currently support organisations that engage with migrant rights as well as social and economic rights. In Israel/Palestine, our current focus is on grassroots organisations, initiatives and activists from marginalised communities, who employ an intersectional sociopolitical and gender approach. We have a cross-sectional interest in tech solutions for social change and will work with grantees to develop their abilities in this field.